Whitney Powell

History of Science Lesson Plan

SOL: BIO. 8 The student will investigate and understand dynamic equilibria within populations, communities, and ecosystems. Key concepts include: d. the effects of natural evens and human influences on ecosystems. Objective: Students will describe possible and current circumstances that popular crops create throughout the United States. In addition, students will study this topic from a historical view highlighted by the work of George Washington Carver. Materials: - computers for research - activity sheets Management and Safety: There are no safety concerns that students need to worry about for this lesson. However, students will be reminded that when using the internet, they should never go to websites that are off limits such as, facebook, twitter, or anything improper for school. In addition, when completing research students should use reliable sites such as encyclopedias and .gov and .edu sites. Engage: 10 minutes George Washington Carver Mini Bio http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdz8XTNttdc This video gives a quick snapshot of George Washington Carvers life work. After the video the following questions will be discussed 1. What hardships did Carver have to overcome? 2. What were some of his biggest accomplishments? 3. Was there anything that stood out to you as interesting? Explore: 20 minutes Carvers life goal was to help change the fate of under-educated African-American farmers in the Deep South. However, there were obstacles such as - lack of education - lack of money - fear to try something new and risk that years crop Thus Carver came up with multiple ways to takes something that was seen as useless and transform it into something useful. One example includes Carvers plan with acorns. Acorns were seen and still are seen as something useless however, Carver had the idea to grind up the acorns and turn them into livestock feed. Now its your turn to research other ideas and plans Carver executed that took something useless and transformed it into something useful for almost no money at all. Use the Internet to research and find three examples. You can work with a partner!

Whitney Powell Explain: 15 minutes Sets of partners will take turns telling the class about ONE of their findings try not to repeat the same ones! Next, I will explain that years of growing cotton throughout the South had ruined the layer of top soil, and had created unfertile soil. Rich white farmers had ways to ensure crop growth through expensive hybrid seeds and fertilizers, but newly freed poor black farmers could not afford these seeds. So Carver established plans for farmers to grow other crops such as peanuts and sweet potatoes that would flourish in the depleted soil and help produce rejuvenated soil. Elaborate: 30-40 minutes Students will be broken up into groups of three. Students will be assigned a crop to research. The crops include; tobacco, soybeans, corn, wheat, potatoes, oats, oranges, hay, and sugar beets. The group will be assigned to research their particular crop to find information about its assigned crop. They should use reliable websites that end in .edu or .gov such as the Soil and Water Conservation site. Students should find information about the popular scientific name of the crop, its preferred habitat and growing conditions, prevalence throughout the United States, why farmers prefer to grow this crop, the dangers behind growing the crop, any events or laws that have occurred because of the crop, and any existing issues or conflicts associated with the crop. Students will be given an activity sheet to aid research. Evaluate:
Total Possible Points Breakdown 0 points student is disruptive during the video, not paying attention, and does not participate in discussion 5 points student was interested in the video but did not participate in discussion questions 10 points student was both interested in the video and actively participated in discussion questions. 0 points student did not complete research on Carver & found no transformations he discovered. 10 points student only found one transformation, but was disruptive during research time. 20 points student only found two transformations 30 points student researched and found three transformations. 0 points student was disruptive during discussion. 5 points student was paying attention during the discussion but did not actively participate. 10 points student was actively engaged in discussion and participated throughout the discussion. Students will receive 5 points for each question answered with adequate effort. Total

Engage

10 points

Explore

30 points

Explain

10 points

Elaborate

50 points

Whitney Powell

George Washington Carver

George Washington Carver was known for taking things that were seen as worthless and transforming it into something useful. One example, includes taking acorns (which are still seen as useless) and grinding them to turn them into livestock feed. Its your turn! Work with a partner to research three other transformations Carver taught other farmers! Be prepared to share one with the class. 1.)

2.)

3.)

George Washington Carver

George Washington Carver was known for taking things that were seen as worthless and transforming it into something useful. One example, includes taking acorns (which are still seen as useless) and grinding them to turn them into livestock feed. Its your turn! Work with a partner to research three other transformations Carver taught other farmers! Be prepared to share one with the class. 1.)

2.)

3.)

Whitney Powell

Investigating Crops
Name: __________________________________________________ Date: ________________________

Group Members: _____________________________________________________________________________ Crop Name: Scientific Name(s): Prevalence throughout the United States: Preferred Habitat & growing conditions:

Typical growing season, steps to harvesting:

Why do farmers prefer to grow this crop?

Dangers behind growing the crop:

How does this crop affect topsoil?

Events or laws created because of the crop:

Existing Issues & Conflicts: