George Washington Carver study makes for a fun peanut unit study. Also, you love my Gardening Projects For Homeschool Easy Composting With the Amazing Dr. George Carver (Free Printable About Compost and my page Best Homeschool Unit Studies.
Besides, National Peanut Butter Day is January 24th and I have some fun ideas to learn about peanuts and peanut butter.
We are celebrating it by making a batch of easy 3 ingredient peanut butter cookies and enjoying a mini peanut unit study.
Learn about the process, the people, and fun facts about the peanut while you enjoy peanutty treats.
Peanuts are versatile and used in much more than just peanut butter.
First, you’ll love some of these fun peanut facts.
For example, Jimmy Carter, our 39th president, came from humble roots in Plains, Georgia.
He took over his father’s peanut farm prior to becoming president.
Jimmy Carter sold peanuts on the streets at just 5 years old, peanuts are in his blood.
Too, Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States was a peanut farmer and a botanist.
He is credited with the boost to the peanut’s popularity as he was the first American president to grow peanuts. He was famed for his other amazing garden treasures at Monticello.
More Peanut Facts
- There are four different types of peanuts – Runner, Valencia, Spanish and Virginia.
- It takes roughly 540 peanuts to make one 12-ounce jar of peanut butter.
- There have been two peanut farmers to have been elected president of the USA – Thomas Jefferson from Virginia and Jimmy Carter from Georgia,
- Peanuts are not actually “nuts” they are classified as legumes, related to beans.
- There are 6 different cities in the United States named Peanut:
- Peanut, California
- Lower Peanut- Pennsylvania
- Upper Peanut, Pennsylvania
- Peanut, Pennsylvania
- Peanut, Tennessee
- Peanut West Virginia
- “Goober” is a nickname for peanuts.
- The highest peanut producing states are: Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Texas, North Carolina, and South Carolina, Arkansas, Virginia, Mississippi, and Oklahoma. Do you live in one of these peanut rich states?
- It is believed that the peanut plant probably originated in Brazil or Peru.
Then, learn about the science of peanuts.
And I have some notebooking pages for you too.
A Pea or a Nut?
First, Argentina, Brazil, Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, and Sudan are major peanut-growing countries.
However, the peanut is not really a nut such as a pecan or walnut but are the seeds of the peanut plant.
As the plant grows, it puts forth yellow flowers that pollinate themselves.
Additionally, the peanut is a legume—a member of the pea family.
And peanuts do not grow on trees, but they grow on low bushes.
They produce their fruit underground.
Next, learn about Dr. George Washington Carver.
About George Washington Carver
Carver was born in 1861 near Diamond Grove, Missouri and died January 5, 1943 in Tuskegee. Alabama.
Carver was the son of a slave owned by Moses Carver. He was separated from his mother at a young age. He taught himself using books and learned from his experiences.
During this time, he supported himself by various jobs, including hotel cook, laundry man, farm laborer, and other odd jobs.
And he was an American agricultural chemist. He experimented with peanuts, sweet potatoes, and soybeans.
One of the most well-known things he did was to help teach people of the South to care for their soil.
A lot of farmers grew cotton, and the dreaded cotton boll weevil would devastate their crop.
He suggested peanuts as a source of income in place of cotton. But also, because it enriched the soil.
Also, he spent most of his career teaching and conducting research at the Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama.
Thereafter, in 1903 George Washington Carver had begun research into new uses for the peanut plant.
He eventually developed more than 300 products from it.
Look at this site List of Products made from the Peanut By Dr. George Washington Carver.
In addition, add some of these books to your study.
6 Learning About Peanuts & George Washington Carver Books
Add in some fun facts about the history of peanuts and some fun books for a quick unit study.
Discover how George Washington Carver went from a slave to an innovator of agricultural science in this luminously illustrated picture book.Born a slave, George Washington Carver went on to become the most prominent black scientist of the early twentieth century.
What are peanuts - are they peas or are they nuts? Do they grow above or below ground? Who invented peanut butter? In the same spirit as his award-winning Life and Times of the Honeybee, Charles Micucci explores one of America's most favorite and enigmatic snack foods. This fascinating picture book, with its concise, detailed text and abundant illustrations, ranging from the humorous to the scientific, offers a spirited introduction to the life cycle, many uses, and historical influences of the peanut.
Get your recommended daily allowance of facts and fun with Food Anatomy, the third book in Julia Rothman’s best-selling Anatomy series. She starts with an illustrated history of food and ends with a global tour of street eats
Born in 1860s Missouri, nobody expected George Washington Carver to succeed. Slaves were not allowed to be educated. After the Civil War, Carver enrolled in classes and proved to be a star student. He became the first black student at Iowa State Agricultural College and later its first black professor. He went on to the Tuskegee Institute where he specialized in botany (the study of plants) and developed techniques to grow crops better. His work with vegetables, especially peanuts, made him famous and changed agriculture forever.
George Washington Carver spent his life asking questions and looking for the answers. He gained a reputation as the farmers' best friend after teaching about crop rotation. He told farmers to grow peanuts and sweet potatoes to "rest" their soil between cotton crops. And what could they do with all those peanuts? Carver developed more than 300 peanut-based products—from milk to printers' ink—and more than 100 ways to use sweet potatoes. Young children love the story of this exceptional inventor.
Born into slavery, George Washington Carver became one of the most prestigious scientists of his time. This biography follows Dr. Carver's life from childhood to his days as a teacher and discoverer.
Hands-On Peanut and Peanut Butter Activities
Next, try a few hands-on activities to make the learning more fun and memorable.
- Gardening Projects For Homeschool Easy Composting With the Amazing Dr. George Carver.
- Learn How to Make Your Own Peanut Butter.
- How to Make Edible Peanut Butter Playdough.
- Use shelled peanuts as counters for simple addition and subtraction, or skip counting.
- Make this super cute George Washington Carver Paper Plate Peanut Craft.
- Grow your own peanuts with these Peanut Seeds.
- Make a winter nature craft: How to Make Easy DIY Bird Feeders.
- Have a peanut taste test. Try them in every form you can- in the shell, as peanut butter, honey roasted or other flavors, in cookies, peanut brittle, or peanut candies.
Too, here are some videos to add to your quick study.
Videos about Peanuts
Add these YouTube videos.
- Check out Food Network’s Unwrapped- How Peanut Butter is Made to learn about the process of creating the base for one of America’s favorite sandwiches.
- Watch How Peanuts Are Made to learn how peanuts are processed and packaged for sale.
- Follow the Story of George Washington Carver with the Sci Kids to learn about the important contributions he made to agriculture and society.
- Learn the Top 10 Health Benefits of Peanuts.
Further, let’s make some easy delicious peanut butter cookies.
Easy 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
You will also need:
- Bowl and hand mixer or stand mixer.
- Baking sheet
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Place peanut butter, eggs, and sugar in a mixer bowl and mix until well combined.
Roll the mixture into ping pong sized balls in your hand.
Place balls on a cookie sheet.
Smash each one down with a fork.
Sprinkle cookies lightly with additional sugar.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.
Allow to cool for 2-3 minutes then move to a cooling rack.
In addition, you’ll love these free peanut and carver notebooking pages.
How to Get the Free Peanut Notebooking Pages
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