Grade and standard aligned mathematics activities that teach students about agriculture.

132 Pages·2011·6.37 MB·English

Mathematics

Ag-tivities

Grade and standard aligned

mathematics activities that teach
students about agriculture.
Mathematics

Ag-tivities
Grade and standard aligned mathematics activities
that teach students about agriculture.
Introduction:
Mathematics can be incorporated into all areas of the curriculum. This book
provides lessons that teach mathematics concepts while educating students
about agriculture.
At the beginning of each chapter, there is a short explanation of the concepts
covered in the mathematics substrands for that grade level. The substrands
Virginia has adopted include: Number and Number Sense; Computation and
Estimation; Measurement; Geometry; Probability and Statistics; and Patterns,
Functions, and Algebra. The lessons that follow provide the numbers for the
Virginia Standards of Learning, necessary materials, background information, and
the procedure. Extensions and pictures are also included. Entire SOL’s are listed
in a separate section, and the Masters for the activities are located at the end of
this book.
Each lesson incorporates interesting information about agriculture with
mathematics concepts. Students gain skills to solve math problems while
learning about agricultural facts about livestock, various commodities, and plant
growth.
Acknowledgments:
AITC acknowledges the contributions of our writer, Katie Baker. She graduated
with a degree in Interdisciplinary Liberal Studies and a minor in Elementary
Education from James Madison University in May 2011. Katie’s concentration
was in Math and Science, with an additional endorsement in Algebra 1. In May
2012, she will graduate from JMU with her Master of Arts in Teaching,
concentrating in Elementary Education and completing an endorsement in
Gifted and Talented Education. Tammy Maxey and Lynn Black provided
guidance, ideas, and materials for this project. They are both AITC Education
Coordinators.
This project was funded by Agriculture in the Classroom.
Table of Contents
Kindergarten
Egg Carton Math 2
Seasons on a Farm 3
Below or Above? 5
Cow Glyphs 6
Farmyard Tangrams 8

1st Grade
Apple Orchard Math 12
Fruits and Veggies We Eat 14
Classifying Virginia Products by Shape 16
Farmyard Patterns 18

2nd Grade
Farm Fractions 22
Farm Animal Skip Counting 24
Crop Picture Graphs 26
Scarecrow Measuring 27
Produce Painting 29
3rd Grade
Watermelon Fractions 34
Agriculture Arrays 36
Apple Statistics, Lesson 1 38
Apple Statistics, Lesson 2 40
Classifying VA Products by Solid Figure, Lesson 1 44
Classifying VA Products by Solid Figure, Lesson 2 46

4th Grade
Balancing Act 50
From Farm to Food 53
Natural Angles 55
Pollination Probability 57

5th Grade
Flowering Factorization 62
Buzzing with Math Facts 64
Quilt Classifying 66
Coordinating Crops 69
Herding Cattle 71

Virginia Standards of Learning Connections 75

Masters 87

Kindergarten
Number and Number Sense
Young children gain essential counting skills during kindergarten. The
concept of one-to-one correspondence develops and flourishes during
this year.

Computation and Estimation
Kindergarten students add and subtract up to 10 concrete objects.

Measurement
Weather and seasons are incorporated into early childhood lessons.

Geometry
Simple plane figures are identified by kindergarteners. The location of
objects is also an important concept for young children to understand.

Probability and Statistics
Not only are students expected to understand numerals, but the
children are also required to use tallies as a form of counting. Picture
and object graphs are also taught during this grade.

Patterns, Functions, and Algebra
Naming patterns and contributing objects to extend the patterns are
skills gained during kindergarten. The students’ abilities to classify
objects are not only an important skill in mathematics, but in science
as well.
Egg Carton Math

Standards of Learning
Math: K.1, K.6
Science: K.7, K.9
English: K.2

Materials
Pom-poms, fake eggs, or other small
objects that can fit inside an egg carton
3-5 Egg cartons (diagram found on p. 88)

Background Knowledge
Young children can benefit from concrete examples of abstract ideas. This lesson allows
students to count objects and begin to understand addition problems that equal 10 or
less.
Also, egg cartons represent one commodity Virginia farmers produce. Chicken eggs
account for $77.1 million in Virginia. There are nearly 900 chicken farms in the
Commonwealth.

Procedure
1. Create the manipulatives shown above. Practice counting with the students prior to
the activity.
2. Discuss eggs, chicks, and chickens and the importance of them for Virginia farmers.
Read books such as Eggs and Chicks by Fiona Patchett or From Egg to Chicken by
Gerald Legg.
3. Use the egg cartons and objects to practice counting, number recognition, addition,
and subtraction.

Extension
Create the lifecycle of an egg as it grows into a chicken. Also, this lesson could be
helpful for older students struggling with the concept of addition and/or subtraction.

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Seasons on a Farm

Standards of Learning
Math: K.8, 1.11
Science: K.9, 1.7

Materials
Book that incorporates farming and seasons, such as Seasons on a Farm by
Nancy Dickmann
Scissors
Glue
Large chart paper divided into four sections titled: fall, winter, spring, and
summer
Watering can
Seed packet
Toy tractor
An example of corn
Worksheet (see p. 89)

Background Knowledge
Children can observe changes in weather—from a hot and sunny summer, to a cold
and snowy winter. It is important for young students to understand seasons and
that different phenomenon occur during certain times of the year. Providing
examples of activities on a farm throughout the seasons allows children to associate
concrete actions to the abstract concepts of seasons and weather changes.

Procedure
1. Read students Seasons on a Farm by Nancy Dickmann, or a similar book
describing farm life during specific seasons.
2. Discuss the various jobs farmers must complete, especially which season they get
them done.

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3. Have the concrete objects such as a watering can, seed packet, toy tractor, and
corn, and ask students to sort them into the appropriate season on the chart
paper, i.e. corn goes in the fall (harvest).
4. Explore other events that occur during the four seasons.
5. Have students cut out the pictures on the worksheet and glue them in one of the
boxes underneath the appropriate season. Then ask them to draw a picture of
what other things they do during the fall, winter, spring, and summer in the
other box.

Extension
Write sentences about your favorite season and what you do during that time.

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