TEACHER GUIDE Volume 8, Issue /2009

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1 Welcome to Class sets of this magazine, aimed primarily at 4th grade level, are FREE to subscribing Washington teachers. Instructions for subscribing are on page 6. Limited numbers of back issues are still available. This is the first of three issues for Delivery of the next two issues will be late December and mid- March. Produced by Washington Ag in the Classroom, is designed to help teachers meet student educational goals as well as develop agricultural literacy. The teacher guide connects activities to specific EALR s that will help your students meet state requirements. This issue is designed to help students understand: The economic importance and diverseness of Washington agriculture The importance of agriculture to their lives Washington geography and climate and how these influence agriculture The benefits of dams and how locks enable river transportation Irrigation allows the desert to bloom with crops Reproducible activities in the teacher guide expand on concepts covered in the magazine: Included in the guide are a vocabulary activity and a shopping activity to engage students in food choices and learn where their food dollars go. Why Agricultural Literacy? Agriculture is society s lifeline and an integral part of our heritage. Unfortunately as our country moved from agrarian to urban, people lost contact with the main industry necessary for survival food production. America s largest industry has dropped from public discourse except for the occasional media splash. Yet we all eat, and it is important that we have an understanding of where our food is produced and who we depend upon to deliver it to our tables. Less than 2% of the US population is involved in production agriculture (farming) yet 22 million American jobs are dependent upon it. Agriculture is more than working the land and tending the animals. This huge industry production, processing, transportation, and marketing generates billions of dollars each year. Agriculture is vital to national security, a stable economy, and the US trade balance. 1 TEACHER GUIDE Volume 8, Issue /2009 Vocabulary Words Each issue will introduce several words or word combinations that may be unfamiliar to students. These will appear in bold type the first time they are used. Words in this issue include: yields per acre, bedding plants, irrigation, Pacific Rim, precipitation, latitude, legumes, alfalfa, symbiotic, and ruminants. Definitions are included in a reproducible student activity in the teacher guide and a crossword puzzle in the student magazine. Cover Navigating Washington Ag! Background: Washington is full of agriculture. It is everywhere! Yet, agriculture is different in each part of the state due to our diverse geography and climate. Agriculture is much more than farming. The industry includes producing raw products, transforming them into things people use, distributing them around the state, nation, and world, and marketing them to consumers. These steps employ thousands of people in hundreds of different jobs. 1. Discuss reading maps and finding towns on a map. Go to the Tacoma Public Library website: and and click on Washington Place Names to research the history of how our cities and counties got their names. 2. Which of the crops or products around the edges of the cover have you seen growing? What crops and animals are raised where you live? 3. How does your county rank in ag value and food processing value? Go to the Washington Dept. of Ag website to download useful maps for the answers: Teachers might also want to view the WSDA video Our Farms to Your Table. 4. Have students draw the 117º Longitude line through Washington State (basically the eastern border with Idaho) and 124º Longitude line (basically the western edge where Columbia river enters Pacific Ocean) Answers to questions on the cover: 1. Interstate 5; 2. U.S. 2; 3. U.S. 2; 4. Interstate 90; 5. Interstate 90 & U.S. 395; 6. Interstate 82; 7. U.S. 12 & Interstate 5; 8. Interstate 5

2 Page 2 Agriculture is Everywhere 1. Byproducts from livestock include crayons, glue, adhesive on band-aids, bone china, chewing gum, floor wax, pet foods, cosmetics, piano keys, candles, detergent, etc. Check out the website: 2. Pacific Rim refers to countries, states, or areas located on or near the rim of the Pacific Ocean; a location that is good for trade due to easy access to deep-water ports. Ports in Washington State are two days closer to Asia than ports in California. Washington ports also handle products from other Western States which do not lie on the Pacific Rim. Washington is the third largest agricultural exporter in the nation. About one-third on Washington s ag commodities are exported with about 75% of the commodities going to Asia. What a Plant Needs to Grow: 1. Have students find out what the annual precipitation is in their area. When does most of the precipitation come? As winter snow, or summer rain? 2. What other factors might influence which crops a farmer chooses to grow? Does he have access to irrigation? Is his land hilly? Rocky? Sandy? Does the crop require lots of hand labor or really big expensive machines for harvest? 3. What crops do we NOT grow in Washington? Citrus and tropical fruits, coffee, tea, to name a few. Any plant that needs a tropical rather than a temperate climate will not grow here. Page 3 Climate 1. Why are different crops and animals raised in different regions of Washington? (They all have unique requirements for climate, rainfall, terrain, and soil to thrive) 2. What is meant by a rain shadow? (as clouds rise they lose moisture causing a dry region east of the Cascades) How does it affect the types of crops grown east of the Cascades? (With irrigation, anything can be grown, without irrigation farmers are limited to grain, grass seed, legumes, and some oil seed crops) Using the precipitation map, have students find rain shadow areas caused by the Olympic Mountains. 3. Track the fruit growing areas in Washington. They follow the banks of major rivers and lakes and the Columbia Basin irrigation project. There is enough water in these areas to make micro-climates that are warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. Answers to Crossword on page 3: 1. desert 2. Steppe 3. weather 4. Maritime 5. precipitation 6. temperate 2 Pages 4/5 Grown in Washington 1. What geographical features make WA such a diversified agricultural state? (Next to Pacific Ocean; deep-water ports in Puget Sound; Columbia River for navigation, irrigation and power generation; Cascades split state; volcanoes have provided the rich ash component of our soils; elevation goes from sea level to the top of Mt. Rainier) 2. Discuss individual growing regions and what factors make each an ideal place to grow specific crops or products (have students refer to the boxes on pages 4-5) 3. Four regions produce crops that were not always considered part of agriculture: timber from the Olympic Peninsula, Cascades and Okanogan Highlands; and Christmas trees from the Willapa Hills region. Discuss how forests are a renewable resource. Note: The two foods whose only purpose is being a food are milk and honey. Page 6 Rivers, Dams and Locks Background: 1. Rock Island dam was the first large dam on the Columbia (1933). Bonneville Dam was second, built in 1938 for electricity generation. Grand Coulee was authorized as one of the many projects to put men back to work after the depression and was built to supply irrigation water for the Columbia Basin Project, using the sale of electricity generated by the dam to pay for the construction of the dam and the irrigation delivery system. In 1948 the Snake and Columbia Rivers crested simultaneously and created a flood that wiped out a section of Portland. River-use planners turned their attention to flood control (as well as navigation and power generation) as the remaining dams were completed on the two rivers. 2. Deep water ports are those capable of handling a fully laden Panamax ship. That is a ship that is the maximum size that can still fit through the Panama Canal. As the Panama Canal undergoes its current expansion, the list of ports will change. It is also important that we dredge the Columbia River channel to keep the necessary depth clear for these huge ships to reach the largest Columbia ports. Other ports like Bellingham and Olympia are not equipped to handle Panamax ships. Bremerton is a large port for the US Navy. 3. Discuss the different ways people use and depend upon the Columbia and Snake Rivers (recreation, irrigation, water supply, power generation, flood control, wildlife habitat, transportation and commerce. Can the students think of more?) Answers to Think & Discuss on page 6: 110 trucks X 25 barges = 2750 semi-truckloads

3 Page 7 Legumes & Irrigation Hey Hay! 1. Students may be more familiar with legumes they eat, such as dry beans, split peas, and lentils, or green beans and fresh peas. All these plants share the ability to foster colonies of nitrogen-fixing bacteria on their roots. 2. How many students have seen bales of hay in a field or stack? Did they see hay close to home, on a semi-truck on the highway, or in travels around the state. Most of the hay fed to dairy cattle on farms west of the Cascades is grown in the Columbia Basin and must travel over Snoqualmie Pass. Irrigation 1. The center-page picture illustrates a center-pivot irrigation system. Each tower has wheel drives that power the equipment around a stationary center point, resulting in a circular field. Notice also that the dropped lines emitting the water are much more efficient than the older overhead sprinklers. There is less water lost to evaporation and coverage is more even. 2. The Pacific Flyway for migratory waterfowl was over Spokane in 1900, but shifted over the Columbia Basin about 60 years ago. Why? The Columbia Basin Irrigation project suddenly provided everything birds needed: water habitat, space, food (from crops and crop residues). Page 8 The Amazing Cow Livestock-An Important Part of Agriculture 1. Ruminant animals make full use of the food chain. Illustrate the food chain with students to show how energy from the sun helps plants grow; animals eat the plants and can digest the fiber thanks to microorganisms; humans eat the milk and meat produced by animals. We Are #1 Activity Sheet 1. Students should understand that Washington s combination of rich soils, diverse climates and large-scale irrigation make it one of the most productive growing regions in the world. The warm days and cool nights of the eastern Washington summer are perfect for fruit, grains, hops, legumes, and many other crops. 2. Washington produces 90% of all the raspberries grown in the entire US; 57% of all apples produced in the nation; etc. Hops are mainly used to make beer. Concord grapes are juice grapes for jelly and beverages. 3. The order of the top five commodities will change year to year. There are three aspects that will cause this: price per unit, yield, and number of acres planted or animals raised. 3 Answers to How Big on page 8: 1,000,000,000,000, zeros (one thousand million million) (10 15 ) EALR Connections Social Studies, EALR 2 Economics: pages 1,2,3,4,5, pages 2, pages 3,6 Social Studies, EALR 3 Geography: pages 1, pages 3,4,5, pages 3,4,5,6 Reading: The articles and activities throughout the magazine link to most reading standards. They can be used to build skills in outlining, vocabulary, comprehending important ideas, reading factual material, or reading to learn new information. Writing: The post test is designed to help prepare students to write. The prompts include the four modes of writing: expository, narrative, descriptive and persuasive. Communication: Discussion starters TG Mathematics: TG page page 6, TG page TG page TG page TG page 5 Science: pages 2,7, page pages 2,7, page page 2 Learn More About Agriculture aspx - Free math/nutrition kit for 4th/5th grade; addresses importance of choosing nutrient rich foods first and techniques for visualizing appropriate portion sizes and physical activity. - WA State agricultural statistics Publication and Credits Ag@School is a publication of Washington Agriculture in the Classroom, a non-profit entity created in 1981 to encourage and help teachers increase agricultural literacy in their students. Both public and private groups including the WA Dept. of Agriculture, WSU, commodity commissions, farm organizations, agribusinesses and individuals, support the mission. Teachers may reproduce any pages for use. Graphic design is by Star Andersen, Ritz Publishing & Design.

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