Travel the USA—the AG-WAY!!

Taking a virtual trip

to learn about agriculture

in the United States,

with lessons in geography, science,

math, reading, and writing

Margaret Perret, Louisiana Farm Bureau

St. Martin’s Episcopal School, Metairie, LA

This unit came about when I bought an old Fodor map book, traveling the route of I-55, from its beginning near New Orleans to Chicago. Having recently met a teacher from Illinois with whom I was already sharing ag-related materials, I planned a trip for my class to “travel” north on I-55, learning about each state’s agricultural commodities along the way.

Travel the USA—the AG-WAY!! Project Organization

Our virtual trip took place over one week. We followed the route on a US mid-section desktop map. We also put together a long strip map, marking each day’s travels. On display in the classroom were maps of the country and the states we would study.

We kept records of time and distance traveled, costs of lunch, dinner, and hotel rooms on our Travel Logs. Our hotel stays were in major cities along I-55 which always had a $10 per child charge!

To spice up this year’s project, each day’s adventure also took us to a farm to get a closer look at one aspect each state’s agricultural production.

I GOOGLED farms in each state, then located them through the use of Google’s maps for directions and satellite photographs.

Writing a short paragraph and drawing a picture of our experience completed each day’s activities.

Mapping out the trip!

Travel the USA—the AG Way!Travel Log

Day # _____ Date: ____________Departing: ________ at ____AM / PMDestination: ____________________Arriving: _________ at ____AM / PMDistance traveled: __________miles 

COST:Per person Class Lunch $_______ $_______ Dinner $_______ $_______ Hotel $_______ $_______ Total $_______ $_______

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Use the State Profiles from the Ag in the Classroom website to learn information about each of the states along your route.

The Enchanted Learning website has maps and general information about each state. They also have many printable worksheets and quizzes on many geography topics.

Capital

Major City

3 state symbols

3 agricultural commodities

3 fun facts

State:

Use the information on the Agricultural Profile to complete the chart.

Our project led us north on I-55. Click here to see our route:

Google I-55 LaPlace, LA to Chicago, IL

The following slides focus on farms in each state of our “travels.”

Ride on the Great River Road to see sugarcane growing on Evergreen Plantation in Edgard, Louisiana, 70049!

Directions from I-55, LaPlace, LA to Evergreen Plantation, Edgard, LA

Google Map: Evergreen Plantation, Great River Road, Edgard, LA

Evergreen Plantation

Pick pecans in Mississippi at Delta Pecan Orchard, RR2 Box 14 Hwy 3, in Tutwiler, Mississippi, 38963.

Delta Pecan Orchard

Google Map: Delta Pecan Orchard, Tutwiler, Mississippi

Directions from I-55, Jackson, Mississippi to Delta Pecan Orchard, Tutwiler, Mississippi

Don’t forget the MILK!!

Visit Sweetwater Valley Dairy Farm in Philadelphia, Tennessee.

Sweetwater Valley Dairy Farm

Google Map: Sweetwater Farm, Philadelphia, Tennessee

Google Map Directions from Memphis, TN to Sweetwater Farm, Philadelphia, TN

Workers are busy at Peterson Farms in Decatur, Arkansas where they produce over 2 million chicks per week and sell 1.5 million broilers every week! That’s a lot of chicken!!

Peterson Farms

Google Map: Peterson Farm Hatchery 1, 1200 E Roller Ave, Decatur, Arkansas

Directions from I-55, Memphis, TN to Peterson Farms, Decatur, Arkansas

LaBoube Cattle Farm

Spend the night in the Guest House when you visit LaBoube Farms to see their Angus and Hereford Cattle!

Google Map: LaBoube Farms, 573-486-5100, Hwy H, Hermann, Missouri 65041

Directions from I-55 St. Louis, Missouri to LaBoube Farms, Hermann, Missouri

Google Map: Corn Maze, Richardson Farms, Spring Grove, IL

Directions from I-55 in Chicago to Richardson Farms, Spring Grove, IL

Richardson Farm, Spring Grove, IL

Visit the Richardson Farm in Spring Grove, Illinois to see the World’s Largest Corn Maze!

Following are other ideas and websites to help you to add more excitement to your travels.

The USDA website has neat maps that show where each commodity is produced. Once you determine your virtual trip route, you can click on each of the commodities listed to see what is produced in each of the states along the way. This data can be used to complete the Commodities Graph.

Rice

Wheat

Cotton

Soybeans

Sugarcane

Corn

Pecans

Beef Cattle

Dairy Cows

Hogs and Pigs

Sheep and Lambs

BroilersTobacco

Vegetables

Number of US Farms in 2002

Graphing commodities

Add fun to your lessons with commodity AG-tivities!

Other projects include:

Cotton: Sock Babies—directions in handouts

Poultry: Dyeing Easter Eggs

Rice: Rice Babies—directions in handouts

Corn: Popcorn Fun

Soybeans: How Strong Are Soybean Seeds?—directions in handouts

Popcorn Activities

Naturally dyed Easter eggs

Decorating Easter Eggs with Parsley

Click here for fun 4H Virtual Farm tours!

For our rice babies, pantyhose legs were filled with rice according to each child’s birth weight.

Various creatures were made with leaves.

A fun game helped determine Jelly Belly jelly bean flavors.

Click here for a Jelly Belly Factory virtual tour!

Google I-10 Map, Santa Monica, CA to Jacksonville, FL

Google I-80 Map, San Francisco, CA to New York City, NY

Google I-35 Map, Laredo, TX to Duluth, MN

Google I-95 Map, Miami, FL to Houlton, ME

Other virtual across-country trip possibilities:

An Agricultural Alphabet

A lligators N uts—Peanuts and Pecans

B eans and Beef Cattle O ysters and Okra

C orn and Cotton P umpkins

D iversity in our nation Q uilts of cotton

E ggs R ice

F ood and Fiber S ugar

G eography T rees

H ealthy meals U nderstanding agriculture

I llinois commodities V irtual trips

J ambalaya and Crawfish Pie W heat

K umquats X tra fun

L ouisiana commodities Y oung and old

M aps Z eal for learning

Travel the USA—the AG-WAY!!

Margaret G. Perret

Louisiana Farm Bureau

St. Martin’s Episcopal School

School: 5309 Airline Drive, Metairie, LA 70003

Home: 508 Colony Place, Metairie, LA 70003

504-388-7019

margaret.perret@stmsaints.com