Kansas College and Career Ready Standards

Science

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

• 1-LS3-1: Make observations to construct an evidence-based account that young plants and animals are like, but not exactly like, their parents.
• 2-PS1-1: Plan and conduct an investigation to describe and classify different kinds of materials by their observable properties.

Language Arts

• SL.1.1: Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about first grade topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
• SL.1.4:Describe people, places, things, and events with relevant details, expressing ideas and feelings clearly.
• SL.1.5:Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.

Learning Objectives

• Students will propose an answer to the question, “Why do we need farmers to grow corn?”
• Students will provide evidence that many everyday products are made from corn.
• Students will propose an answer to the question, “Where is the seed in a corn plant?” for further exploration.

Materials

• Printable version of Kansas Corn: A Kernel’s Adventure**
• We Grow Corn: Raising Corn on a Kansas Family Farm book**
• A variety of products made with corn (ketchup, glue sticks, popcorn, etc.) (gift card*) (optional: Photos of Corn Products)
• Pictures of “no corn”/pictures of “corn” **
• Complete full grown corn stalks with at least one ear on each (dried is OK) Secure your corn stalk(s) in the fall from a local farmer.  Email education@ksgrains.com for assistance. 
• Planting containers*
• Soil*
• Water spray bottle*
• Growth chart**
• How Does Corn Grow? sequence worksheet**
• Art paper

*Items will be included in the free teacher kit.  Request materials.

Safety Considerations

Be aware of student allergies or seeds treated with chemicals, remind students to not put seeds in their mouths, ears, or nose.

Lesson 1: Why is Corn Important to Me?

(30 minute lesson)

Key question: Why do we need farmers to grow corn?

Learning Objectives

Students will propose an answer to the question, “Why do we need farmers to grow corn?”

Students will provide evidence that many everyday products are made from corn.

Materials

• We Grow Corn: Raising Corn on a Kansas Family Farm book
• A variety of products made with corn (ketchup, glue sticks, popcorn, etc.) (optional: Photos of Corn Products
• Pictures of “no corn”/pictures of “corn” (1st Grade)

Procedures for Instruction

Introduce the topic and assess students for prior understanding with such 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: We Grow Corn: Raising Corn on a Kansas Family Farm book

Hard copy of book is available with teacher kit.  To access book online, follow this link.

Discussion

Discuss that corn grows in Kansas and it is all around them. “Do you know what products corn is used to make?”  (Let students discuss without cueing them as to whether they are right or wrong.  Ask them how they could find out, how they could find evidence.)

Play a game with products that contain corn.

List of products made from corn

Common Items Containing Corn

Photos of Corn Products

• Set up 2 stations in the room with the pictures of “no corn” or “corn” used as signs.  Show students one product at a time and ask if they think it contains corn.  If no, they should go to the “no corn” station.  If yes, they should go to the “corn” station.
  • Corn-No Corn Posters

Discussion

• Reveal the answers and discuss.  All the products contain corn.  Discuss with 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?”

 Assessments

• Formative assessments: Assess contributions in first discussion for prior understanding and adjust instruction if needed; assess responses on checklist or during game – are they finding evidence of corn in the product by finding the word “corn” in the ingredients (if they can read)?
• Informal summative assessment: Verbal responses in final discussion – do students recognize that corn is an important agricultural product because it is used in so many of our products?

Lesson 2:  Where is the Corn Seed?

(30-40 minutes, with follow-up observations and a 15-20 minute discussion in 7-10 days)

Consider moving to an outdoor space for the messier part of the lesson.

Key question: How does corn grow?

Learning Objectives

• Students will propose an answer to the question, “Where is the seed in a corn plant?” for further exploration.
• Students will make observations of their plantings to construct an evidence-based account that corn kernels are corn seeds.

Materials

• Complete full grown corn stalks with at least one ear on each (dried is OK) Secure your corn stalk(s) in the fall from a local farmer.  Contact Kansas Corn Commission if you need assistance.
• Planting containers with soil
• Water spray bottle
• Growth Chart
• How Does Corn Grow? sequence worksheet
• Art paper

Procedures for Instruction

Introduce the topic and activate prior learning

Review the importance of corn discovered in the previous lesson, and introduce the question of how it grows with such questions:

“What products did we discover are made from corn?”

“Did you discover any other products at home made from corn?”

“Is it important that our farmers grown corn?  Why?”

“How do farmers grow corn?  What do they need to do?”

Small group discussion and exploration

• Split students into small groups for discussion to answer the questions, “How do new corn plants grow?  How do new plants grow?”
• As students discuss, provide a complete and intact corn stalk (with at least one ear) to each group. (*We recommend you direct students to an outdoor space as this can now get messy.)
• Guide them to think about seeds, and the role that seeds play in growing new corn plants.
• Instruct each group to find the seeds on the corn plant.  Encourage them to take apart the corn stalk.
• Students will propose various parts of the cornstalk they believe may be seeds (the leaves, the roots, the tassels, the kernels, etc.).
• Then ask, “How can we test what is a seed and what is not a seed?”  Guide them to decide that they need to plant what they propose is a seed.

Plant all the parts of the plant

• Distribute planting containers with soil, and have students plant the part they propose is the seed (or have them bring their “seed” to the planting containers).
• Each student will plant only one “seed.”
• Be sure to label the container with what was planted.
• Water the containers with a spray bottle.
• Note:  Optimum planting depth of corn kernel is 1-2 inches deep. Emergence of leaf above the soil will take approximately 5-7 days.

Document their thinking

Distribute art paper, and have students draw a picture of where they found their proposed “seed,” and what they think will emerge from it.  Once the plants begin to grow, have students review their predictions and draw another picture if needed.

Observe and record results over 5-10 days

Growth Chart

• Have students water the soil of all the planting containers so they stay damp with spray bottles over the next 5-10 days (how will they get watered on the weekend?).
• Create a class observation chart (or checklist) to indicate which pots sprout new corn plants.
• Have students observe and record which plantings sprouted new corn plants and which did not.
• Have students use the growth chart to record the growth of their “seed”.

Analyze findings and discuss after 7-10 days (15-20 minutes)

Draw students’ attention to the planting containers and the observation chart.  Discuss with the following or similar prompts:

• “What parts of the corn plant were able to sprout new corn plants?  The leaves?  Tassels?  Roots?  Kernels?”
• “How do you know?”
• “What does this tell you about where the seeds are in the corn plant?”
• “If you wanted to plant corn plants, what part of the plant would you plant?  What are the seeds?”
• “What does a farmer plant in her/his field in order to grow corn?”

Conclusion

Prompt students to explain how they know the corn kernel is a seed, based on their first-hand observations (evidence).   Discuss and review the class observation chart. Have each student compare their prediction drawing to their growth chart. Have students complete the “How Does Corn Grow” sequence worksheet to assess understanding of corn life cycle.

How Does Corn Grow Worksheet

How Does Corn Grow Worksheet-Answer Key

Assessments

• Formative assessments: assess students’ understanding of plant life cycles based on their propositions of how to create a new corn plant; do they know that farmers plant seeds and grow plants?  Adjust instruction and prompts accordingly.
• Informal summative assessment: verbal responses in final discussion – do students recognize that their observations provide evidence that the kernel is the corn seed?  Do they understand the role of seeds in a plant’s life cycle?