Students compare and contrast hair sheep and wool sheep, discover the reasons why farmers raise sheep, and explore ways farmers meet the needs of the sheep they raise. Grades K-2
Students investigate the seasons, explore the process of wool production, and discover how trade and barter have historically allowed people to satisfy their needs and wants. Grades 3-5
Students explain why people have different opinions regarding soil management and identify cause and effect relationships relating to agriculture and the environment. Grades 3-5
Students explore the Census of 2020 by making a connection between shepherds counting their sheep and counting the population of the United States. Grades K-2
Students discover the science behind how a drone works, explore how drones are used in agriculture, and program and operate a drone for the purpose of monitoring grazing sheep. Grades 6-8
Students investigate six major livestock species, discover that animals need air, space, food, water, and shelter to survive, explore the life cycle of a farm animal, and identify the products each farm animal produces. Grades K-2
Using various forms of maps, students will analyze public lands in the western United States, describe how ranchers raise food and fiber on federally owned land, and discuss different points of view concerning public lands use and public lands grazing. This lesson covers a socioscientific issue and aims to provide students with tools to evaluate science within the context of social and economic points of view. Grades 9-12
Students investigate how the need for wool impacted the American colonists by examining the Wool Act of 1699, determining the importance of wool in colonial America, and comparing and contrasting the differences between processing wool then and now. Students spin, weave, and dye wool to explore how wool was processed in Colonial times. Grades 3-5
Students explore how genes affect important traits such as growth, reproduction, disease resistance, and behavior and discover the responsibilities of an animal geneticist. Grades 3-5
Students explore the difference between inherited and acquired traits and discover why knowledge of inherited and acquired traits is important to agriculture. Grades 3-5
Students explore the difference between inherited and acquired traits and understand why knowledge of inherited and acquired traits is important to agriculture. Activities in this lesson include trait sorting, two video clips, a PTC taste test, and student presentations. Grades 6-8
Students will read about and research the domestication of animals to better understand why and how they are raised on a farm. They will create a timeline of animal domestication. Grades 6-8
Students use this template to create a pop-up game to reinforce agricultural concepts concerning various plants and animals. Templates are available for apples, cows, dairy, pigs, sheep, and turkeys. Teachers can use the blank template to create their own pop-ups to reinforce concepts and understanding for any area of study.
Spinning, dyeing, weaving, and felting wool can easily be done in the classroom. This activity provides instructions and a materials list, making it easy to prepare a hands-on wool project for your class. Wool processing is a topic that connects easily to lessons in history and science.
This activity can be a companion to a secondary genetics lesson allowing students to practice completing Punnett Squares. Students will learn about sheep production and how sheep breeders can use the Punnett Square to predict the likelihood of lambs in their flock inheriting a disease called Spider Lamb Syndrome or SLS.
In A New Coat for Anna by Harriet Ziefert, Anna needs a new coat, but her mother has no money, and the stores are empty. The story takes place in the hard times following World War II. Anna's mother barters, directly exchanging goods or services with a sheep farmer, a spinner, a weaver, and a tailor to produce the new coat.
A young boy raises orphaned lambs. The text showcases that raising sheep is hard work. He makes sure the sheep get the attention they need to grow healthy and strong. It is a solid depiction of raising orphaned lambs and integrating them into a sheep herd. It also showcases how Cass keeps good records of his animals and shows them at the county fair.
Sheep need protection from predators. Guardian dogs are used to protect the flocks from danger. This book provides a good introduction for how these animals are used in agriculture. Students will enjoy seeing the bond that these animals share. A good text for introducing how ranchers deal with predators and protection of their animals.
Farm Animals is a 32-page book filled with facts to learn about many types of farms and the animals that live there. The book includes real-life pictures and color illustrations. In addition to the text, each page includes a fun fact. Readers will learn why traditional farm animals such as beef cattle, dairy cattle, goats, sheep, chickens, and pigs are kept on farms. They will also learn why specialty farms raise ducks, geese, fish, and ostriches.
How do farmers keep sheep healthy? Find the answers to this and many other questions about sheep in this informative 32-page book. Fabulous photos illustrate various aspects of sheep farming, and make the book easy and fun for children to read. Includes table of contents, glossary, and index.
Grab your boots, it's time to explore life on a farm! In joyful verse, follow a diverse cast of families as they work together to care for crops and animals on their farms through spring, summer, fall, and winter. Follow farming families as they work and play in boots, all year long. Whether its springtime puddle-splashing, riding at the summer fair, or herding sheep into the barn in winter, there's a type of boot for every kind of weather and activity. Each season brings adorable farm animals, farming equipment, and of course boots in this exploration of farm and country life.
Sarah's life in Colonial Pennsylvania is anything but easy. She and her family have to grow, raise, and make everything they need—including their clothes. The time and effort that takes means that nothing is replaced until it's absolutely necessary. As Sarah helps plant flax and raise sheep throughout the year, her one dress gets tighter and tighter. But in the nick of time, wool is spun, fabric is woven, and a brand-new dress is made just for her.
How do you knit a pair of mittens? The first step is to get a sheep of course! In this playful story, a girl follows 18 steps to knit mittens—from bringing home a sheep to carding, spinning, and dyeing the wool to knitting the mittens. But along the way, her mischievous sheep creates chaos and wins her heart. By wintertime, the girl has sunny-yellow mittens, the sheep has a sunny-yellow hat, and together they're ready for adventure. This tale of patience, creativity, and friendship is knitted from skeins of humor and love.
Discover all there is to know about sheep in all their woolly glory in Sheepology, a delightfully illustrated guide ewe will flock to again and again. Did you know that sheep do not like to be alone and get along well with other animals? Or that a sheep was the first mammal to be cloned by humans? Have you ever wondered how sheep's milk turns into cheese? Or how sheep are shorn and wool is made into cloth? These and other intriguing and engaging facts can be found in Sheepology, a visual encyclopedia.
Have you ever wondered about the purpose or function of different types of barns? The Perfect Barn is a captivating story about an owl that searches for a barn that would meet her needs and tells the story about some of the modern-day uses of barns. In the book, the main character, Barn Owl, takes flight to find the perfect barn. On her journey, she discovers various types of barns and the animals that live there—chickens, pigs, dairy cows, and sheep. Will Barn Owl find the perfect barn? At the last farm, Barn Owl makes a great discovery.
A wagon sits in the sagebrush-covered desert, while herders on horseback move sheep to high summer range. It looks like a scene from the Old West, but it's actually a sight you can see today. Shepherds still live in wagons, tending their flocks in Wyoming and other places in the American West just as they have done for more than a hundred years. From breeding season to lambing season, and shearing in between, this informative text filled with stunning photographs shows how sheep are raised over the course of a year. Use this book as an introduction for examining migrant workers and the importance of their contribution to the American economy or as a background text to provide context to lessons on wool or ranching.
A sheep shears, dyes, and spins her wool into a wonderful surprise. True to its title, this wordless story will keep readers wondering what "sheep" is up to. After taking some measurements, she realizes that she has enough wool on her body to suit her purposes. She dyes the wool red, shears it off, and, donning a sweater to warm herself, takes the wool to a poodle to be spun into yarn. The sheep then works late into the night, knitting and sewing. Obviously she is preparing something special–but what is it? The final page turn brings a satisfying resolution to the mystery. Even the very young will be able to follow the story by reading the illustrations. A fine addition for wordless-book collections.
Clear, colorful photographs and detailed drawings delve into the sources of our clothes, tablecloths, sheets, towels, and blankets. The authors describe a variety of fibers used to make cloth and how these fibers are collected.
When Betsy Ward's family moves to Ohio from Connecticut in 1803, she brings along a sock-full of coins to buy sheep so that she can gather wool, spin cloth, and make clothes to keep her children warm. Based upon a true story.
How do you make a rainbow? If you are a weaver you can make a rainbow with wool. If you are a sheep you can BE a rainbow! This book is filled with lovely watercolor illustrations that show the process of tending the sheep, shearing their wool, spinning the wool, using natural dyes, and weaving the colored yarn into a piece of art.
Did you know that the cotton for your jeans was picked from a plant? How did the colorful wool in your sweater get from a sheep’s back to a ball of yarn? Where did your soccer uniform, your rain boots, and your fleece jacket come from? And what does recycling plastic bottles have to do with anything? This book will take you to visit farms, forests, and factories all over the world to find out how everything you wear has a story behind it. The fabrics covered include denim, wool, and synthetics, and suggestions on how to recycle or repurpose old clothes are also provided.
Rose’s grandmother wants to teach Rose how to weave, but Rose is enjoying the beautiful day outside far too much to come in and learn. It is not until Grandma shows Rose how she has woven the elements of nature into her rug that Rose wants to create a rug of her own. But now Grandma has spied a rainbow. Hand in hand, she and Rose head outside, and the next day, that rainbow reappears in Rose's own rug.
This kit contains a one-page coloring and activity sheet for kindergarten and first-grade-age students, complete with wool, felt, grain and other feed samples for students to paste into place. Order this kit online from agclassroomstore.com.
If you are a teacher who creates educational books with your children, try creating the About Cattle, About Sheep, About Chickens, About Pigs, and About Goats books. Some of the books provide pages ready to color, others require the names of the animals be written, and other pages ask students to glue down feed samples or wool products. The books provide an opportunity to talk about animal needs, uses, offspring, seasonal changes, etc. The package of materials includes ready-to-copy booklet masters and enough samples of wool, hay, straw, cattle, pig, and chicken feed for the entire class to create the booklets. Order this kit online from agclassroomstore.com.
This kit is designed to support various forms of homeschool, virtual learning, and online classes by providing ready-to-use supplies to facilitate hands-on learning and discovery. The kit contains materials for one student to complete a variety of activities found in the following resources: Animal or Plant?; Animal Life Cycles (Activity 2); About Farm Animals Mini Kit; Hatching Science with Classroom Chicks (Activity 3); Baa, Ram, Ewe...Sheep Tales (Activity 3). Order this kit online fromagclassroomstore.com.
This kit is designed to support various forms of homeschool, virtual learning, and online classes by providing ready-to-use supplies to facilitate hands-on learning and discovery. The kit contains materials for one student to complete a variety of activities found in the following lessons: Apple Science: Comparing Apples to Onions (Activity 2); From Chicken Little to Chicken Big (Activity 2); Sheep See, Sheep Do (Activity 1); Peas in a Pod (Activity 2); Inherited Traits in the Living Corn Necklace (Activity 2). Order this kit online fromagclassroomstore.com.
Use these samples to show your students what minimally processed wool looks like. The kit comes with a sample of scoured wool and another sample of wool top. Scoured wool is wool that has been washed commercially so that grease and vegetable matter are removed. Wool top is wool that has been scoured, carded, and combed. Order this kit online from agclassroomstore.com.
Involve students with the materials and techniques that people have used for centuries to spin, dye, and felt wool. This kit comes with 15 feet of carded wool, 30 wool-spinning hooks, and instructions. Wool refills are also available. Order this kit online from agclassroomstore.com.
Use this interactive map to help students see how geography and climate affects the production of agricultural crops. The map has USDA statistics built in to allow your students to answer questions such as, "Which state(s) produce the most cattle?" "Where does [my state] rank nationally in corn production?" "What region of the United States produces the most cotton?" etc. There are many agricultural maps available including field crops such as corn, wheat, barley, and alfalfa in addition to fruit and vegetable crops, ornamental nursery crops, and livestock.
This half-hour video will give your students a peek into the lives of sheep ranchers Don and Pete Meike (pronounced mikey), who say that time slows when they’re on the trail. These bachelor brothers have been running sheep into Wyoming’s Bighorn Mountains all their lives, a ritual and a responsibility started by their grandparents way back in 1901.
This half-hour video visits the windswept plateaus of New Mexico, where some of America's best wool is being worn by sheep whose yearly shearing provides a valuable agricultural product for ranchers here. New Mexico claims that this region, also known for its sightings of UFOs, is the most productive wool gathering area in the nation.
This 15-minute, 1977 video narrated by Orson Wells provides a historical look at fiber, following the history of wool from before Egyptian times to the present day. This movie ties easily to social studies curriculum, as it discusses how England withheld sheep from the early colonists to control the economics of the colony. Old and new spinning techniques and looms in operation are shown. This video is available on DVD or YouTube. Order this DVD online from agclassroomstore.com.
In five minutes this video covers the history of wool production, the qualities of wool fabric, and everything that goes into producing wool fabric. See a sheep being sheared, and watch as the wool travels through a factory where it is cleaned, blended with other fibers, carded, and spun into yarn. The yarn is then woven into fabric and finished.
During the first decades of the 20th century, sheep were the most important livestock in Utah in both numbers and value. In the 1920s there were over 2.5 million sheep in Utah worth $23 million dollars! Utah, with its millions of acres of desert land, was an ideal region for raising sheep. This DVD explores the history, life cycle, and environmental issues associated with raising sheep in Utah. Learn from Utah wool growers about the hardships and future of this adaptable dual-purpose animal. This video is available on DVD or YouTube. Order this DVD online from agclassroomstore.com.
This factual video was made to teach children about sheep. You will meet a new baby lamb, watch sheep dogs in action, and see wool made into yarn. The highlight is watching children prepare a lamb to be shown at the fair. This is a great educational video that kids will love. View Sheep Crossingon YouTube.
What is wool and where does it come from? How does it get from the sheep to the sweater? Why do shepherds use dogs to herd sheep? These questions and many more are answered for "ewe" in this 30-minute video about wool production and processing from the Gee Whiz in Agriculture series. Journey through the creative industrial process that brings us wool clothing, blankets, and other products, and take a trip to the state fair to see many different breeds of sheep and learn how to shear. This video is available on DVD or YouTube. Order this DVD online from agclassroomstore.com.
This three-page informational sheet describes the processes of how an animal grows, how it gets from the farm to the store, and what products are produced from that animal. Words and simple graphics are used to portray this information for beef cattle, dairy cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens, and turkeys. Print your own or order a set of 30" x 8" printed charts from agclassroomstore.com.
Modern Farmermagazine offers a number of illustrated accounts by Lucas Adams that depict interesting and important moments in agricultural history. The Illustrated Account of 'The Great Die-Up' of the 1880s tells the story of the winter of 1886-7, which was so harsh that only about one out of ten cattle survived, and the era of the open range came to an end soon after. Other accounts address topics such as the Pleasant Valley Sheep War, mulberry and silk production in 1830s Connecticut, a maple syrup heist, and dairy farming in the 1940s. These graphic novel style articles are sure to engage students from upper elementary to high school and older.
Double-sided cards representing four livestock species. These cards can add a reading supplement activity to lesson plans to help teach the basic principles about beef cattle, dairy cattle, pigs, and poultry. The cards can be printed from the attached PDF or ordered from the Nebraska Foundation for Agricultural Awareness.
Take an interactive journey around the world to visit 16 farms. These are not your ordinary farms with cattle, sheep, hay, or grain. These farms produce specialty crops such as salmon, tulips, alligators, wind, mussels, coffee, leeches, lavender, yaks, seaweed, ostriches, rice, sunflowers, salt, ostriches, solar power, and alpacas. This journey would be an excellent supplement for elementary geography and agriculture lessons to teach students about less common types of farms.
The purpose of the Sheep 101 website is to teach 4-H and FFA members, students, teachers, beginning shepherds, and the general public about sheep, their products, how they are raised, and their contributions to society. The site uses simple language and pictures to illustrate the various topics.
