In Clover
Shamrock is the English form of the Irish word seamrog which,
literally translated, means "little clover." Clover is
one of the major crops grown in Oklahoma as hay, and hay is Oklahoma's third most valuable crop. Clover is extremely
delicious and fattening to cattle. This fact is where we get the
idiomatic phrase "in clover," meaning a carefree life
of ease, comfort, or prosperity. Clover also grows, often unwanted,
in most lawns in Oklahoma. Clover is a legume, which means it is
good for the soil. Legumes capture nitrogen. Clover is one of the
first plants to start greening up in the spring.
More facts about clover and hay
ACTIVITIES: Find a nice field of clover, and take
your students outdoors to look for four-leaf clovers.
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Students measure the area they are searching and determine
the probability of finding four-leaf clovers, based on the area
covered and the number of four leaf clovers they find.
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Students make graphs showing the different kinds of plants
found in the area.
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Students use magnifying glasses to examine the clover and other
plant material in the area.
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Students compare clover with dandelions and other plants in
the area. List differences and similarities on a Venn diagram.
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Students use clover to construct multiplication facts. (Four
clovers with three leaves each has how many leaves?)
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Students use clover to demonstrate thirds.
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Students make clover jewelry by gently tying one clover flower
to the next until they have strings long enough for a necklace
or bracelet.
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Make clover bookmarks: Put a clover leaf between two sheets
of white paper, and press between the pages of a heavy book.
In a few days, when the clover has dried, take it from between
the pages of paper. Cut a strip from colored construction paper,
and carefully glue your clover to the top end. Laminate your
bookmark to make it last longer!
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Gather a mess of clover to use as a natural
dye. Students guess what color the
dye will make. Fill a large
pot with
clover, and cover with cold water. Simmer for 10 minutes,
then turn off the heat. Cover the pan, and steep the mixture
for 30 minutes. Use a strainer to remove the greens. Provide
each student with a square of unbleached muslin. Place the
muslin in the pot and leave it overnight. Next day remove the
squares and hang them to dry.
P.A.S.S. for these activities
Grow clover sprouts. Get seeds at a health food store.
Writing Prompts
For more information about clover and hay, see A
Hundred Bales of Hay.
Cattle love to eat clover, but, just like humans, they need
other foods, too: They
Don't Just Eat Grass
What nationwide youth organization has a four-leaf
clover as its symbol?
Learn about the origins of 4-H and its importance
to agricultural research with this online OAITC lesson: Head,
Heart, Hands, Health
Red Dirt Groundbreaker: Bermuda John Fields
One of the first acts of the legislature of the Oklahoma Territory
was to establish an agricultural college in Stillwater. Iowa-born
John Fields was one of the first two assistant professors. In 1899
he was appointed first director of the Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment
Station. The purpose of the Experiment Station was to conduct experiments
to help Oklahoma farmers.
Fields was a very good speaker. For the next several years he
became the most familiar figure in Oklahoma associated with agriculture.
He was one of the authors of a territorial law passed in 1905 making
the teaching of agriculture in the public schools mandatory. The
next year the Oklahoma Constitutional Convention included a provision
in the new constitution for the compulsory “teaching of the
elements of agriculture, horticulture, stock feeding and domestic
science.
Fields was responsible for popularizing and distributing Bermuda
grass in the state. This all-purpose pasture and lawn grass made
its appearance in Oklahoma around the turn of the century. Fields
gathered the available information on the grass and planted it
on the college farm in 1900. He sodded the campus with it, pas-
tured livestock on it and published an experiment station bulletin
on the subject. As late as 1903, some farmers still believed the
plant to be harmful to livestock. To overcome their worries, Fields
raised and shipped Bermuda grass roots to all who would pay the
shipping costs. He was very happy when important citizens such
as former governor Thompson B. Ferguson of Watonga,requested Bermuda
grass for their lawns. The giveaway brought the grass and Fields
a great deal of publicity. By June, 1906, roots had been shipped
to more than 600 farmers, and some were calling Fields “Bermuda
John.”
In 1906 Fields resigned from the experiment station to become
editor of the Oklahoma Farm Journal. He ran for governor
in 1922 but was defeated by his opponent, John Walton.
More Red Dirt Groundbreakers
Book
Geisert, Bonnie, Haystack, Houghton Mifflin, 2003. (Grades K-3)
Beginning with details about mowing, drying and tromping hay, the narrative moves on to explain the haystack's important purposes: to provide food and a shelter from the wind for cows during the winter; during warmer weather, to serve as a resting and feeding place for pigs. In return, the animals' manure is used as fertilizer for the next year's hay, thus continuing the cycle.
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PreK - Creative Skills: 1.2,4. Math: 1.1; 2.2; 5.3. Small
Motor: 2.1,2. Science Process: 1.1,2. Life Science: 3.3
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Kindergarten - Creative Skills: 1.3. Math: 1.1; 2.1,4.
Small Motor: 1.1. Science Process: 1.1,3. Physical Science: 1.1
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Grade 1 - Science Process: 1.2; 2.1; 3.1,2,3; 4.3. Life
Science: 2.2. Visual Arts: 3.1,2. Math Process: 1.1,2,3,5; 2.3; 3.2; 4.4;
5.2 . Math Content: 5.1
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Grade 2 - Science Process: 1.2; 2.1; 3.1,2,3; 4.3.
Life Science: 2.1. Visual Arts: 3.1,2. Math Process:
1.1,2,3; 2.3; 3.2; 4.4; 5.2. Math Content: 2.1b; 4.2ab; 5.1
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Grade 3 - Science Process: 1.2; 2.1; 3.1,2,3; 4.3. Life
Science: 2.1,2,3. Visual Arts: 3.1,2. Math Process: 1.1,2,3,5; 2.3; 3.2;
4.4; 5.2. Math Content: 2.2b; 3.2b; 4.2c,3; 5.1a,2a
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Grade 4 - Science Process: 1.2; 2.1; 3.1,2,3; 4.1,3,4;
5.1,2. Life Science: 3.3. Visual Arts: 3.1,2. Math Process: 1.1,2,3,5;
2.3; 3.2; 4.4; 5.2. Math Content: 4.4b; 5.1b
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Grade 5 - Science Process: 1.2; 2.1; 3.1,2,3; 4.1,3,4;
5.1,2. Physical Science: 1.1,2. Visual Arts: 3.1. Math Process: 1.1,2,3,5;
2.3; 3.2; 4.4; 5.2. Math Content: 2.1d; 4.2,4; 5.1ac
