As each student completes an activity they are learning about Kansas and Kansas agriculture. This teacher guide provides suggestions on expanding learning with the activity sheets. We suggest that you read the teacher guide before printing the sheets.
Have students locate the Kansas map on the sheet. On the map provided have students find the county they live in and have students color with school color. Depending on the age of your students you may want to put a star on the county before you print copies. Have students share what towns their friends live in or what large cities are located in Kansas. This is an opportunity to find other important places in the state, like Wichita, Topeka and Kansas City. Where is their favorite college town located? For older students use this map to identify the surrounding states and to reference which direction is north, south, east and west.
Throughout the “Kansas Agriculture” page students will find Kansas symbols. Talk to the students about our flag and show them your classroom flag. Where might they see the Kansas flag?
Look at the animals on the page and talk about them. Have them enjoy coloring the symbols. Can they find the box turtle?
Use the following links to familiarize yourself with these symbols or share links with your older students and have them present their findings in class.
Have the students match the six crop names to the plants. These are the most common crops grown in Kansas. Agriculture is the largest industry in the state and these crops are used to produce many products we use every day. Below is a short list of what each crop is used for after it is harvested.
The motto for Kansas is “Ad Astra Per Aspera.” It is Latin and translates to “To the stars through difficulties.” It was coined by John James Ingalls in 1861 and reflects the aspirations of Kansas to reach the unattainable and the impossible. It is believed that the hardships the first settlers went through to get to Kansas would be rewarded with land and they would prosper.
There are two seals. In the blank seal you can have your students draw what they feel Kansas means to them or they can try their hand at making a new seal for our state and using images that represent Kansas today. Another option is to have students draw what agriculture looks like today and compare their drawing to 1861 agriculture.
There are many agriculture products grown in Kansas, the word scramble focuses on the top 5. The first answer is cattle. Kansas ranks as one of the top three states in the United States in raising/feeding cattle. This is why so much corn and other grains are grown in Kansas. There are a lot cattle to feed. As a hint when completing the word scramble “all but the first one is already listed on the page.” Answer key:
