Tag: agriculture

Current Event Connection, Main

Sweet Smell of Vanilla’s Success

BUSINESS Vanilla isn’t plain to product developers. It’s the x-factor in most fragrances, conjuring feelings of craving, warmth and familiarity. Other scent trends come and go, but vanilla shows no sign of waning popularity, fragrance experts say. That is fueling a chase to find new iterations. (Wall Street Journal) Meet a spice buyer from the biggest vanilla dealer in the world—McCormick&Company. Teachers: Scroll all the … Continue reading Sweet Smell of Vanilla’s Success

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Current Event Connection, Geography In the News, Main

Seasonal Sheep Herding in Idaho

GEOGRAPHY A wall of wool will “baa” its way through Ketchum, Idaho, next month as a decades-old tradition—the moving of sheep to their winter lambing and grazing grounds—returns. (Los Angeles Times) Use our resources to learn more about herding traditions, and gaze through the photo galleries throughout this post. Discussion Ideas Read through our encyclopedic entry on herding. What type of herding is celebrated by the … Continue reading Seasonal Sheep Herding in Idaho

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Current Event Connection, Main

Swarming Disaster

ENVIRONMENT For the third year in a row, skies over Madagascar are black with millions of locusts—the insects of biblical fame that gobble up crops and ravage landscapes, mostly in countries where people barely get by. (NPR) Use our resources to better understand the “Lessons of a Cannibal Plague.” Thanks to Alli for the heads-up on this great current-event connection! This video, which describes Madagascar’s … Continue reading Swarming Disaster

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Current Event Connection, Main

Hand-Harvesting is Hard Work

FOOD Mechanization has made the farming of many crops—lettuce and tomatoes among them—a lot less labor intensive. But some crops are still tended and harvested by hand, and it can be painstaking work. (NPR) Take a look through our new map layers on the world’s leading food crops. Discussion Ideas Read through the NPR article, then read the Background Info in our media spotlight on mapping … Continue reading Hand-Harvesting is Hard Work

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Current Event Connection, Geography In the News, Main

Cattle-to-Cafeteria

FOOD Beyond a stack of hay bales, high school students in a tiny Indiana town stroll down a grassy slope to reach their newest classroom: a fenced-in field of cud-chewing cattle. (New York Times) Use our resources to learn more about classroom “green scenes.” Discussion Ideas Compare the agricultural program described in the New York Times article (in Hagerstown, Indiana) with the program described in … Continue reading Cattle-to-Cafeteria

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