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The story of George Washington Carver is one of the most well known of all scientists in the United States. His role in developing a school of agriculture and science for African American students in order to improve their lives is a tale of dedication and genius. Starting with no more than an empty building at Tuskegee Institute, Carver built laboratories, taught a generation of students and discovered important agricultural practices that would impact the southern United States. This unit engages students in scavenging, like Carver, for materials and supplies, and in inventing uses for various agricultural products. Full STORY here.
It is important to engage students in the story in order to spark their interest in the unit. Prompt students to ask questions and to note interesting information. You can use questions such as: "What do you find interesting about the story?" "What would you like to know more about?" "What questions do you have from reading the story?" For more information about how students can read the story go to Reading LA STEM Stories. Students should record observations or questions in a notebook. See directions for the STEM Notebook here.
Select any or all of these explorations to learn how Carver used agricultural products to make new things.
Learn how George Washington Carver got started as a teacher. Starting with nothing, how did Carver get the materials and equipment he needed to teach science and technology to poor students?
How do you adapt things that you can find in the recycling bin into experimental materials?
Learn how to remove the protein from milk and make glue. Then test the strength of the glue using a process as a chemical engineer might use.
Using the curds and whey from milk, the proteins can be linked together to form white glue.
MAKING PLASTICLearn how to take a protein, tear it apart, and then put it back together as a polymer. Atoms, molecules, electric charges, attraction, polymerization, synthesis are concepts in this exploration.
Learn how to remove starch from a potato and to recombine fibers.
Using the knowledge and skills from the previous explorations, students can take an unknown agricultural product, such as a sweet potato, corn, or squash, and determine if there are potential new uses for the plant.
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