The Wheel of Agriculture

Transcription

1 The Wheel of Agriculture CORN Your Fritos come from corn! The corn is grown and milled. The chips are then cut, cooked in corn oil, and seasoned before they re ready for you to eat! Some plastics come from corn. The corn is ground up so the endosperm can be separated. Enzymes are added and acid forms. The end result is a plastic that can be melted and formed into shapes. EXTRA: Corn you see growing in the field is not the type of corn we eat on the cob. Field corn is used for animal feed, ethanol, and products like corn starch and corn syrup. The type of corn we eat on the cob, or that comes from a can, is known as sweet corn. Popcorn is another type of corn we eat. Popcorn is the official Illinois snackfood! SOY About 85% of labeled vegetable oil in the United States is pure soy oil, or the oil extracted from soybeans. Soybean oil extracted from soybeans is used to make crayons. One acre of soybeans can make over 82,000 crayons! EXTRA: Decatur, Illinois is the Soybean Capital of the World.

2 DAIRY Sour cream is a dairy product. It gets its taste from natural thickening or souring of the cream when bacteria is introduced. Coffee creamer is used to flavor coffee. Not all coffee creamer has dairy in it. EXTRA: Each year, U.S. dairy farmers provide milk to make more than 1 billion pounds of butter, 7 billion pounds of cheese, and 1 billion gallons of ICE CREAM! PIGS Pigs fat can be used in weed killers, chalk, cosmetics, floor wax, crayons and antifreeze. By raising your hands, how many of you use chalk? Pigs have hair on their bodies called bristles. These bristles are used in some paintbrushes. EXTRA: Illinois ranks 4 th in the U.S. for the number of pigs raised! That s a lot of bacon!

3 BEEF Tallow is fat from cattle, and it is used in wax paper, crayons, margarine, paints, lubricants, candles, soaps, lipsticks, shaving creams, and rubber. That rubber is used to make this bike tire. The hide from one steer can make 144 baseballs, 20 footballs, or 12 basketballs. EXTRA: Beef is a good source of ZIP (zinc, iron and protein). You need these to be strong and healthy so you can do things like play basketball and run with your friends. WHEAT Macaroni comes from wheat. Pastas are made from flour, then dried to increase its shelf life. Flour is one of the main ingredients in ice cream cones. So even your delicious ice cream treat can have some wheat in it. EXTRA: Wheat is grown in nearly every state. Because it is such a versatile crop, it is being harvested somewhere in the world every month of the year. The wheat grown in Illinois is called soft red winter wheat. It is used for flat breads, cakes, pastries, and crackers.

4 SHEEP Wool comes from sheep. They grow a wool coat and it gets sheared off. This wool is then spun to get wool yarns used for knitting or crocheting. Once removed and processed, the hides can be used in the making of sporting goods. One popular use is in tennis balls. EXTRA: There are over 40 breeds of sheep in the U.S. and approximately 900 different breeds around the world. CATEGORY 8 QUESTIONS 1. About how many pounds of whole milk does it take to make a pound of butter? o 10 o 21 o 15 o 30 It takes about 12 pounds of whole milk to make one gallon of ice cream! 2. What is the most popular natural cheese in the U.S.? o American o Mozzarella o Cheddar There are about 300 varieties of cheese sold in the U.S.

5 3. What percentage of corn produced in the United States is produced by family farms? o 30% o 90% o 50% America s corn farmers grow 20% more corn per acre than any other nation. 4. On average, how many kernels are on an ear of corn? o 400 o 1200 o 800 The amount of corn grown in the state each year would fill about 460,000 swimming pools! 5. Which state is the largest producer of pumpkins and grows 90% of the pumpkins used for processing? o Illinois o Missouri o Iowa Morton, Illinois is known as the Pumpkin Capital of the World and houses Libby s processing plant, where pumpkin puree is canned to use for baking and cooking. 6. What is the state fruit of Illinois? o The Pumpkin o The Squash o The Goldrush Apple There are 7,500 varieties of apples in the world, but we only grow 100 different varieties in the United States.