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Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom
February, 2010
For such a short month, February is full of celebrations:
February 23 is International Pancake Day.
Pancakes,
Please
(online OAITC lesson, including pancake history and activities)
Pancake Race
The small town of Olney, England has been holding a Pancake Race every year since 1445. The tradition began when a housewife was cooking the family's traditional Shrove Tuesday pancakes as the church bell summoning the townspeople to the shroving service began to ring. Anxious to get there on time, ...Read more...
National Meat Month
Oklahoma's top three agricultural commodities are meat animals. Number one is cattle and calves; number two is poultry and eggs; and number three is hogs and pigs. In 2007, we ranked fifth nationally in the production of cattle and calves, eighth in the production of hogs and pigs and 11th in the production of chicken broilers. Lessons to celebrate National Meat Month
Red Dirt Groundbreakers: Roy J. Turner and Hazford Rupert the 81st
Roy Turner was governor of Oklahoma from 1947 to 1951, but he may have been more famous for his prize bull, Hazford Rupert the 81st. Read more...
Forcing Flowering Branches
Get a head start on spring by forcing branches from a spring flowering bush or tree (flowering quince, forsythia, etc.)
Food Checkout Week is February 21-27.
It will takes the average American five weeks to earn enough to pay for all the food he or she will eat in 2009. Read more, with lessons and activities...Black History Month
Bill Pickett, Bulldoggin' Cowboy
Students are introduced to Pill Pickett, An Oklahoma rodeo personality, who pioneered the rodeo act of bulldogging. (4th-5th grade language arts, social studies and visual arts)
Students read about George Washington Carver and outline the information. (3rd-5th grade science and language arts)
Cotton Pickin': Before and After the Civil War
Students examine the importance of cotton to the economy of the South before and after the Civil War. (6th-8th grade social studies and language arts)
National Potato Lover's Month/ National Sweet Potato Month
Potatoes and sweet potatoes both originated in the New World, though they are not related. The leaves of sweet potatoes can be eaten by animals. The leaves of potatoes are poisonous. Read more, with lessons and activities...
Oklahoma Vegetables of the Month: Sweet Potato
Sweet potatoes are members of the morning glory family and native to the American tropics. They are a winter crop, so they provide fresh vegetables when many other vegetables are unavailable. Read more...
Oklahoma Fruit of the Month: Cherries
Ag in Art: Chinese Plate With Cherries and Bean Pod, Giovanna Garzani, 1620
The US leads the world in sweet cherry production, producing about 370 million pounds every year. Sweet cherries are grown commercially in Washington, Oregon, California. and Michigan. Read more...
Look for OAITC at these events during February
5—Kingfisher 3rd grade
6—Ag in Art, SDE Fine Arts and Social Studies Conference, 10:05 or 1:20, Room 104
9—Americorps summer teachers
10—Redlands class for early childhood educators
12—Catoosa Schools Professional Development Day
19—Action Agriculture Across Oklahoma, Shedeck Health Fair, Yukon
25—CCOSA Middle Level Conference, Tulsa
National Canned Foods Month
Eating healthy is a matter of choice for most of us today, but it wasn't so simple for early American colonists. We know that a healthy diet includes eating plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and that we can usually get some variety of these at the grocery store. But early Americans could only get fresh fruits and vegetables during the growing season. For the rest of the year they had to rely on food preservation techniques.
Explore food preservation techniques with Food for Keeps (6th-8th grade science, language arts, math, social studies)
National Snack Food Month.
Look for healthy snack ideas in "Food and Fun," and try this lessons:
Students experience the concepts of ratio and probability, using agricultural products that can be considered snack foods. Students analyze and record information from the class experience. (1st-6th grade math and health)
The Great Backyard Bird Count: February 12-15.
Count the birds at your classroom feeder and record the results on this site.
February is National Dental Health Month.
Writing Prompts
February Books
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.