Activities

1. What is agriculture?
   
   
2. What two things are produced by agriculture?
   
   
3. What is fiber?
   
   
4. Name two products farmers grow for food and two products farmers grow for fiber.
   
   
5. Define the term consumer.

6. Summarize the journey wheat takes in order to become a loaf of bread on your dinner table.
   
   
7. Summarize the journey cotton takes in order to become a shirt you can wear.

8. Paper is created using fiber from wood.  Do you think the creation of paper has a positive, or negative effect on our environment?  Identify three steps it takes to turn wood into paper, and explain how each step positively or negatively affects the environment to defend your thinking.

Answer Key/Rubric

1. The science, art and business of raising animals, plowing fields and growing crops, (farming).
2. Some examples include, but are not limited to: fruits, vegetables, grain, wool, animals, meat
3. Fiber is the indigestible part of plant foods that pushes through our digestive system, absorbing water along the way.
4. Some examples include, but are not limited to
   Food:  apples, peaches, wheat, rice, corn, peppers, watermelon, onions, carrots, potatoes
   Fiber:  cotton, flax, hemp, bamboo
5. A consumer is a person who purchases goods and services for personal use.
6. Students should be able to give a clear summarization of how wheat becomes a loaf of bread.

Acceptable responses might include, but are not limited to:

• Farmer harvests the wheat
• Wheat is ground into flour
• Flour is sold to bakeries
• Flour is used for dough and baked
• Bakery packages and sells the bread to grocery stores
• Purchased by consumers

7. Students should be able to give a clear summarization of how cotton is used to create clothing.

Acceptable responses might include, but are not limited to:

• Cotton is planted
• Cotton is harvested and run through a cotton gin to separate the cotton from seeds
• Cotton is cleaned/brushed
• Cotton is spun into yarn and can be colored
• Yarn is used to make shirts, pants or other clothing
• Clothing will then be distributed to stores where the consumer can purchase it and take it home

8. Student clearly states their opinion on the creation of paper, and if it has a positive or negative effect on the environment.  Student then needs to explain three of the steps it takes to make paper, and how the steps reflect their opinion on how the creation of paper has a positive or negative effect on the environment.