 Days listed have correlating activities that can be found in Acres of Agventures, available for loan from Rock Island AITC.
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 Little Jack Horner sat in a corner
eating his Christmas pie Stuck in his thumb, pulled out a plum, and said, "What a good boy am I." Plum pudding, a traditional Christmas dessert from medieval England, is a steamed or boiled pudding which has never contained plums. In the 17th century, the word "plum" referred to raisins or other fruits used in cakes, puddings, etc. This use probably arose from the substitution of raisins for dried plums or prunes. Plum pudding does contain raisins, which are called plums only when used in plum pudding. Traditionally in England, small silver charms were baked in the plum pudding. A silver coin would bring wealth in the coming year; a tiny wishbone, good luck; a silver thimble, thrift; an anchor, safe harbor. It was also traditional for everyone who lived in the household to simultaneously hold onto the wooden spoon, help stir the batter for the pudding, and make a wish. During the Puritan reign in England, plum pudding was outlawed as "sinfully rich." Sugar plums are another old-fashioned Christmas treat we hear about in holiday favorites like Twas the Night Before Christmas and The Nutcracker. The term sugar plum once applied to nearly any small, round treat, from dried fruit to hard candy made from sugar and coriander. Simple sugar plum recipes contain nothing more than nuts and dried fruit, wholesome ingredients that are a welcome alternative to some overly sweet holiday treats. Sugar Plum Recipe Writing Prompt: Write a poem about plums. More facts about plums Play With Your Food: Plums to Prunes and Back Again Bring prunes to class and explain that they are dried plums.
Bring an assortment of dried fruits: raisins, figs, dates, prunes, apricots, etc., along with their fresh equivalent.
 Trees help our environment in many ways. Trees act as windbreaks to protect houses and building and to keep the wind from blowing the topsoil away. The roots hold the soil in place. Trees also help make soil. The leaves add organic matter to the soil which gives plants nutrients. Forests provide a sheltered environment for wildlife, and forest in mountain regions prevent snow from sliding down an causing avalanches. Tress also add beauty to neighborhoods.
Measuring a Tree Materials:
 Have you ever thought about where the clothes you and your family wear come from, or the dressing you put on your salad, or the sheets you crawl under at night before you go to sleep? It comes from cotton! Cotton, the most important and widely used fiber ever known to man. Cotton is used for thousands of things, including clothes, space suits for astronauts and ingredients in the food we eat. In the U.S. there are fourteen major cotton growing states that produce Upland cotton. They are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. Some cotton is also grown in Florida, Kansas and New Mexico. American Pima cotton is grown in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas. All of these states form a region in the United States known as the Cotton Belt and have three things in common, lots of sunshine, water and fertile soil, very important to growing a good cotton crop. How many finished textile products can be made from a typical 500 lbs. Bale of cotton lint? Below are a few examples of what might be made from a bale of cotton. (These numbers are approximations).
Cothe Additional Cotton Activities & Links  The first carrots were white, purple, red, yellow, green and black - not orange. Their roots were thin and turnip-shaped. Orange carrots did not appear until the 1700s, in Holland. Growers there bred them to match the Dutch flag. Orange carrots have the advantage of containing beta carotene, which our bodies convert to Vitamin A.
Do carrots really help you see better? During the Second World War the carrot was widely used as a substitute for scarce commodities. In Britain the Ministry of Food promoted Woolton Pie, composed entirely of vegetables. Potato, carrot and rutabaga provided the basic ingredients, with onion and cauliflower added when available. British children ate carrots as a substitute for the fruit they could no longer obtain. Britain's Air Ministry spread the word that a diet of carrots helped pilots see Nazi bombers attacking at night. That was a lie intended to cover a new secret radar system which pinpointed some enemy bombers before they reached the English Channel. News stories began appearing in the British press about extraordinary personnel manning the defenses, including Flight Lieutenant John Cunningham, an RAF pilot dubbed "Cats Eyes" because his exceptional night vision allowed him to spot his prey in the dark. Cunningham's abilities were chalked up to his love of carrots. The Royal Air Force bragged that the great accuracy of British fighter pilots at night was a result of their being fed enormous quantities of carrots. The Germans bought it because their folk wisdom included the same myth. The disinformation was so persuasive that the English public took to eating carrots to help them find their way during the blackouts.
Your students probably have eaten plenty of carrots, but have they tried them roasted? Roasting any kind of vegetable gives it a sweeter flavor. Bring carrots and two or three (or more) of the following root vegetables to class: potatoes, parsnips, leeks, onions, garlic, rutabaga winter squash. Slice all into 1/4-inch thick slices. Lightly brush an aluminum roasting pan with olive oil and butter. Coat both sides of the vegetables with the oil from the pan. Season to taste with garlic salt and pepper. Roast in a 500 degree F. oven for 10 minutes or until the vegetables begin to brown. Then turn the vegetables and continue to roast for 5 to 10 minutes more. https://www.agclassroom.org/ok/resources_calendar/12_carrots.php  Holiday Toys, Gifts and Decorations from Agricultural Products
Many of the toys and gadgets your students are expecting as holiday gifts are made from plastics made with soybeans or corn. Henry Ford experimented with soy-based plastics in the production of his cars. In 1940 he swung an axe at a car trunk to demonstrate the durability of soy plastics.
Writing Prompts
Keepers of the forest.
Foresters may spend one day in the laboratory and the next in the field. Some days they speak with executives in board rooms and other days they talk with tree farmers. Therefore, foresters must be highly trained technically, but they must also be good communicators. They must see themselves as stewards of forest resources and must be able to convince others that forests are vital to the welfare of humanity. Our forests are owned and managed by a wide range of individuals, private organizations, and public agencies. Foresters may manage timberlands for private industry or may scout out and buy wood from other landowners for their companies. Some foresters are private consultants who advise landowners on the multiple-use management of their timberlands. Many work in management, administration, or research for public agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service. Foresters have long-range views on environmental issues. They should be able to visualize a forest's development over many years. They must understand natural history and forest ecology. Basic college courses you should take to become a forester include: biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, engineering, economics, communications, and computer science. You will also take professional courses in forest biology, forest resource measurement, forest management, and forest policy and administration. There are over forty accredited forestry programs in the United States. In high school, take four years each of mathematics and English. Also take courses in biology, chemistry, and physics. https://www.agriculture.purdue.edu/usda/careers/forester.html 
A forester is a professional in charge of caring for, planting and managing trees or forests. They are involved in a range of activities including restoration, conservation, timber harvest and managing protected wooded areas. They also conduct technical forestry work including timber marking, volume estimation and sale of forest products.
WHAT RESPONSIBILITIES WILL I HAVE?:
The following high school courses are recommended: agricultural education, biology, horticulture, mathematics, natural resources and computer skills. EDUCATION/TRAINING REQUIRED: The majority of forester roles require a bachelor’s degree in forest management, natural resources, fisheries, wildlife and conservation, or a related field. Find Potential Universities/Colleges > https://www.agexplorer.com/career/forester  The cranberry is a little, red tart fruit with a big punch. Wisconsin is the number one producer of the power-packed berry. The cranberry is best known for its place on the Thanksgiving table. But, the fruit has become a year-round favorite, and is making its way into everything from summer salads and jams, to trail mix and cookies.
Farmers grow cranberries on a piece of land called a bog. A bog is ground that is wet and soft. In the winter, starting in December, they flood all of the cranberry bogs to make ice that will help protect the cranberry vines through the winter. The ice acts as a protective coat for the plants. Spring is when cranberry vines do most of their growing. In the summer, the cranberry farmers make sure there are bees near the cranberry plants. In June, they bring in beehives for the bog. The bees travel from one cranberry flower to another, carrying pollen, which helps grow new cranberry vines. The summer is a good time to see all the pink flowers that grow on the vines. The fall is a very busy time for cranberry farmers. They pick cranberries in the fall. The cranberry farmers pick cranberries by flooding the bogs with water. They loosen the berries from their vines with a special machine and the berries float to the top of the water! They are able to push the berries into another machine where they go into storage and are processed. People are able to make things like cranberry sauce and cranberry juice, and use the berries in cooking. Links to Cranberry Education  The holiday we celebrate as Thanksgiving is a harvest feast. All over the world, throughout history, people have celebrated the end of the hard work of harvest by feasting on the fruits of their labor. Our tradition is to commemorate the Pilgrims’ Thanksgiving feast at Plymouth Plantation in 1621, but before that, Spanish settlers had celebrated a Thanksgiving in 1565, in what is now Saint Augustine, Florida. For thousands of years earlier, the people who were here before either group of settlers arrived had been holding similar feasts to celebrate the harvest.
How Did That Get on My Plate? Thanksgiving Activities Geography of Thanksgiving Dinner Presidential Turkey Thanksgiving for Farmers Thanksgiving: Celebrating the Harvest |
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