Seed to Harvest: Wheat

Seed to harvest, a short video/blog to demonstrate how wheat is harvested and ground into flour!

We know many K-2nd grade classrooms learn about the lifecycle of wheat, rye and alfalfa. Add in a real-world connection by bringing in ripe wheat and hold a discussion about the job of a combine and the many uses for grain.

You can find all of the lesson materials on our website at November | mysite (linncoag.com).

We begin with the book, The Little Red Hen by Paul Galdone. This is a great book for lower elementary students and a great introduction to our topic on wheat. The Little Red Hen finds herself planting, harvesting and baking all by herself. Her friends make her do all the work by herself and in the end, Little Red Hen doesn't share the cake. Her friends realize they should help with the work load. Next time she has 3 eager helpers.

We follow up the story by asking the students to list the steps Little Red Hen takes to bake the cake.

Plant the seed, care for the wheat, cut the stalks, take the wheat to the mill, mix the recipe, bake the cake. I love to include visual and hands-on activities to draw connections to the real-world.

Parts of a wheat plant!

Activity 1: Demonstrate threshing or removing the seed/kernel from the plant.

Ask the students to count the seeds harvested by hand. Would it take a long time to harvest a field of wheat by hand? Display the photo of the combine and explain how it works.

Watch a short video: Harvesting Wheat from Bee Bright

Activity 2: If you have access to a hand grinder (a coffee grinder or a black pepper grinder will also work), demonstrate how to grind the kernels into flour.

Activity 3: Bake a mug cake