The student will read information about George Washington Carver and outline the information.
Peanuts are native to South America. The ancient Incas of Peru stashed peanuts in jars at burial sites to nourish departed spirits. Peanuts made their way to the southern colonies of North America with slaves from West Africa, who planted them as a food crop to feed themselves. They called the nut
“nguba,” which was the origin of the word “goober,” one of many names for the peanut.
The peanut is now cultivated in more than 40 countries on six continents.
India and China produce more than half the peanuts in the world, followed by Nigeria, Senegal, the United States, Indonesia, Sudan, and Burma. In the
United States, the major peanut-growing states are Georgia, Alabama, North
Carolina, and Texas. Oklahoma ranks seventh among the states that raise peanuts in our country.
The peanut is not a nut but a legume, in the same family as the bean and the pea. Legumes help restore poor soils by capturing nitrogen from the air and making it available to the plants through their root systems.
Peanuts need a long growing season to produce mature seeds. They will not tolerate frost. Although they form underground, the edible portions of the plant are not tubers but seeds housed in a capsule—a nutlike shell. The plant bears yellow male flowers and inconspicuous female flowers. After fertilization, the peduncle, or flower stalk, grows long, forcing the growing seed pod underground, where it reaches maturity.
The peanut is about 28 percent protein, 50 percent oil, 18 percent carbohydrates, and 4 percent ash. Few agricultural plants have as many potential uses. In the United States, one-fourth of all edible peanuts end up in candy bars, and over half are used for making peanut butter. Americans eat enough peanut butter in a year to make over 10 billion peanut butter sandwiches. At graduation, the average high school student will have consumed 1,500 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The average American eats about 11 pounds of peanuts a year.
Very little peanut butter is consumed outside the United States.
Worldwide, about two-thirds of the peanut crop is crushed for oil. Peanut oil supplies about 8 percent of the world’s edible oil production. Peanut products are used in food processing and for animal food. The peanut shell and residues left after oil pressing can be fed to animals. Plants can also be left in the ground to provide excellent forage for cattle and swine and to help enrich the soil.
Grade 1
Social Studies PALS—
2.C.8
Social Studies Content—
2.3; 3.3; 4.2,4
Grade 2
Social Studies PALS—
1.A.1,3,B.5,C.7
Social Studies Content—
3.2,3,4; 4.3,4
Grade 3
Science Process—1.2; 3.1,2
Life Science—2.1,2
Earth Science—3.2
Social Studies PALS—
1.A.2,3,B.5,C.7,8
Social Studies Content—
3.1a; 4.1
COmmOn COre
Language Arts—
3.RI.1,2,3,4,8,10
Grade 4
Science Process—1.2; 3.1,2
Life Science—3.1,4
Social Studies PALS—
1.A.2,3,B.5,C.7
Social Studies Content—
1.1a,2ab
COmmOn COre
Language Arts—
4.RI.1,2,3,4,5,10
Grade 5
Science Process—1.2; 3.1,2
Life Science—2.2
COmmOn COre
Language Arts—
5.RI.2,3,4,10 www.agclassroom.org/ok

boll weevil— a small, grayish, longsnouted beetle of Mexico and the southern United States, having destructive larvae that hatch in and damage cotton bolls edible— fit to be eaten forage— food for domesticated animals fertilization— the use of natural or synthetic materials, including manure and nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium compounds, to increase the capacity of soil to support plant growth gullies— deep cuts in the land where topsoil has been washed or blown away horticulture— the science of agriculture which relates to the cultivation of gardens or orchards, including the growing of vegetables, fruits, flowers, and ornamental shrubs and trees legume— a family of plants which, with the aid of symbiotic bacteria, convert nitrogen from the air to build up nitrogen in the soil. Legumes include many valuable food and forage species, including peas, beans, peanuts, clover, and alfalfa.
nitrogen— gas that occurs naturally in the air and soil, where it is converted into usable forms for plant use by bacteria and other natural processes peanut— a vine native to tropical
America and widely cultivated in semitropical regions, having yellow flowers on stalks that bend over so the seed pods can ripen underground.
Cultivated for its edible seeds. peduncle— the stalk of a flower cluster, or the flowering part of a solitary flower residue— a deposit of material not used by the plant topsoil— the surface layer of soil
1. Read and discuss background materials.
2. Hand out the Reading Page and student worksheets included with this lesson.
—Students will read the information on the Reading Page as a class or read the information independently.
3. Lead a class discussion based on the reading and the following questions:
—Why did George Washington Carver stay with his owner after he was no longer a slave?
—What is horticulture? How does this field of study relate to Carver’s love of drawing flowers?
—Why did the freed slaves have trouble earning a living from the land they were working?
—How do peanuts improve the soil?
—Why did Carver have to find ways to use peanuts?
—How did the boll weevil persuade Southern farmers to start planting peanuts?
4. Review outlining.
—Students will follow instructions on the student worksheets to complete the outline.
5. Students will make timelines of the life of George Washington
Carter based on the reading.
1. Students will use the Scientific Method Format included with this lesson to conduct a growing experiment with peanuts.
—Soak shelled raw peanuts overnight.
—Fill an aquarium or one-gallon clear glass jars with soil to within one inch of the top. (A glass container will allow your students to see the peanuts growing.) As an alternative, provide clear plastic cups so each student can have his/her own plant.
—Students will plant peanuts one and a half to two inches deep and press the soil down firmly without packing it.
—Keep the soil moist but not wet. Room temperature should be 65 degrees or more. Eighty degrees is ideal.
—After the peanuts sprout (in five to eight days) give the plants as much direct sunshine as possible. Blossoms will appear about 45 days after planting.
—Don’t expect peanuts unless you can keep the plants growing at least three months.
—Students will harvest peanuts by pulling up the plants when the tops are brown and dry.
www.agclassroom.org/ok

2. To help students understand soil nutrient depletion, provide seeds of radishes, lettuce or some other fast-growing plant
—Students will plant the seeds in potting medium.
—After the plants have matured, students will pull them up and plant again, without adding fertilizer.
—Repeat the process several times over a period of several months.
—Students will keep track of the plant quality.
—Discuss the depletion process and the need to return nutrients to the soil.
1. Students will find the following states, countries, and continents on a map or globe:
South America, North America, Africa, India, China, Nigeria,
Senegal, the United States, Indonesia, Sudan, Burma, Georgia,
Alabama, North Carolina, Texas, and Oklahoma.
Keller, Kristin Thoennes, From Peanut to Peanut Butter , First Facts, 2004.
Monroe, Judy, George Washington Carver: Scientist and Inventor , Capstone,
2005.
Nelson, Robin, From Peanut to Peanut Butter, Lerner, 2004.
Olson, Nathan, George Washington Carver: Ingenious Inventor , Capstone,
2006.
Make peanut butter in a blender or food processor, using one cup of roasted peanuts. If necessary, add and one teaspoonful of vegetable oil.
www.agclassroom.org/ok

G eorge Washington Carver was born a slave on a Missouri farm. He was freed at the end of the Civil War, while he was still a child, but since he was an orphan, he grew up in the housegood for the soil, because they capture nitrogen from the air and make it available to the soil. Peanuts are legumes and grow well in the South. Carver found that peanuts did an excellent job of improving the hold of his former owner. He went to school in a one-room school for black children nine miles from his home.
In 1889 Carver enrolled at Simpson College in
Iowa. He earned his $12 yearly tuition by working as a cook. Carver loved to draw flowers. He wanted to be an artist, but he decided to study horticulture instead. In 1896 he earned a master’s degree at Iowa
State Agricultural College.
That same year Booker
T. Washington asked him to go to work as head of the
Department of Agriculture at Tuskegee Institute in
Alabama. In the South, slaves had been freed but now had no way to support their families. Freed slaves worked long hours in cotton fields that were too worn out to produce crops. The goal of the institute was to teach people how to grow better crops.
The Tuskegee Institute was located on an abandoned cotton plantation. Great gullies cut deep into the land. The topsoil had blown or washed away.
Much of the farming land of the South was in the same condition, worn out by many years of poor agricultural practices.
Carver began looking for ways to improve the soil. He experimented with legumes. Legumes are soil.
The next step was finding uses for peanuts. Until then peanuts had been considered “circus chaw,” containing little or no food value.
In 1897 George Washington Carver began experimenting with peanuts. He found ways to use peanuts in cereals, oils, dyes, soaps and many other things.
In all he found over 300 uses for the peanut.
In 1892, the boll weevil crossed the Rio Grande from
Mexico into Texas and wiped out the few cotton crops that remained in the South. In desperation,
Southern farmers began listening to
Carver’s advice and growing peanuts. The peanut crop was a huge success. By 1940, the South boasted a $250 million industry revolving around the peanut. Today the annual harvest is worth $3 billion.
Carver went on the road with his findings. He traveled to farmsteads belonging to Black farmers to show them how to enrich the soil and how to plant and care for peanuts, soybeans, sweet potatoes, greens and other vegetables.
His fame as a scientist and educator grew throughout the world. When he died at Tuskegee, on
June 5, 1943, he was one of America’s most honored scientists.
Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom is a program of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, the Oklahoma
Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Oklahoma State Department of Education.

Name
______________________________________________________________
Read the information on The Reading Page. Then copy the following statements in their proper places in the outline on Student Worksheet B.
The Tuskegee Institute was located on an abandoned cotton plantation.
Carver travelled throughout the South to show Black farmers how to enrich the soil and how to plant and care for their crops.
George Washington Carver studied horticulture at Simpson College in Iowa.
Southern farmers began planting peanuts after the boll weevil damaged the remaining cotton crops.
Carver went to school in a one-room school for Black children nine miles from his home.
Booker T. Washington hired Carver to head the Department of Agriculture at Tuskegee Institute in
Alabama.
George Washington Carver was born a slave on a Missouri farm.
The goal of the Tuskegee Institute was to teach freed slaves to grow better crops.
Poor soil conditions on land owned by the Tuskegee Institute was similar to soil conditions all over the
South.
Carver grew up in the home of his former owner because he was an orphan when he was freed.
Carver first began studying peanuts as a way to improve the soil.
George Washington Carver earned a master’s degree from Iowa State Agricultural College.
Carver’s next step was finding more uses for peanuts.
Today the annual peanut harvest in the South is worth over $3 billion.
Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom is a program of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, the Oklahoma
Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Oklahoma State Department of Education.

Name
______________________________________________________________
I. Early Life of George Washington Carver
A. Childhood
1.
___________________________________________________________________
2. _________________________________________________________________
B. Education
1. _______________________________________________________________
2. _______________________________________________________________
3. _______________________________________________________________
II.Tuskegee Institute
A. ______________________________________________________________________
B. ______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
C. ____________________________________________________________________
D. ____________________________________________________________________
III. Peanut Research
A. ____________________________________________________________________
B. ____________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
C. ____________________________________________________________________
D. ____________________________________________________________________
I V. Getting the Word Out
A. ______________________________________________________________________
Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom is a program of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, the Oklahoma
Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Oklahoma State Department of Education.

Name
______________________________________________________________
I. Early Life of George Washington Carver
A. Childhood
1. George Washington Carver was born a slave on a Missouri farm.
2. Carver grew up in the home of the former owner because he was an orphan when he was freed.
B. Education
1. Carver went to school in a one-room school for Black children nine miles from his home.
2. George Washington Carver studied horticulture at Simpson College in Iowa.
3. Carver earned a master’s degree from Iowa State Agricultural College.
II. Tuskegee Institute
A. Booker T. Washington hired Carver to head the Department of Agriculture at Tuskegee Institute in
Alabama.
B. The goal of the Tuskegee Institute was to teach freed slaves to grow better crops.
C. The Tuskegee Institute was located on an abandoned cotton plantation.
D. Poor soil conditions on land owned by the Tuskegee Institute was similar to soil conditions all over the South.
III. Peanut Research
A. Carver first began studying peanuts as a way to improve the soil.
B. Carver’s next step was finding more uses for peanuts.
C. Southern farmers began planting peanuts after the boll weevil damaged the remaining cotton crops.
D. Today the annual peanut harvest in the South is worth over $3 billion.
I V. Getting the Word Out
A. Carver travelled throughout the South to show Black farmers how to enrich the soil and how to plant and care for their crops.
Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom is a program of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, the Oklahoma
Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Oklahoma State Department of Education.

Name
________________________________
I. Stating the Problem:
What do you want to learn or find out?
II. Forming the Hypothesis:
What is known about the subject or problem, and what is a prediction for what will happen?
III. Experimenting: (Set up procedures)
This should include: materials used; dates of the experimental study; variables, both dependent and independent (constant and experimental); how and what was done to set up the experiment; fair testing procedures.
IV. Observations:
Includes the records, graphs, data collected during the study.
V. Interpreting the Data:
Does the data support/defend the hypothesis?
VI. Drawing Conclusions:
Justify the data collected with concluding statements about what has been learned. Discuss any problems or concerns. Use other studies to support the conclusion. Give alternative ideas for testing the hypothesis.
Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom is a program of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, the Oklahoma
Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Oklahoma State Department of Education.