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Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom
Happy New Year!
January 6 is National Bean Day
Some say National Bean Day commemorates the death of Gregor Mendel, who famously used bean and pea plants to test his theories on inheritance. Learn more, with lessons and other teaching resources...
January 8 is Plough Sunday
Plough Sunday is a traditional English celebration of the beginning of the agricultural year. Plough Sunday celebrations usually involve bringing a ploughshare into a church with prayers for the blessing of the land. It is traditionally held on the Sunday after Epiphany, the Sunday between January 7 and January 13. Work in the fields began the day after Plough Sunday, on Plough Monday.
Traditionally the stubbles were left after harvest to feed and fatten up poultry and geese for Michaelmas, which marked the end, and the start of the farming year.
As most of the cereal crops grown were sown in the spring, ploughing did not start until after the Christmas festivities in January and February, giving time for the frost to break down the soil prior to sowing in March or April.
The hundredth day of the school year is in January. Celebrate with P.A.S.S.-aligned counting lessons and activities...
January is Wheat Bread Month: Time to Make Bread in a Bag
The "father" of sliced bread is Otto Rohwedder, a former jewelry store owner. He had started work on a slicing machine in 1912, and when bakers told him sliced bread would go stale quickly, he developed an apparatus for holding all of the slices together with hat pins. Read more, with lessons and activities...
People live in warm houses and wear heavy coats outside in winter. We find plenty of food at the grocery store. But what happens to the animals?
National Meat Month
Three of Oklahoma's top four agricultural commodities are meat animals. Number one is cattle and calves; number two is poultry and eggs; and number four is hogs and pigs. (Hay is number three.) In 2010, we ranked number two nationally in the production of beef cows, eighth in the production of hogs and 10th in the production of chicken broilers. Lessons to celebrate National Meat Month
A Hidden Beauty: Bulbs
It may be cold and dreary outside, but students can grow beautiful flowers indoors from bulbs. Narcissus and amaryllis are the simplest and are usually available this time of year, maybe even on sale. In this lesson students learn about bulbs and construct a model of a plant that grows from a bulb.
January, 2012
People in almost every country in the world celebrate the first day of the new year with special customs and traditions meant to bring good luck. More about New Year Customs, Happy New Year in many languages, and more...
January is National Soup Month
In early times soup was called "pottage" (from pot and the Latin potare, to drink). Read more, with link to soup lesson...
When the Lights Came On
Thomas Edison invented the lightbulb in 1879, and his company started generating power in 1882, but electricity did not reach all the farms of Oklahoma until the mid 1940s. Read more...
January 17 is Benjamin Franklin's birthday: "He that waits upon fortune is never sure of a dinner." -BF
January 19 is Paul Cezanne's birthday. Celebrate by exploring and creating still life art with food.
Oklahoma Vegetable of the Month - Winter Squash
Oklahoma Fruit of Month - Dried Apricots
Snowball Fight
In this lesson students learn how snow helps crops grow while playing a game using facts and words about snow.
Writing Prompt: Write a newspaper story about a snowball fight.
A Garden in the Mailbox
In the gloomiest days of winter, beautiful flowers bloom and scrumptious vegetables grow in the mailboxes of gardeners all across the country. Mail order seed companies send out their new catalogs beginning in January. More about seed catalogs with links to old seed catalog art and more...
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.