Time

45-1 hour

The amount of time will vary depending on the age group that is participating.

Materials

• “We Grow Corn! Raising Corn on a Kansas Family Farm” by Sharon Thielen, Ph.D.
  • Focus on pages 12-21 (10 Minutes)
  • Optional Book: “Batholomew and the Oobleck” by Dr Suess
• Videos to watch:
  • Kernels of Knowledge Video: Harvesting Corn in Northeast Kansas (3:59)
  • Kernels of Knowledge Video: Harvesting Corn in Southwest Kansas (3:26)
• Coloring Sheet: Let’s Follow Some Corn Coloring Sheet (10 Minutes)
• Activity #1: Oobleck (10-15 minutes)
  • 4 Tablespoons cornstarch
  • 2 Tablespoons water
  • Small cup
  • Popsicle stick
  • Tablespoon
• Activity #2: Online Breakout Box Challenge
  • Electronic device to project challenge
• Activity #3-Types of Corn
  • Paper and Markers
• Suggested Snack: Bugles

Book

If the students have already read the entire “We Grow Corn!” book, this unit will focus on pages 12-21. On pages 12 the students will be able to see what the corn plant looks like in the spring, summer, and fall. Harvest happens in the fall when the corn plant is brown, and the kernels are dry. The students will also learn that a bushel of corn weighs about 56 pounds. On page 13 the students will see the steps it takes to harvest the corn crop. Pages 14-15 focus on family and how harvest is a very busy time, so the family members usually meet in the field or shop for meals to be able to spend time with their farmer.

On pages 16-17 the students will learn the difference between sweet corn and dent corn, also called field corn. Corn has over 3,500 uses; many products we use today like soft drinks, fireworks, hand sanitizer, etc. are examples of some of those products. What is cool to know is that corn started as a grassy plant called teosinte and over thousands of years has become the plant we know today. Pages 18-19 focus on how field corn is used for livestock feed. Pages 20-21 show how corn is used for making fuel, also known as ethanol, and for sending corn around the world through exports.

Videos

Kernels of Knowledge videos allow the students to dig deeper into the details related to harvest. The first video shows the students what harvest is like in eastern Kansas and where the grain is taken when it leaves the field. The second video shows the students what harvest is like in western Kansas. These videos provide a way for students to see inside and outside of a combine when it is cutting corn.

Kernels of Knowledge Video: Harvesting Corn in Northeast Kansas (3:59)

Kernels of Knowledge Video: Harvesting Corn in Southwest Kansas (3:26)

Coloring Sheet

Using the coloring sheet, the students will be able to follow corn from the time of harvest to consumption. Have the students start with the farmer and follow the arrows. They can color each step as you explain the next step, or you may choose to explain all steps first and then have them color in order at their own pace. This coloring sheet serves as a good summary of what was discussed throughout the book.

Let’s Follow Some Corn Coloring Sheet

Activity #1-Oobleck

Almost all the field corn grown in Kansas is used to feed livestock or to make fuel. A small percentage of Kansas’s corn is used in many household products and as an ingredient in many food items. However, one product made from corn is very fun to play with, cornstarch! Cornstarch is a powder that comes from the starchy long sugars, known as carbohydrates, found in a corn kernel. When cornstarch and water are mixed in the right proportions, they create a substance called oobleck, named after the book by Dr. Seuss titled, Batholomew and the oobleck. This crazy substance is a liquid when you play with it slowly but will turn to a solid if you go too fast! Not only is it fun to play with, but we can use cornstarch to thicken our gravy to pour over our mashed potatoes. We also use it in all kinds of food we eat like sauces, soups and even desserts! Let’s make some oobleck and play with it!

Instructions

• Fill a cup with 4 level tablespoons of cornstarch.
• Add 2 tablespoons of water.
• Mix together with a popsicle stick.
• You want a batter-like consistency that easily flows when slowly stirred but heavily thickens when quickly stirred or when a force is applied to it.
• Adjust with a tiny bit more cornstarch if too runny or a tiny bit more water if it’s too thick and powdery.
• Play with it!

What to do with Oobleck

• Stir it fast, stir it slow.
• Pour it into your hands. Form it, roll it, mess with it; then stop and try to hold it in your hands.
• Toss it in the air and then catch it. Toss it back and forth with a parent or friend.
• Toss it in the air and let it hit the ground.
• Toss it like a baseball and hit it with a plastic bat. Please use eyewear protection.
• Place it on the ground and hit it with a hammer. Please use eyewear protection.

Explanation
Water surrounds the starch molecules which allow them to slowly move freely, making it a liquid. But when moved too fast the water gets pushed out and the starch molecules collide with each other, forming a solid. Then when stopped, the water molecules move back in between the starch molecules to return to a liquid.

Let’s make more oobleck!

Make a large amount of it! Use a bowl or a cake pan or a kiddie swimming pool!

• Slowly place your whole hand in it. Squeeze it gently and then quickly. Then try to pull your hand out as fast as you can!
• Claw across the surface of oobleck with your fingernails.
• Place your feet in it. Step in and out of it at different speeds. Can you keep from sinking?
• Punch the surface of the oobleck slowly at first and then harder and harder.
• Parent Supervision: Place a block of wood on top of the oobleck. Then, carefully, try to hammer a nail into the wood block.
• Place plastic wrap over the diaphragm (or cone) of an old speaker. Pour some oobleck in the center. Play some music with different amounts of bass. Watch the oobleck dance!

Activity #2- Online Breakout Box Challenge

This challenge can be done as a large or small group. Each group will need an electronic device to access the online challenge. If done in a large group, project the challenge onto the screen and designate one person to enter in the guesses. The first time they do an online challenge it may seem difficult but the more challenges they complete the easier and more fun they will become.

Answer Key

We Grow Corn! – Harvest

• Shape Lock- Triangle, Circle, Star, Square
• Color Lock- Green, Blue, Purple, Red (number of dashes at top of each photo determines order)
• 123 Lock- 7,1,4,9

We Grow Corn! – How is Corn Used?

• 123 Lock – 5,3,2 (field corn is used in each category)
• Color Lock- Blue, Green, Green, Black, Yellow
• Direction Lock- Up, Right, Left, Down, Left
• 123 Lock – 6,4,2,1,7

Activity #3- Types of Corn

99% of the corn grown in Kansas and the U.S. is dent corn (field corn). Many people think sweet corn is the main type of corn. After this activity, students will learn there are many types of corn, and they will specifically be able to name the differences between dent corn and sweet corn.

Activity

• Read page 16 aloud and have students look at the picture of the sweet corn and dent corn.
• Watch Farmer Bill’s “Types of Corn” video.
• As a group, create a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast the two types of corn (what it looks like, what it is used for, when it is harvested). In small groups or individually, have students create their own Venn Diagram or draw a picture of the two different types of corn.

Optional Online Breakout Box Challenge

If time allows there is an online challenge that goes with this activity.

Types of Corn Answer Key

• ABC Lock – S,W,E,E,T
• ABC Lock- F,E,E,D
• 123 Lock – 1,1,6

Out the Door

On the way out the door, have the students tell you one thing about either dent or sweet corn.