A day comes, after the leaves have fallen and the wild geese have left for warmer places, when the air holds its breath, still and full of expectation. Snow is coming, and soon farmland and forest, ground and sky will be transformed. This story tells about two brothers waiting and watching for the first snow of winter. *This book is no longer in print, but is readily available through the Public Library System.
The 2024 Food and Farm Facts is a 32-page booklet filled with the latest Ag Census data, which has been analyzed by economists from the American Farm Bureau Federation. This data has been organized into easy-to-read graphics. Topics include Consumers, Modern Farmers, Trade & Economics, Environment, Production, and an Agricultural History Timeline.
On September 6, 1936, in one of his famous fireside chat radio broadcasts, President Franklin Roosevelt describes the conditions he observed firsthand on a tour of the many states devastated by drought.
This newsreel-style documentary chronicles the Dust Bowl with interviews from people (primary sources) who lived through the "dirty thirties." The images linger well after the film ends. An excellent resource to use when studying the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, or the Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck. The renowned Walter Cronkite narrates the 23-minute film available on DVD or YouTube. Order this DVD online from agclassroomstore.com.
On May 9th, 1934 a giant storm rose up out of the great plains. A menacing wall of soil and dust headed east across the land, thick enough to block out the sun. This 4-minute video gives a good account of this disaster through video footage and photographs.
*Recommended Common Core Reading First published in 1939, Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize-winning epic of the Great Depression chronicles the Dust Bowl migration of the 1930s and tells the story of one Oklahoma farm family, the Joads-driven from their homestead and forced to travel west to the promised land of California. Out of their trials and their repeated collisions against the hard realities of an America divided into Haves and Have-Nots evolves a drama that is intensely human yet majestic in its scale and moral vision, elemental yet plainspoken, tragic but ultimately stirring in its human dignity.
This highly readable portrait is about the Okies driven to California by the Dust Bowl days of the 1930s and the formidable hardships they faced. The desperation of their lives in the Midwest is described and then we follow the Okes on their trek across the western United States to the promise of work in California, where their hopes are dashed. Weedpatch Camp is the farm-labor camp built by the federal government, that educator Leo Hart creates a federal emergency school. The book includes period black and white photographs depicting the hardships and the school.
A four-page student reader examines how cotton is grown, its agricultural importance, product evolution, and economic importance. It can be easily printed for individual or small group use in the classroom.
Watch all or part of these episodes to learn about cotton. Follow the production of cotton from field to fabric and learn about the genetic improvement of cotton plants, their harvesting, history, use as cattle feed, and more.
This DVD, narrated by children, follows "The City Guy," an adult who thinks he knows where food comes from (the grocery store), as he visits three different farms to learn where food really comes from and what it takes to produce it. Interesting even for those who have experience in farming and food production! This video is available on DVD or YouTube. Order this DVD online from agclassroomstore.com.
While tracing the development of an apple tree from bud to fruit, Schnieper highlights the progress of an apple tree through the four seasons. The book provides an overview of life in an orchard. Beautiful full-color photos and black-and-white line drawings highlight and elucidate the text. An excellent explanation of grafting is also included.
By featuring a single cow (Clarabelle) and her calf on a large, modern-day Wisconsin dairy farm, Peterson describes all the latest technology that enables farmers to create energy and other by-products from their herds. And yet none of the modern-day machinery matches the miracle of production that is the cow herself. Vibrant, close-up photographs capture Clarabelle with her herdmates and her newborn calf as well as the family members of Norswiss Farm who live and work together.