June 9, 2009

Corn curriculum live on Nebraska Corn Board's website

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An educational curriculum with lessons based upon the life cycle of corn is available for teachers -- and others -- on the Nebraska Corn Board's website.

The curriculum provides educators different examples for teaching core subjects and has been rated by the Nebraska Department of Education’s academic standards for mathematics, reading/writing, science and social studies/history.

The curriculum and teachers keys are organized by unit in individual .pdf files. The nine units utilize examples from the corn industry to teach mathematics, science, language arts, social studies, music and art.

Each unit contains a brief story, background for teachers and hands-on lesson plans that are adaptable to all ages. Stories are based on a Minnesota farm family

At the same time, students learn about everything from corn's role in American history to genetics, the environment, satellites, geography, nutrition and a whole lot more.

Here are a few lines from the introduction, talking about what the family's children see every day as they walk down their lane to the school bus:

They see the planning and preparation, the planting, the cultivation, and the harvest. They know that one must come before the other, that there's an order to life.

They understand connections. Corn from their fields is used to feed animals and people around the world. Their corn is also a source of energy; a source that can be renewed and recycled. They know humility. Their crop depends on rain and sunshine. They have no power over storms. They know hope. Every year they watch small kernels become strong plants.

Click here to access the curriculum.

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