September, 2007

Shine on, Harvest Moon

Throughout the year the Moon rises, on average, about 50 minutes later each day. But near the autumnal equinox, the day-to-day difference in the local time of moonrise is only 30 minutes. The Moon will rise around sunset and not long after sunset for the next few evenings. This is a big help to Northern Hemisphere farmers during harvest because it provides extra light for harvesting crops.

• Students will research online to find when the harvest moon is expected this year.
• Students will observe and chart the harvest moon as a homework assignment.

P.A.S.S. for this lesson

Autumn begins September 23

More ideas for fall from your fellow teachers

Browse all the lessons

Oklahoma Fruit of the Month: Peaches

Peaches rank 21 among Oklahoma agricultural commodities and Oklahoma peaches rank 25 nationwide. While peaches are not a big cash receipts commodity for Oklahoma, they are important to several counties in the state. Peaches are primarily grown in Wagoner county, near Porter, and in Garvin and Pontotoc counties near Stratford. There are also some orchards in eastern Oklahoma county. Production in an average year totals around 12 million pounds.

Roald Dahl's birthday is September 13. Celebrate with a Giant Peach Day. Read James and the Giant Peach while eating sliced peaches with yogurt or some other peach snack.

Play With Your Food: Stratification

• Save peach pits to plant.
• If the pit has dried out, soak it overnight in water.
• Plant in 2 to 3 inches of potting medium.
• Some pits will germinate after 2 or 3 weeks, some after 2 or 3 or more months. Some may not germinate at all, so try different varieties.
• Peach pits sometimes germinate better after a cold treatment:
• Put the pit in a zip lock bag with enough potting medium to cover. The soil should be just barely moist.
• Put the zip lock bag in a refrigerator. It may take 2 to 3 months to see growth.
• Transplant to a pot once the root is a 1/2 or more in length.
• This procedure is called stratification.

P.A.S.S. for this activity

Be a Food Explorer: Dried Peaches

People travelling west in the 19th Century often carried dried peaches. Dry some peaches in a food dehydrator or in an oven at low heat. Have students try peaches dried, canned, fresh and frozen. Which do they like best? Sliced fresh peaches are a great addition to cereal for a healthy breakfast. Canned peaches taste great with plain yogurt. Add a little granola for crunch.

More about peaches

September is National Mushroom Month

Picture a mature tomato plant, buried so that not a single leaf appears aboveground. Overnight a rain falls, and in the morning the soil begins to crack. Suddenly tiny tomatoes pop through. If you watch closely, you can just about see them expand. Within a few days, they're round, ripe and ready for picking. If you can imagine that, then you've got an idea of how mushrooms grow. The part we see and eat is only the fruit. The mushroom plant, called the mycelium, does all of its growing underground (or inside a tree or other growing medium).

More about mushrooms

How mushrooms are produced

What other organisms reproduce by spores instead of seeds? Check out Where the Blue Fern Grows. (Now, at the beginning of the school year, is a great time to do this activity, since it takes a long time for ferns to grow from spores.)

September is Food Safety Education Month

Learn the proper temperatures for cooking meat in Hot Off the Grill.

Learn How Germs Spread in this lesson from the new OAITC curriculum for grades 7-8.

September is Organic Harvest Month

Explore the different meanings of the word "organic" in this lesson.

Browse all the lessons

Books for September

Dahl, Roald, and Lane Smith, James and the Giant Peach, Puffin, 2000. (Grades 4-6)
When James Henry Trotter loses his parents in a horrible rhinoceros accident, he is forced to live with his two wicked aunts. One day, an old man in a dark-green suit gives James a bag of magic crystals . When James accidentally spills the crystals on his aunts' withered peach tree, he sets the adventure in motion. From the old tree a single peach grows, and grows, and grows some more, until finally James climbs inside the giant fruit and rolls away from his despicable aunts to a whole new life.

Easton, Patricia Harrison, and Herb Ferguson, A Week at the Fair: A County Celebration (3-6)
Detailed account of the care and judging of animals at a county fair, as told by a young 4-H'er showing her pig and the family's horse. Nice photographs and a great deal of text.

Gibbons, Gail, Chicks and Chickens, Holiday House, 2000. (Grades K-3)
Diagrams, definitions, and close-up views help viewers and readers understand more about raising chickens. Gibbons informs readers that a chicken can lay unfertilized eggs as well as fertilized, shows the development of chicks within the shell, and indicates how some chicks are raised under artificial conditions. A double-page spread shows different breeds, cutaways show the function of a gizzard, and the development of an egg within a hen. While the book is more complex than many preschoolers and kindergartners are used to, it suits perfectly those farm units where children's questions can be easily answered.

Landau, Elaine, Wheat, Scholastic, 2000. (Grades 3-5)
The history, cultivation, and uses of wheat - from the True Book Series.

Spurll, Margriet, and Barbara, Emma's Eggs, Stoddart, 1997. (picture book, Grades 4-7)
Emma is one ambitious young chicken. When she discovers that she has a talent for creating eggs, she won't rest until she executes the perfect delivery. To her surprise, Emma learns that a little patience can go a long way, and can sometimes be more productive than trying too hard to please.

More books about chickens

More books about fruits and vegetables

More books about wheat

Suggest a book.

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National Chicken Month

In 2005, poultry and eggs were the number two agricultural commodity in our state. Celebrate National Chicken Month with these online poultry lessons.

Clucking Chickens - Students explore sound with clucking chickens made from plastic cups and string.

A Lucky Break - Student identify and decipher some common
phrases in the English language that are related to poultry.

In Gainesville, Georgia, the chicken capital of the world, it is illegal to eat chicken with a fork.

More Facts About Chickens and Eggs

September is National Honey Month

Honey is delicious, but did you know honeybees are more valuable for the job they do pollinating crops than they are for their honey? Read about the importance of pollination in these lessons from the new 7th-8th grade curriculum:

• The Disappearing Honeybees
• If Not for the Pollinators

More online OAITC bee lessons

Facts about bees and honey

Deanna Hildebrand, who is on our advisory committee and works in OSU's Department of Nutritional Sciences, shares this:

The April 2007 Journal of the American Dietetic Association has an article titled "Promoting Nutrition Education with School Gardens." The short of it - after completing a 12-week program, 6th grade students who participated in an intervention that included both gardening and nutrition education components increased fruit and vegetable consumption more than students who received only nutrition education and students in the control group which had no intervention.

With this in mind, consider planting some fall vegetables your students may never have tried. If you have an outdoor classroom, or just a little space outdoors, you can still plant:

• kale - so pretty it is often planted with pansies in the fall, but you can eat it, too.
• kohlrabi - what a great vocabulary word.
• mustard - for mustard greens, but your students might be interested in seeing the plant which produces the seeds that are ground into the condiment they use on their sandwiches.
• spinach
• peas
• Swiss chard
• turnips

In October, harvest the greens, chop them up, and throw them into a nice soup or stir fry - or have a tasting party and try them raw. Plants grown for harvest in the fall require some special treatment. OSU's Fall Gardening Fact Sheet walks you through the process.

Activities with leafy greens.

Oklahoma Vegetable of the Month: Tomatoes

Tomatoes love hot weather but stop producing once temperatures get down to 50 degrees. They ripen best at temperatures around 75 degrees. Savvy gardeners started new plants in July so there may still be some delicious tomatoes available at your local farmer's market.

Of course the most important thing about tomatoes is that they are sooooo good for you. Tomatoes are high in Vitamins A and C and are considered one of the best sources of lycopene, an antioxidant that helps fight cancer and some other diseases.

The heaviest tomato ever grown weighed 7 lb, 12 oz. It was of the cultivar 'Delicious' and was grown by Gordon Graham of Edmond, Oklahoma in 1986.

More about tomatoes

More activities with tomatoes and other members of the nightshade family

Play With Your Food: Tomatoes

Bring a variety of tomatoes to class (from parents who have gardens or from the farmer's market).

• Students will sort tomatoes by shape, size, and color.

Bring green tomatoes to class.

• Students will experiment with the best conditions for ripening the tomatoes- on the window sill, in a bag, in a bag with a ripe peach or some other ripe fruit, in a refrigerator.
• Students will predict which tomatoes will ripen first.
• Students will observe the ripening tomatoes for several days and record observations.

Tomato varieties have some interesting names: Arkansas Traveler, Big Rainbow, Black Krim, Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, Green Zebra, Mortgage Lifter, and Big Boy, to name a few.

• Assign each student two or three tomato varieties.
• Students will write paragraphs or draw pictures describing what they think the tomatoes look like, based on their names.
• Students will research the varieties, using the internet, seed catalogs or plant books.
• Students will write stories or plays with the tomato varieties as characters.

P.A.S.S. for these activities

How to save tomato seeds.

Read about Tomatina, a festival held each year in Buñol, Spain, where they take playing with their food (tomatoes) to a new level.

Be a Food Explorer: Cold Tomato Soup

Soup is great for warming you up in the winter time, but have your students ever tried cold soup? Prepare a simple gazpacho (another good vocabulary word) with tomato juice, chopped fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet peppers and herbs like basil or parsley. Add lemon juice and a little olive oil, and chill thoroughly. Serve in small paper cups.

State Fair of Oklahoma is open September 13-23.

Tulsa State Fair opens September 27.

Our nation's first fairs were all about agriculture

The first fairs in our country were all about agriculture. They were organized to introduce farmers to new animal breeds and other agricultural innovations.

After the War of Independence, patriotic gentlemen began forming agricultural societies to advance schemes that might help the US achieve economic self-sufficiency. Elkanah Watson was one such gentleman. He was a farmer and one-time revolutionary who traveled around Europe and recorded his observations about European manners, morals, farming, industry, etc. After retiring he returned to his native Massachusetts. In 1808 he held an exhibition on the village green to show two Merino sheep he had acquired. Merino sheep are valued for their fine fleece. Watson hoped to encourage local hillside farmers to raise the sheep in order to guarantee a steady supply of raw wool for his newly established wool factory.

Two years later Watson convinced local farmers to hold a larger livestock exhibition. Its success led to the establishment of the Berkshire Agricultural Society the following year, organized for the sole purpose of holding an annual county fair, The first fair was held in 1811. Prizes were offered for the best livestock in the county, and more than 3,000 people attended.

In  later fairs, women were invited to compete in the domestic skills of cloth production. The purpose of these competitions was to encourage local households to lessen their dependency on European products.

Other communities began to organize county fairs not only to compete but to learn. By the 1840s county fairs would come to be showcases for new American inventions, such as Cyrus McCormick's reaper and John Deere's steel plow, as well as for imported livestock. They also became the social event of the rural year. Fairs provided a morally legitimate and socially sanctioned reason for farm families to rest from their labors and travel to town to mingle and enjoy each other’s company. (Source: McCarry, John, and Randy Olson, County Fairs: Where America Meets, National Geographic Society, 1997.)

Cherokees held the first fair in what would become Oklahoma. In 1845, the Agricultural Society of the Cherokee Nation staged a one-day fair near Tahlequah to promote stock raising and the planting of cash crops.

P.A.S.S.

Time to Plant Winter Wheat

• Pre-Kindergarten: Science Process - 1.3,4. Life Science - 3.1,2,3. Earth Science - 4.3. Writing - 9.1,3
• Kindergarten: Science Process - 1.2,3. Life Science - 2.1,2. Earth Science - 3.3. Writing - 1.1
• Grade 1: Science Process - 3.1,2; 4.3. Life Science - 2.1. Writing - 2.3
• Grade 2: Science Process - 3.1,2; 4.3. Life Science - 2.1. Writing - 2.4
• Grade 3: Science Process - 3.1,2; 4.3. Life Science - 2.1. Writing - 2.1
• Grade 4: Science Process - 3.1,2; 4.3. Life Science - 3.1. Writing - 1.2
• Grade 5: Science Process - 3.1,2; 4.3. Life Science - 2.2. Writing - 2.1
• Grade 6: Science Process - 3.1,5; 4.1,5. Life Science - 4.1,2. Earth Science - 5.3. Writing - 2.7
• Grade 7: Science Process - 3.1,5; 4.1,5. Life Science - 4.2. Writing - 2.8
• Grade 8: Science Process - 3.1,5; 4.5. Life Science - 3.2. Writing - 2.8

September is All-American Breakfast Month

• Grade 1: Science Process - 1.2; 2.1; 4.3. Physical Science - 1.1. Math Process - 1.2; 5.1,2. Math Content - 5.1,2
• Grade 2: Science Process - 1.2; 2.1; 4.3. Physical Science - 1.1. Math Process - 1.2; 5.1,2. Math Content - 5.1,2
• Grade 3: Science Process - 1.2; 2.1. Physical Science - 1.1. Math Process - 1.2; 5.1,2. Math Content - 5.1a
• Grade 4: Science Process - 1.2; 2.1. Math Process - 1.2; 5.1,2. Math Content - 5.1b
• Grade 5: Science Process - 1.2; 2.1. Physical Science - 1.1. Math Process - 1.2; 5.1,2. Math Content - 5.1ad

Shine On, Harvest Moon

• Grade 3: Reading - 6.1bde,2ab
• Grade 4: Reading - 4.1b; 5.2c
• Grade 5: Reading - 5.1a,2b. Science Process - 1.1; 3.1; 4.1. Earth Science - 3.3
• Grade 6: Reading - 5.1b
• Grade 7: Reading - 5.1abf. Science Process - 1.1; 3.1; 5.1. Earth Science - 6.1
• Grade 8: Reading - 5.1ab

Play With Your Food: Tomatoes

• Pre-Kindergarten: Math - 1.1. Science Process - 1.1,3,4,5. Physical Science - 2.1,2. Life Science - 3.2
• Kindergarten: Math - 1.1. Science Process - 1.1,2,3. Physical Science - 1.1,2. Life Science - 2.2
• Grade 1: Science Process - 1.2; 2.1; 3.1,2. Physical Science - 1.1,2
• Grade 2: Science Process - 1.2; 2.1
• Grade 3: Science Process - 1.2; 2.1. Reading - 6.2ab. Writing - 2.1,2,6
• Grade 4: Science Process - 1.2; 2.1. Reading - 5.2c. Writing - 2.2
• Grade 5: Science Process - 1.2; 2.1. Physical Science - 1.1. Reading - 5.1a. Writing - 2.2
• Grade 6: Science Process - 1.1; 2.1,2; 3.1. Physical Science 1.1. Reading - 5.1ab. Writing - 2.1abc

Play With Your Food: Stratification

• Grade 3: Science Process - 3.1,2. Life Science - 2.1,2
• Grade 4: Science Process - 3.1,3. Life Science - 3.1
• Grade 5: Science Process - 3.1,3. Life Science - 2.2