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Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom

May, 2013

salad

Celebrate National Salad Month with Build a Salad Day.

Since earliest times people have harvested wild leafy plants, especially in spring, when they were young and tender. Read more, with activities...

 

Oklahoma Vegetable of the Month: Lettuce

Lettuce, a member of the sunflower family, is one of the oldest known vegetables and is believed to be native to the Mediterranean area. Read more, with activities...

 

Oklahoma Fruit of the Month: Blueberries

The blueberry is a native American fruit. Early settlers cherished it as a staple ingredient in foods and medicines. They incorporated the berries into their diets, eating them fresh off the bush and adding them to soups, stews, and many other foods. Read more, with activities...

 

Oklahoma produce available in May from some farmer's markets:

asparagus, beets, blueberries, broccoli, cabbbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, fennel, garlic, greens, herbs, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms, onions, peas, radishes, rhubarb, spinach, strawberrries, summer squash, Swiss chard, turnips.

 

Take it Outside: Outdoor Activities for End-of-Year Celebrations

Stick Horse Rodeo

Territorial Games

More Games

 

Celebrate Oklahoma's Bovine Population - Beef and Dairy Cattle

cow

Beef cattle are central to the history of our great state. Many Oklahoma towns got their start as stops along the cattle drives. Read more, with activities, lessons and other resources...

Some common dairy cattle have markings that make them easy to recognize. Holstein cattle are probably the easiest to recognize because they are white with black spots. Read more, with activities, lessons and other resources....

 

Ag in Art: Lascaux Cave Paintings

bulls

Some of the earliest known works of art were paintings of the ancient aurochs, ancestors of the present-day domesticated bovine we know, found on the walls of caves in Lascaux, France. The paintings are estimated to be 16,000 years old.

More Ag in Art

 

Ag in Poetry: Poems About Cows

The Cow

by Robert Louis Stevenson

The friendly cow all red and white,
I love with all my heart:
She gives me cream with all her might,
To eat with apple tart.
She wanders lowing here and there,
And yet she cannot stray,
All in the pleasant open air,
The pleasant light of day;
And blown by all the winds that pass
And wet with all the showers,
She walks among the meadow grass
And eats the meadow flowers.

More poems about cows, with activities

More Ag in Poetry

 

The first Kentucky Derby was May 17, 1875

You know horses are smarter than people. You never heard of a horse going broke betting on people.

- Will Rogers

More about horses...

May is World Trade Month

World trade is very important to Oklahoma agriculture. Oklahoma Wheat on the World Market

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Oklahoma Crop Calendar

May Day

May 1 is May Day, the day celebrated by the Celts and Saxons as the first planting day. Our tradition of beauty pagents may have evolved from May Day customs. Read more, with activities...

Mother Goose Day is May 1

Little Miss Muffet
Sat on a tuffet
Eating of curds and whey
There came a spider
And sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away

Read more Mother Goose rhymes and identify those with agriculture-related subjects or themes.

Make curds and whey (cottage cheese) in honor of Little Miss Muffet.

May 5 is Cinco de Mayo

Cowboys in the American West inherited the vocabulary, equipment and practices of the ranching culture from Mexican vaqueros who drove Texas longhorns along the Chisholm and Shawnee trails after the Civil War. Read more, with lessons...

May 5 is National Hoagie Day

It is said the Hoagie got its name during World War I from an area of Philadelphia named "Hog Island." It was a worker's sandwich, sometimes also called a "hobo." Learn the origin of the word "hobo" with Hoboes on Harvest

Children's Book Week is May 13-19

It all begin in 1919, with the idea that children's books can change lives. See our extensive list of Ag-Related books for Children and Young Adults.

May 10 is Apron Day

Simple instructions for students to make their own aprons, with a great story about the history of aprons.

Mother's Day is May 12

Craft ideas for Mother's Day gifts

Dance Like a Chicken Day is May 14.

Did you know "The Chicken Dance" was first introduced in the US at the Tulsa Oktoberfest in 1981? Did you know the Chicken Dance was originally the Duck Dance? Read more...

The Homestead Act was passed May 20, 1862.

Learn more about The Homestead Act with this online lesson: Busting the Prairie.

Our Story: Free Land (Smithsonian Museum of American History)

May is National Physical Fitness and Sports Month

Action Agriculture Across Oklahoma (Students get a good workout while learning about Oklahoma Agriculture)

Let's Move: America's Move to Raise a Healthier Generation of Kids

 

Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom

Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom is a program of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Oklahoma State Department of Education.