Third Grade, “It’s an Earful”

Students will learn how farmers grow and harvest corn, dissect corn kernels, investigate types of corn, and explore how corn impacts our lives.

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It’s an Earful lesson plan

It’s an Earful slideshow

How do we use field corn? worksheet

3rd grade AITC certificate

Background Information

• Corn Ag Mag – download or request a set from DeKalb County Farm Bureau
• Corn Fact Sheet – important facts and a list of corn uses
• What can we get from an acre of corn? – products from an acre of field corn
• A Tale of Two Corns – field corn vs. sweet corn
• Kernels of Knowledge– learn about growing field corn & play corn BINGO!

Resource Kits

• Corn Literacy Kit – books and resources about corn
• Adventures Around the Farm – resources to teach about farming

Links

• Illinois Ag in the Classroom
• National Ag in the Classroom
• Illinois Corn – Education
• The Great Corn Adventure
• National Corn Growers Association – World of Corn

Related Lessons

• Corn an A-maizing Plant: Food, Fuel, and Plastic
• Exploring Corn! – 42-page booklet of corn lessons
• Inherited Traits in the Living Corn Necklace
• Tassel to Table Chain– sequence the steps from field to cereal box

Worksheets

• It’s an Earful– crossword puzzle
• Parts of a Corn Plant – label a corn plant diagram
• Corny Math – estimate kernels on an ear and more

Donated Books (school libraries)

• Biofuels by David & Patricia Armentrout
• Corn by Elaine Landau
• Corn by Gail Gibbons
• Corn by Margaret Hall
• Corn: An A to Z Book by Susan Anderson & JoAnne Buggey
• Corn in the Story of Agriculture by Susan Anderson & JoAnne Buggey
• Corn Belt Harvest by Raymond Bial
• From Kernel to Corncob by Ellen Weiss