Lesson 1: Why is Corn Important to Me? (30 minutes)
Key question
- Why do we need farmers to grow corn?
Learning Objectives
- The learner will propose an answer to the question, “Why do we need farmers to grow corn?”
- The learner will provide evidence that many everyday products are made from corn.
Materials
- Book: “We Grow Corn: Raising Corn on a Kansas Family Farm”
- A variety of products made with corn (page S1-2)
- Pictures of “No Corn”/ pictures of “Corn” (page S3-4)
Note: If a product cannot be found in the store or you do not have it at home, photos of all corn-derived products listed in this unit can be found with the electronic version of this guide at www.kansascornstem.com
Guided Teaching
Guided Questions
Introduce the topic and assess your child’s prior knowledge with the following questions:
- “Who knows what corn is?”
- “How would you describe corn?”
- “Where do we find corn?”
- “How do you know it’s corn?”
- “Why do farmers grow corn?”
Read Aloud
Read the book, We Grow Corn: Raising Corn on a Kansas Family Farm. If you read this book when you taught Unit 1, then you can just review the pages as you go through the book.
- Make sure to go over the vocabulary.
Discussion
Discuss that corn grows in Kansas and it is all around them.
- “Do you know what products corn is used to make?”
(Let your child discuss without cueing them as to whether they are right or wrong. Ask them how they could find out, how they could find evidence.)
Game
Play a game with the products that contain corn. (As mentioned above you can use the products listed on page S1-2 OR you can use the online pictures.)
- Set up 2 places in your home with the pictures of “no corn” and “corn”, these will be used as stations. You will show your child one product at a time and ask if they think it contains corn. If no, your child will go to the “no corn” sign. If yes, they should go to the “corn” sign.
- Go through all the products that you have.
Reveal the answers and discuss
After you have gone through all the products, discuss that all the products you talked about contain corn!
Use the following prompts:
- “Can you find the word ‘corn’ on the list of ingredients?”
- “Are you surprised that so many of our everyday products use corn?”
- “What do you think about so many products containing corn?”
- “Is it important that our farmers grow corn? Why?”
- “What do you think would happen if farmers could not grow corn?”
Conclusion
- “You discovered how important corn is to our lives and that Kansas farmers grow corn. We will continue to learn more about corn. Until then, be on the lookout for corn in your world! Is it in the products you use? Is it growing in a nearby field?”
Early Elementary Activity
Science Activity
- Take some time to look through other products that are in your kitchen. Reading the label, look for the word corn, cornstarch or corn syrup. Can you find more products that are made of corn?
Writing Activity
- Think back to the game we played where you had to decide if the product had corn in it or not. Write about one of the products and if you guessed correctly. Why was it easy or not easy to guess the correct answer? Write a couple of sentences about how the game went.
Upper Elementary Activity
Science Activity
- Take some time to look through other products that are in your kitchen, bathroom and even in the garage. Reading the labels, look for the word corn, cornstarch or corn syrup. Can you find more products that are made of corn?
- Hand out the “Could it be Corn” Mystery of Corn reader to learn more about how corn is used.
Writing Activity
- Think back to the game we played where you had to decide if the product had corn in it or not. Write about your experience during this game. What products were easy to figure out they had corn in them? What products surprised you that had corn? Encourage your child to write between 3-5 sentences about their experience.
- Hand out the “Could it be Corn” Mystery of Corn reader to learn more about how corn is used.