The Peanut Wizard
Objective
The student will read information about George Washington Carver and outline the information.
Background
Peanuts are native to South America. The ancient Incas of Peru stashed
peanuts in jars at burial sites to nourish departed spirits. Peanuts made their
way to the southern colonies of North America with slaves from West Africa,
who planted them as a food crop to feed themselves. They called the nut
“nguba,” which was the origin of the word “goober,” one of many names for
the peanut.
The peanut is now cultivated in more than 40 countries on six continents.
India and China produce more than half the peanuts in the world, followed
by Nigeria, Senegal, the United States, Indonesia, Sudan, and Burma. In the
United States, the major peanut-growing states are Georgia, Alabama, North
Carolina, and Texas. Oklahoma ranks seventh among the states that raise
peanuts in our country.
The peanut is not a nut but a legume, in the same family as the bean and
the pea. Legumes help restore poor soils by capturing nitrogen from the air
and making it available to the plants through their root systems.
Peanuts need a long growing season to produce mature seeds. They will
not tolerate frost. Although they form underground, the edible portions of the
plant are not tubers but seeds housed in a capsule—a nutlike shell. The plant
bears yellow male flowers and inconspicuous female flowers. After fertilization, the peduncle, or flower stalk, grows long, forcing the growing seed pod
underground, where it reaches maturity.
The peanut is about 28 percent protein, 50 percent oil, 18 percent carbohydrates, and 4 percent ash. Few agricultural plants have as many potential
uses. In the United States, one-fourth of all edible peanuts end up in candy
bars, and over half are used for making peanut butter. Americans eat enough
peanut butter in a year to make over 10 billion peanut butter sandwiches. At
graduation, the average high school student will have consumed 1,500 peanut
butter and jelly sandwiches. The average American eats about 11 pounds of
peanuts a year.
Very little peanut butter is consumed outside the United States.
Worldwide, about two-thirds of the peanut crop is crushed for oil. Peanut oil
supplies about 8 percent of the world’s edible oil production. Peanut products
are used in food processing and for animal food. The peanut shell and
residues left after oil pressing can be fed to animals. Plants can also be left in
the ground to provide excellent forage for cattle and swine and to help enrich
the soil.
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Oklahoma C3
Standards
Grade 1
Social Studies PALS—
2.C.8
Social Studies Content—
2.3; 3.3; 4.2,4
Grade 2
Social Studies PALS—
1.A.1,3,B.5,C.7
Social Studies Content—
3.2,3,4; 4.3,4
Grade 3
Science Process—1.2; 3.1,2
Life Science—2.1,2
Earth Science—3.2
Social Studies PALS—
1.A.2,3,B.5,C.7,8
Social Studies Content—
3.1a; 4.1
COmmOn COre
Language Arts—
3.RI.1,2,3,4,8,10
Grade 4
Science Process—1.2; 3.1,2
Life Science—3.1,4
Social Studies PALS—
1.A.2,3,B.5,C.7
Social Studies Content—
1.1a,2ab
COmmOn COre
Language Arts—
4.RI.1,2,3,4,5,10
Grade 5
Science Process—1.2; 3.1,2
Life Science—2.2
COmmOn COre
Language Arts—
5.RI.2,3,4,10
Language arts: read and discuss, Outlining
Vocabulary
boll weevil—a small, grayish, longsnouted beetle of Mexico and the
southern United States, having
destructive larvae that hatch in and
damage cotton bolls
edible— fit to be eaten
forage—food for domesticated animals
fertilization—the use of natural or
synthetic materials, including manure
and nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium compounds, to increase the
capacity of soil to support plant
growth
gullies—deep cuts in the land where
topsoil has been washed or blown
away
horticulture—the science of agriculture which relates to the cultivation of
gardens or orchards, including the
growing of vegetables, fruits, flowers,
and ornamental shrubs and trees
legume—a family of plants which,
with the aid of symbiotic bacteria,
convert nitrogen from the air to build
up nitrogen in the soil. Legumes
include many valuable food and forage species, including peas, beans,
peanuts, clover, and alfalfa.
nitrogen—gas that occurs naturally in
the air and soil, where it is converted
into usable forms for plant use by
bacteria and other natural processes
peanut—a vine native to tropical
America and widely cultivated in
semitropical regions, having yellow
flowers on stalks that bend over so
the seed pods can ripen underground.
Cultivated for its edible seeds.
peduncle—the stalk of a flower cluster, or the flowering part of a solitary
flower
residue—a deposit of material not
used by the plant
topsoil—the surface layer of soil
1. Read and discuss background materials.
2. Hand out the Reading Page and student worksheets included
with this lesson.
—Students will read the information on the Reading Page as a
class or read the information independently.
3. Lead a class discussion based on the reading and the following questions:
—Why did George Washington Carver stay with his
owner after he was no longer a slave?
—What is horticulture? How does this field of study relate
to Carver’s love of drawing flowers?
—Why did the freed slaves have trouble earning a living
from the land they were working?
—How do peanuts improve the soil?
—Why did Carver have to find ways to use peanuts?
—How did the boll weevil persuade Southern farmers to
start planting peanuts?
4. Review outlining.
—Students will follow instructions on the student worksheets
to complete the outline.
5. Students will make timelines of the life of George Washington
Carter based on the reading.
Science activity: Growing Peanuts
1. Students will use the Scientific Method Format included with
this lesson to conduct a growing experiment with peanuts.
—Soak shelled raw peanuts overnight.
—Fill an aquarium or one-gallon clear glass jars with soil to
within one inch of the top. (A glass container will allow your
students to see the peanuts growing.) As an alternative, provide clear plastic cups so each student can have his/her own
plant.
—Students will plant peanuts one and a half to two inches
deep and press the soil down firmly without packing it.
—Keep the soil moist but not wet. Room temperature should
be 65 degrees or more. Eighty degrees is ideal.
—After the peanuts sprout (in five to eight days) give the
plants as much direct sunshine as possible. Blossoms will
appear about 45 days after planting.
—Don’t expect peanuts unless you can keep the plants growing at least three months.
—Students will harvest peanuts by pulling up the plants when
the tops are brown and dry.
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2. To help students understand soil nutrient depletion, provide seeds of
radishes, lettuce or some other fast-growing plant
—Students will plant the seeds in potting medium.
—After the plants have matured, students will pull them up and plant
again, without adding fertilizer.
—Repeat the process several times over a period of several months.
—Students will keep track of the plant quality.
—Discuss the depletion process and the need to return nutrients to the
soil.
Social Studies: Geography
1. Students will find the following states, countries, and continents on a
map or globe:
South America, North America, Africa, India, China, Nigeria,
Senegal, the United States, Indonesia, Sudan, Burma, Georgia,
Alabama, North Carolina, Texas, and Oklahoma.
extra reading
Keller, Kristin Thoennes, From Peanut to Peanut Butter, First Facts, 2004.
Monroe, Judy, George Washington Carver: Scientist and Inventor, Capstone,
2005.
Nelson, Robin, From Peanut to Peanut Butter, Lerner, 2004.
Olson, Nathan, George Washington Carver: Ingenious Inventor, Capstone,
2006.
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Food and Fun
Make peanut butter in a
blender or food processor,
using one cup of roasted
peanuts. If necessary, add
and one teaspoonful of vegetable oil.
reading Page
The Peanut Wizard
G
eorge Washington Carver was born a slave
on a Missouri farm. He was freed at the end
of the Civil War, while he was still a child,
but since he was an orphan, he grew up in the household of his former owner. He went to school in a
one-room school for black children nine miles from
his home.
In 1889 Carver enrolled at Simpson College in
Iowa. He earned his $12 yearly tuition by working as
a cook. Carver loved to
draw flowers. He wanted to
be an artist, but he decided
to study horticulture
instead. In 1896 he earned
a master’s degree at Iowa
State Agricultural College.
That same year Booker
T. Washington asked him to
go to work as head of the
Department of Agriculture
at Tuskegee Institute in
Alabama. In the South,
slaves had been freed but
now had no way to support their families. Freed
slaves worked long hours in cotton fields that were
too worn out to produce crops. The goal of the institute was to teach people how to grow better crops.
The Tuskegee Institute was located on an abandoned cotton plantation. Great gullies cut deep into
the land. The topsoil had blown or washed away.
Much of the farming land of the South was in the
same condition, worn out by many years of poor
agricultural practices.
Carver began looking for ways to improve the
soil. He experimented with legumes. Legumes are
good for the soil, because they capture nitrogen from
the air and make it available to the soil. Peanuts are
legumes and grow well in the South. Carver found
that peanuts did an excellent job of improving the
soil.
The next step was finding uses for peanuts. Until
then peanuts had been considered “circus chaw,”
containing little or no food value.
In 1897 George Washington Carver began experimenting with peanuts. He found
ways to use peanuts in cereals, oils,
dyes, soaps and many other things.
In all he found over 300 uses for the
peanut.
In 1892, the boll weevil
crossed the Rio Grande from
Mexico into Texas and wiped out
the few cotton crops that remained
in the South. In desperation,
Southern farmers began listening to
Carver’s advice and growing
peanuts. The peanut crop was a
huge success. By 1940, the South
boasted a $250 million industry revolving around the
peanut. Today the annual harvest is worth $3 billion.
Carver went on the road with his findings. He
traveled to farmsteads belonging to Black farmers to
show them how to enrich the soil and how to plant
and care for peanuts, soybeans, sweet potatoes,
greens and other vegetables.
His fame as a scientist and educator grew
throughout the world. When he died at Tuskegee, on
June 5, 1943, he was one of America’s most honored
scientists.
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.
Name ______________________________________________________________
The Peanut Wizard
a
Read the information on The Reading Page. Then copy the following statements in their proper places in the
outline on Student Worksheet B.
The Tuskegee Institute was located on an abandoned cotton plantation.
Carver travelled throughout the South to show Black farmers how to enrich the soil and how to plant
and care for their crops.
George Washington Carver studied horticulture at Simpson College in Iowa.
Southern farmers began planting peanuts after the boll weevil damaged the remaining cotton crops.
Carver went to school in a one-room school for Black children nine miles from his home.
Booker T. Washington hired Carver to head the Department of Agriculture at Tuskegee Institute in
Alabama.
George Washington Carver was born a slave on a Missouri farm.
The goal of the Tuskegee Institute was to teach freed slaves to grow better crops.
Poor soil conditions on land owned by the Tuskegee Institute was similar to soil conditions all over the
South.
Carver grew up in the home of his former owner because he was an orphan when he was freed.
Carver first began studying peanuts as a way to improve the soil.
George Washington Carver earned a master’s degree from Iowa State Agricultural College.
Carver’s next step was finding more uses for peanuts.
Today the annual peanut harvest in the South is worth over $3 billion.
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.
Name ______________________________________________________________
The Peanut Wizard
B
Outline
I. Early Life of George Washington Carver
A. Childhood
1.
___________________________________________________________________
2. _________________________________________________________________
B. Education
1. _______________________________________________________________
2. _______________________________________________________________
3. _______________________________________________________________
II.Tuskegee Institute
A. ______________________________________________________________________
B. ______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
C. ____________________________________________________________________
D. ____________________________________________________________________
III. Peanut Research
A. ____________________________________________________________________
B. ____________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
C. ____________________________________________________________________
D. ____________________________________________________________________
IV. Getting the Word Out
A. ______________________________________________________________________
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.
Name ______________________________________________________________
The Peanut Wizard (answers)
Outline
I. Early Life of George Washington Carver
A. Childhood
1. George Washington Carver was born a slave on a Missouri farm.
2. Carver grew up in the home of the former owner because he was an orphan when he was freed.
B. Education
1. Carver went to school in a one-room school for Black children nine miles from his home.
2. George Washington Carver studied horticulture at Simpson College in Iowa.
3. Carver earned a master’s degree from Iowa State Agricultural College.
II. Tuskegee Institute
A. Booker T. Washington hired Carver to head the Department of Agriculture at Tuskegee Institute in
Alabama.
B. The goal of the Tuskegee Institute was to teach freed slaves to grow better crops.
C. The Tuskegee Institute was located on an abandoned cotton plantation.
D. Poor soil conditions on land owned by the Tuskegee Institute was similar to soil conditions all over
the South.
III. Peanut Research
A. Carver first began studying peanuts as a way to improve the soil.
B. Carver’s next step was finding more uses for peanuts.
C. Southern farmers began planting peanuts after the boll weevil damaged the remaining cotton crops.
D. Today the annual peanut harvest in the South is worth over $3 billion.
IV. Getting the Word Out
A. Carver travelled throughout the South to show Black farmers how to enrich the soil and how to
plant and care for their crops.
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.
Name ________________________________
Scientific Method Format
Title of Experiment or Study:
I. Stating the Problem:
What do you want to learn or find out?
II. Forming the Hypothesis:
What is known about the subject or problem, and what is a prediction for what will happen?
III. Experimenting: (Set up procedures)
This should include: materials used; dates of the experimental study; variables, both dependent and independent (constant and experimental); how and what was done to set up the experiment; fair testing procedures.
IV. Observations:
Includes the records, graphs, data collected during the study.
V. Interpreting the Data:
Does the data support/defend the hypothesis?
VI. Drawing Conclusions:
Justify the data collected with concluding statements about what has been learned. Discuss any problems or
concerns. Use other studies to support the conclusion. Give alternative ideas for testing the hypothesis.
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.