2 class periods of 45 minutes each
Large Groups
Communication
Students develop an appreciation for the extensive materials and career fields provided by agriculture.
Without the grains grown on American farms, the cereal shelves would be empty (as would other shelves). Consumers and business owners alike need farmers to produce the raw ingredients to fill the factories, trucks and stores, and to provide jobs along the way (graphic designers for packaging, engineers in processing, food scientists, etc.). In fact the person who designs the box for Tony the Tiger's Frosted Flakes® owes his or her livelihood to the fact that someone grows corn.
About one out of five or 20% of Americans rely on agriculture for employment. It's hard to imagine an empty cereal aisle at your favorite grocery store, and easy to forget that all of the cereals came from a farmer's field. Grains are simply the seeds or fruits of grasses. They belong to a group of grasses called cereals or cereal grains and include wheat, corn, rice, oats, rye, buckwheat, millet, sorghum (milo), barley, quinoa, amaranth, and triticale (a high-yield grain developed by crossing wheat for its gluten and rye for its hardiness).
All grains have basically the same makeup. Each kernel, or grain, has a tiny "germ," or seed, at its core. It represents from 2 to 3 percent of the seed's weight and is the embryo from which new plants develop. The germ is surrounded by the endosperm -- a storage packet of starch (a complex carbohydrate) -- encased in protein to nourish the young plant in its early growth if the seed sprouts. Gluten is an elastic protein within the endosperm that stretches like bubble gum when wet and expands to hold the gas that yeast generates. Protecting the germ and endosperm is the bran, or hull -- a tough, fibrous, hard covering.
Grains are the primary raw material in bread. The kind of grain used largely determines the flavor, texture, and nutrition of the bread. Wheat, rye, oats, and barley were the primary grains in Europe during the Middle Ages. The principal grains grown in the world today are wheat, corn, and rice; these three provide more than half of the world's food from plants.
This activity exposes your students to the common grains used in cereal and shows where they are grown. If students are designing cereal boxes they might want to include pictures of the complete grain plant, e.g. if the cereal contains corn, a picture of the cob or plant could be part of the box design. Additionally, making the connection between actual cereal ingredients and what that cereal may taste like will help them to find words that better describe the cereal and assist them in product marketing i.e., words on the box that will sell.
NOTE: The activities in this lesson are designed to be integrated into the "Marketing Integrated Lessons in Business," Option #1 "Developing a New Cold Breakfast Cereal." The first two activities in this lesson plan could be inserted into or between the Product & Price section. This lesson can be downloaded at www.uen.org/Lessonplan/preview?LPid=228.
Examine and describe how agriculture and natural resources impact our quality of life.
Activity Procedures: Seeds of Successful Marketing