George Washington Carver:
Scientist
Holly Murray 2nd Grade Social Studies
Group Size: Individual Student, Small Group, or Whole Class Lesson
Special Warning to Teacher: Before
completing this activity, make sure that teacher is aware of any food allergies
of students, as students will be handling and eating peanuts.
Standards:
Georgia Performance Standards:
Grade 2
Social Studies
Topic: Civics/Government
Standard: SS2CG3
The student will
give examples of how the historical figures under study demonstrate the
positive citizenship traits of honesty, dependability, liberty,
trustworthiness, honor, civility, good sportsmanship, patience, and compassion.
Science
Topic: Characteristics of Science
Standard: S2CS6
The student will be
familiar with the character of scientific knowledge and how it is achieved.
Topic: Characteristics of Science
Standard: S2CS7
The student will understand important features of the process of scientific inquiry.
Topic: Earth Science
Standard: S2E3
Students will observe and record changes in their surroundings and infer the causes of the changes.
Topic: Life Science
Standard: S2L1
The student will investigate the life cycles of different living organisms.
National Technology Standards:
Standard: 2
The student will
understand the ethical, cultural, and societal issues related to technology.
The student will
practice responsible use of technology systems, information, and software.
The student will
develop positive attitudes toward technology uses that support lifelong
learning, collaboration, personal pursuits, and productivity.
Standard: 3
The student will use
technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity, and promote
creativity.
Standard: 5
The student will use
technology to locate, evaluate, and collect information from a variety of
sources.
National Standards:
Topic: The History of the United States
Standard: NSS-USH.K-4.3
Democratic
principles and values and the people from many cultures who contributed to its
cultural, economic, and political heritage. The student will understand the folklore and other cultural contributions from various regions
of the United States and how they helped to form a national heritage.
Topic: Science and Technology
Standard: NS.K-4.5
The student will
develop the ability to distinguish between natural objects and objects made by
humans.
Topic: History of Nature and Science
Standard: NS.K-4.7
The student will
develop an understanding of science as a human endeavor.
Primary Learning
Outcomes:
Who is George Washington Carver? What did he do? How did he help his community? Can I apply George Washington Carver’s example of persistence to my activities?
Secondary Learning
Outcomes:
What are the stages of growth for a peanut plant?
Materials:
Our America – 2nd Grade History/Geography
Reader, ABeka Book
Power Point
Presentation – Anticipatory Set: George
Washington Carver
Student Desktop or
Laptop Computer with Internet Connection
Headphones
Copy of Word
Document Web Sites for Students - one per student
Copy of Word
Document Share What You Know – one per student
Copy of Word
Document How to Plant a Peanut – one per student
Food Processor or
Blender
Raw Peanuts – in the
shell, soaked overnight before the day of the lesson
Roasted Peanuts – 1
pound shelled (salted)
Vegetable or Peanut
Oil – 2 Tablespoons
Measuring Spoon
Spatula
Copy of Word
document How to Plant a Peanut – one per student
Pot or Container
with Drainage Hole – one per student, labeled with their name
Sand – enough to
fill pots of each student ½ full
Plastic Spoons – for
filling pots with sand and enough for tasting peanut butter
Water
Web Resources:
Title: George
Washington Carver
File Name: Enchanted
Learning
Description: This site gives a brief, easy to read
description of George Washington Carver.
Title: George Washington Carver Background
Information and Activities
File Name: Brain
Pop Jr.
Description: This site offers a brief life history of
George Washington Carver.
Additionally, it provides several enrichment activities that
students can do by themselves or with an adult.
Title: Voice of George Washington Carver
File Name: The New York Public
Library
Description: This site has an audio clip of George
Washington Carver naming two products he has developed from peanuts at Tuskegee
Institute.
Title: Peanut Plant Anatomy
File Name: Enchanted
Learning
Description: This site gives a brief description of peanut
plants including how to grow them and a labeled picture of the parts of a
peanut plant.
Title: How You Can Grow a Peanut Plant
File Name: About
Peanuts
Description: This site explains how to plant the peanut
seeds.
Title: Growing Peanuts in the Home Garden
File Name: Horticulture
& Home Pest News
Description: This site details how to care for a
transplanted peanut plant outside.
Title: The Peanut:
A Subterranean Legume
File Name: Wayne’s Word
Description: This site has extra information about peanut
development for the teacher.
Procedures:
Step Number: 1 – Anticipatory Set
Duration: 5 Minutes
Materials Required: Power Point Slide Show – Anticipatory Set: George Washington Carver
Ask students if they
have ever heard of George Washington Carver before. Explain that he was a famous
scientist, and that they are going to play a game to see how much they know
about George Washington Carver, and to learn a little bit more about him.
Step Number: 2 - Text Reading (alone or in small groups)
Duration: 5 Minutes
Ask students to open
their A Beka history textbook to page 145. Have students volunteer to read the
vocabulary words on page 145, assisting as necessary. Ask students to read the second and
third paragraphs (by himself or herself, or with a partner or group).
Step Number: 3 – Review Text Reading
Duration: 5 Minutes
Ask students to
explain (to a partner or to the teacher) why Dr. Carver spent so many years
helping the people of his community. Teacher should walk around the room
and monitor discussion, assisting where necessary.
Step Number: 4 - Research
Duration: 15 Minutes
(Before beginning:
Open the Word document Web Sites for Students on each computer
that will be used by the students for research. Students will need to hit the control
key and then left click on the hyperlink to be taken to the website. This is to prevent
students from having to type in the web addresses and chance making an error
leading to an inappropriate site.)
Distribute Web
Sites for Students document to each student. Give them a moment to glance over the
sheet. Explain
to students that they will need to circle two websites that they would like to
research online. One site needs to be from the list of sites about George
Washington Carver, and one site needs to be from the list about peanuts. Have students go to
the computer.
Distribute Share
What You Know worksheet.
Students will open the websites of their choice from the Word
document, and fill out the questions on the worksheet that corresponds with the
site that they chose to research. Students may complete this activity in
groups if the teacher chooses.
Step Number: 5 - Check Work for Accuracy
Duration: 10 Minutes
Have students
exchange papers with a peer (if students completed step four in groups, make
sure that each group exchanges papers with another group). Students (either alone or in the same
grouping as step four) should check their peer’s paper for errors, and then
return it to the owner.
(The teacher should
direct students to write their name and mark the number of errors they found at
the bottom of their peer’s paper, not cross out, or circle mistakes.)
Step Number: 6 - Make Revisions
Duration: 10 Minutes
(When this task is completed, students may spend wait time researching other sites from the Word document Web Sites for Students.)
Students will use the
websites chosen in step four to revise their own papers (either alone or in a
group). Once
completed, students will turn papers in to the teacher for assessment.
Step Number: 7 - Review
Duration: 5 Minutes
Review with students
the parts of the peanut plant and how to grow a peanut plant
using the Enchanted
Learning website.
Step Number: 8 – Plant a peanut plant
Duration: 15 Minutes
Distribute copy of Word document How to Plant a
Peanut – one per student.
Have the following materials available at a work station: a pot
or container with drainage hole – one per student - labeled with their name, sand
– enough to fill pots of each student, plastic spoons, and water.
Allow the students to
plant their peanut following the instructions on the handout.
Students will
document the growth of their plants over the following week.
Step Number: 9 - Review
Duration: 5 Minutes
Review: Ask students to name as many things as they
can remember that Dr. Carver made using peanuts. Ask students to explain why Dr. Carver
wanted to find so many uses for peanuts.
Step Number: 10 – Make homemade peanut butter
Duration: 5 Minutes
Teacher pours roasted
peanuts into a blender and blend until peanut butter reaches the desired
consistency (between 2 and 4 minutes). Add oil as needed to adjust the
smoothness of the texture.
While blending, discuss with students the various ways that
peanut butter can be used and ask how they prefer it (sandwiches, on fruit, on
crackers, in cookies or other desserts, some people use it to remove chewing
gum from hair, etc.). The
teacher should use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl during
mixing.
Step Number: 11- Using multiple senses to describe (group activity)
Duration: 10 Minutes
Dip plastic spoons
into homemade peanut butter and hand to each student. Ask students to use their senses to
describe the peanut butter.
Record their responses on the board or on a chart at the front of
the room. Write
the description that each student gives under the appropriate sense heading: sight, smell, taste, touch, sound. Encourage students
to list as many adjectives and phrases under each heading as they can.
Assessment:
Teacher will observe students during all activities and monitor discussions to determine student comprehension of material.
Teacher will check over questions turned in from step four, to assess student understanding as well.
Finally, teacher will inspect peanut plants to scrutinize student discernment and following of directions, and observe student documentation of plant growth over the next week.
Extension Activities:
Resource for activities 1-3:
George Washington Carver Background Information and Activities. (2007). Brain POP Jr. Retrieved January 18, 2008, from http://www.brainpopjr.com/socialstudies/biographies/georgewashingtoncarver/grownups.weml
1. Recycle It: Just as Dr. Carver found new ways of using peanuts, students can be inventive with items as well. Have students locate objects at home and find alternative uses for them. Discuss the importance of recycling in today’s society.
2. Persevere: Dr. Carver did not give up after finding one use for peanuts. He did not give up after finding 100 uses for peanuts. In all, Dr. Carver found over 300 uses for peanuts, and 100 uses for sweet potatoes. He was successful because he never gave up. Students can follow his example. As a whole group, have students brainstorm problems that they might face. Have students break into smaller groups, choose a problem to solve, and write an imaginary script about how they might solve that problem. Let students act out their dramatic productions.
3. The Artist in You: Dr. Carver attended school to become an artist, but was encouraged by his teacher to pursue higher education in order to obtain a higher-paying career. Though education was very important, he still enjoyed painting, and won an award for some of his drawings. Go on a nature walk looking for interesting plants or find a houseplant to study. Draw what you see.
Resource for activity 4:
Hopkins, G. (2007, October 24). Nuts for peanuts! Peanut plants, peanut timeline, and peanut-s-timation. Education World. Retrieved January 19, 2008, from http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/02/lp259-03.shtml
4. Estimation Jar: Place a large, clear jar at the front of the room and fill with shelled or unshelled peanuts. Have students estimate the number of peanuts in the jar. Award a special prize for the winner and the runner-up.
Community Extension:
Talk with a local farmer and request them to come to the classroom to share about what it is like to be a farmer today, and to allow students to ask questions.
Take a trip to a local grocery store and compare the cost of buying peanut butter and making it homemade.
Other Resources:
Armstrong, W.P. (2007, December 8). The peanut: A subterranean legume. Wayne’s Word. Retrieved January 19, 2008, from http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ecoph8b.htm
Col, J. (2007). George Washington Carver. Enchanted Learning. Retrieved January 18, 2008, from http://www.enchantedlearning.com/inventors/page/c/carver.shtml
Col, J. (2007). Peanut Plant Anatomy. Enchanted Learning. Retrieved January 19, 2008, from http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/plants/pages/peanutplant.shtml
Ehler, J. (2008). Peanut Butter. Food Reference Website. Retrieved January 18, 2008, from http://www.foodreference.com/html/peanutbutter.html
George
Washington Carver. (2008). The New York Public Library. Retrieved January 18, 2008, from http://www.nypl.org/research/sc/scl/carver.html
George Washington Carver Background Information and Activities. (2007). Brain POP Jr. Retrieved January 18, 2008, from http://www.brainpopjr.com/socialstudies/biographies/georgewashingtoncarver/grownups.weml
Hopkins, G. (2007, October 24). Nuts for peanuts! Peanut plants, peanut timeline, and peanut-s-timation. Education World. Retrieved January 19, 2008, from http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/02/lp259-03.shtml
How you can grow a peanut plant. (2007, November 2). About Peanuts. Retrieved January 19, 2008, from http://www.aboutpeanuts.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=50&Itemid=72
Jauron, R. & VanDyk, J. (1997, December 23). Growing peanuts in the home garden. Horticulture &Home Pest News, (volume number unknown), p. 56. Retrieved January 19, 2008, from http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/1997/5-2-1997/peanuts.html
Sleeth, N. (Ed.). (1997). Our America history and geography reader (3rd ed.). Pensacola, FL: Pensacola Christian College.
Total Time Allotment:
90 minutes - This
lesson may be divided and taught on two different days.
Attachments:
Web Sites for Students
Share What You Know
How to Plant a Peanut
Anticipatory Set – George Washington Carver