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Grade 5 Social Studies · World 2: Bigger, Better, Faster · Level 17
George Washington Carver
Describe his science and his work helping farmers.
Warm-up, learn, try it together, practice, then a quick check. About 15 minutes.
What children learn in Level 17
- George Washington Carver was born into slavery in Missouri, in the 1860s, near the end of the Civil War. As a young man, Carver fought hard to get an education.
- In 1896, Booker T. Washington invited Carver to Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, next door to Georgia. Carver taught and did research there for 47 years.
- Southern farmers had a big problem. Years of growing only cotton had worn out the soil. Many Black farmers were poor and in debt.
- Carver taught crop rotation. Plant peanuts or sweet potatoes one year, and the soil gets stronger for cotton. Peanuts add nitrogen, a plant food.
- Carver wrote free booklets with recipes for those crops, and sent a farm school on wheels to reach farmers. By the way, Carver didn't invent peanut butter. That's a myth!
Georgia Standards of Excellence in Social Studies:
- SS5H1.b — Describe the impact on American life of the Wright brothers (flight), George Washington Carver (science), Alexander Graham Bell (communication), and Thomas Edison (electricity).