This section of the natural science lesson plans contains activities about plants in agriculture.

Apples

The first lesson (two pdfs) is a sequencing activity on the life cycle of an apple for elementary students (from Virginia Ag in the Classroom). Watch excerpts from the oral histories of Chris Eckert, Eileen McGuire, Martin Mauricio, and Jose Martinez to learn about orchards.The second pdf involves connects the apple life cycle with steps that humans take to grow successful orchards and market apples in spite of bad weather and pests.

Timber

The second lesson is a research into the changing importance of timberland on farms from 1800 to 2000. Listen to farmers describe how early settlers wanted timber, and how a tree farmer describes modern farmers' situation, find more information by research, and create a report or an annotated timeline to describe your results.

Illinois: More than Corn and Soybeans

Grade 6 students learn what specialty crops are grown in Illinois (economic geography) by searching the AV interview database, create a county map of five crops and turn it into a poster.

Crop Report: Research

The first lesson listed asks students to search the oral history database for audio and video clips about the crop of their choice and listen to them while taking notes. They will then use the National Agriculture Statistics website and other sources to research the crop for their state or county. They will write a report.