LESSON 2: Export Math!

SUBJECT: Math

OBJECTIVE: Students will work with several graphs and pie charts to learn about world corn production and exports. They will also learn to convert bushels to tons, and U.S. tons to metric tons.

EVALUATION: Students will understand how important foreign trade is to corn farmers in the United States.

BACKGROUND FOR TEACHERS:

One of every five rows of corn grown in the U.S. is exported overseas. The U.S. is the world's largest producer of corn (42 percent), the world's largest exporter of corn (70 percent), and is also the world's largest consumer of corn.

STUDENT ACTIVITIES:

1. Ask students to read the story, Claire Has a Dream, paying close attention to her mom's explanation that 18 percent of the corn raised in the United States is sent to other countries. See if they can remember all the different kinds of transportation used to move corn from the field to the customer! (combine, truck, barge, train, ship.) Look up the word "export" in the dictionary.

2. Younger students can complete tworksheet 1. Older students can complete the math problems, and answer the extra credit questions on worksheets 2, 3, 4, & 5.

• Ask older students to study all three charts (production, export, and consumption) and to write at least five observations they make while comparing the three. (For example: The U.S. is the top producer, exporter, AND consumer of corn.Egypt is a large consumer of corn, but does not produce or export much.China produces 4881.7 million bushels and consumer 4615.9, so only has 265.8 million bushels to sell.)

3.Try to make every country real for the students and not just a name or number on these graphs. If they haven't completed Lesson 1, find the countries on maps or a globe. Ask how the students think the corn will be used in each country, and why they think that country needs to import corn from the U.S.

Last reviewed May 7, 2004