Students discover the changes that take place in a walnut orchard through the seasons by reading and discussing a story about a walnut farm. Grades K-2
canopy: a shade or shelter that grows over something
consumer: a person who buys and uses goods and services
deciduous: during the fall every year, the leaves fall off the tree
dormant: not active but able to become active
fertile: producing vegetation or crops plentifully
harvest: the process or period of gathering crops
hull: the protective outer covering of a fruit or seed
orchard: a place where fruit or tree nuts are grown
pest: an organism living and growing where it is not wanted and is causing damage to plants, humans, structures, and other creatures
pollinate: to carry pollen from the anther to the stigma of a flower
Did You Know?
Walnuts are the oldest known tree food, dating back to 10,000 BC.1
There are more than 30 varieties of walnuts.1
Walnuts contain Omega-3 fatty acids, magnesium, and vitamin E. They are a healthy treat.2
A healthy walnut tree can produce crops for approzimately 100 years.
Background Agricultural Connections
Walnuts are one of the oldest tree foods known to humans and are good for snacking and cooking. The trees originated in ancient Persia (now known as Iran) where walnuts were reserved for royalty. These walnuts were transported to ports around the world by the English merchant marines and so the “Persian Walnut” came to be called the “English Walnut.” Walnuts were introduced to California by the Franciscan fathers who planted walnut trees in the 1700’s during the establishment of the missions. There are also types of walnut trees that are native to California called California black walnuts. The nuts of one type of black walnut, Northern California black, are used by nurseries for growing rootstock, but black walnut trees are not grown commercially for edible nuts because they are not as good to eat as the English walnut. The eastern black walnut is grown for edible nuts in the Midwestern United States.
California produces 99% percent of all US English walnuts, primarily in the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys, but also along the Central and Northern Coasts and in the Sierra Foothills. It also supplies three quarters of the world trade. Over 30 different cultivars of the English walnut have been developed for their shell characteristics, walnut meat content, pest tolerance, and harvest time. A cultivar is a plant or grouping of plants selected for desirable characteristics that can be maintained by propagation. The five primary cultivars grown are Chandler, Howard, Hartley, Serr, and Tulare. Walnut trees thrive in fertile, deep, well-drained soil. They begin to bear fruit four to five years after being planted and can continue to grow and bear fruit for a century or more.
Walnuts are harvested using mechanical shakers that shake the nut to the ground during harvest time in September through November. Machines sweep the fallen walnuts into rows, and then the nuts are collected and taken to a processing plant where they are dried, sorted, and cleaned. Walnuts may be sold with their shells intact (“inshell”) or removed (“shelled”). Shelled walnuts are sold whole, in halves, or in pieces of various sizes.
Engage
Inform your students that you will give them a series of "clues." Tell them to use the clues to guess the item you are thinking of.
It is a type of food.
It grows on a tree.
It forms inside a very hard shell.
They are harvested once per year, usually in the fall.
They are used mostly in salads and desserts.
The state of California grows 99% of all that are grown in the United States.
What are they? Walnuts!
In this lesson students will learn about the life cycle of a walnut tree and how farmers grow walnuts.
Read the story as a class, pausing during each section to discuss the content.
Write key vocabulary words on the board and discuss the definition as it pertains to agriculture.
Pass out student activity sheets for reading comprehension and vocabulary. Go through the first two questions together as a class, and then have students complete the rest of the questions on their own.
After students have completed their activity sheets, instruct them to pair up and compare answers with a partner. Call on groups around the room to check for accuracy.
Elaborate
Visit a local walnut orchard on a field trip
Ask a walnut farmer to come to class and share what he or she does in the orchard.
Ask students to take a blank piece of construction paper (8” x 12”) and divide the paper into four sections. Ask the students to draw a walnut tree in each section to represent each season of the year.
California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom
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State Standards for Indiana
Social Studies: Geography
Learning Outcome: Students locate their community, state, and nation on maps and globes; identify
major geographic characteristics of their local community; explore geographic relationships between the
physical and environmental characteristics of their community; and compare neighborhoods in their
community to those in other parts of the country/world.
2.G.5 - On a map, identify physical features of the local community, and how seasons may or may
not impact those features.
Examples: Use maps and atlases to identify local bodies of water, crops, and
green spaces (identify how these features are affected by seasons).
English Language Arts- Reading Comprehension
Learning Outcome: Students comprehend grade-level text, including fiction and nonfiction, and can
demonstrate their comprehension orally and through writing.
1.RC.1 - Ask and answer questions about the main idea and key details to clarify and confirm understanding of a text.
1.RC.3 - Using key details, identify and describe the elements of the plot, character, and setting.
2.RC.1 - Ask and answer questions about the main idea and key details in a text to demonstrate comprehension.
K.RC.1 - With support, ask and answer questions about main topics and key details in a text heard or
read. (E)
K.RC.3 - Identify important elements within a text (e.g., characters, settings, or events). (E)
English Language Arts : Communication and Collaboration
Learning Outcome: Students actively listen and participate in discussions using details and answering
questions.
1.CC.1 - Participate in collaborative conversations about grade-appropriate topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
2.CC.1 - Participate in collaborative conversations about grade-appropriate topics and texts with peers
and adults in small and larger groups.
K.CC.1 - Participate in collaborative conversations about grade-appropriate topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
English Language Arts: Writing
Learning Outcome: Students produce writing for a variety of purposes applying their knowledge of
language and sentence structure.
1.W.4 - Produce (when writing or speaking) narratives using precise words to describe characters and actions and temporal words to signal event order, with ideas organized into a beginning, middle, and ending.
2.W.4 - Write narratives that:
a. Include a beginning;
b. Use temporal words to signal event order (e.g., first of all);
c. Provide details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings; and
d. Provide a middle and an ending. (E)
Science: Earth Systems
The analysis of the structure and function of the Earth as an integrated system between the environment, human, and technological systems.
K-ESS2-1 - Use and share observations of local weather conditions to describe patterns over time.
K-ESS3-1 - Use a model to represent the relationship between the needs of different plants and
animals (including humans) and the places they live
Science: From Molecule to Organisms: Structures and Processes
Use observations (firsthand or from media) to describe patterns in the natural world in order to answer scientific questions.
K-LS1-1 - Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans)
need to survive.
Agricultural Literacy Outcomes
Agriculture and the Environment
Describe the importance of soil and water in raising crops and livestock (T1.K-2.b)
Provide examples of how weather patterns affect plant and animal growth for food (T1.K-2.d)
Describe how farmers use land to grow crops and support livestock (T1.K-2.a)
Culture, Society, Economy & Geography
Trace the sources of agricultural products (plant or animal) used daily (T5.K-2.f)
Identify plants and animals grown or raised locally that are used for food, clothing, shelter, and landscapes (T5.K-2.d)
Plants and Animals for Food, Fiber & Energy
Explain how farmers work with the lifecycle of plants and animals (planting/breeding) to harvest a crop (T2.K-2.a)
Science, Technology, Engineering & Math
Recognize and identify examples of simple tools and machines used in agricultural settings (T4.K-2.b)
Education Content Standards
Social Studies – Geography (GEOGRAPHY)
Geography Standard 4 (Grades K-2):The physical and human characteristics of places.
Objective 1 Places are locations having distinctive characteristics that give them meaning and distinguish them from other locations.
Objective 2 Places have physical and human characteristics.
Geography Standard 5 (Grades K-2):That people create regions to interpret Earth's complexity.
Objective 1 Regions are areas of Earth's surface with unifying physical and/or human characteristics.
Geography Standard 11 (Grades K-2):The patterns and networks of economic interdependence on Earth's surface.
Objective 2 Some locations are better suited than others to provide certain goods and services.
Science (SCIENCE)
K-ESS2:Earth's Systems
K-ESS2-1 Use and share observations of local weather conditions to describe patterns over time.
K-ESS3:Earth and Human Activity
K-ESS3-1 Use a model to represent the relationship between the needs of different plants or animals (including humans) and the places they live.
K-LS1:From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
K-LS1-1 Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive.
Common Core Connections
Anchor Standards: Reading
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.1Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.2Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.3Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.4Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.5Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.6Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.7Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.
Anchor Standards: Speaking and Listening
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.SL.2Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
Anchor Standards: Writing
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.3Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details and well-structured event sequences.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.8Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.
