In this lesson, students will complete monohybrid and dihybrid Punnett squares in preparation for taking on a challenge to breed cotton plants that produce naturally blue colored cotton. Grades 6-8

Students will gain a broad understanding of the types and sources of different fibers, examining their origins and observing their differences. Activities in this lesson include examining clothing and clothing labels and observing how different types of fabrics burn. Grades 6-8

Students investigate the impact of cotton on the history and culture of the United States. Grades 3-5

Students investigate the impact of cotton on the history and culture of the United States. Students will discover the growth and processing requirements for cotton, recognize how the invention of the cotton gin affected slavery, explain how the plantation system was organized, and ultimately understand the role of cotton in the Civil War. Grades 6-8

Students investigate the impact of cotton on the history and culture of the United States. Students discover the growth and processing requirements for cotton, recognize how the invention of the cotton gin affected slavery, explain how the plantation system was organized, and ultimately understand the role of cotton in the Civil War. Grades 9-12

Students investigate a variety of oilseed crops, discover how and where they are grown, and explore their nutritional benefits. Grades 3-5

The text and illustrations follow the process of fabric-making from boll to bolt. This book is a great introduction to cotton processing.

This graphic novel tells the story of how Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, and the effects it had on the Southern United States.

A very accurate account of the contributions of George Washington. In addition to being a general and one of the first presidents of the United states, he also made contributions to agriculture. He had a self-sufficient farm in Mount Vernon, Virginia. The book includes actual excerpts from Washington's writings, a timeline, resource section, and essays on his thoughts on slavery. 

This Scholastic book illustrates what it was like to live at the time of the Civil War. Alternating pages are written from the point of view of the South and the North. Appropriate for Grades 2-6, this is a great resource to help tie lessons on cotton to social studies. 

This easy to read 24-page book describes how inventions such as the cotton gin transformed America from an agricultural country to an industrial one, and led to both problems and opportunities.

Sally is a young girl living in rural Alabama in the early 1900s, a time when people were struggling to grow food in soil that had been depleted by years of cotton production. One day, Dr. George Washington Carver shows up to help. He teaches them how to restore the soil nutrients. He even prepares a delicious lunch made of plants, including "chicken" made from peanuts. Susan Grigsby's warm story shines new light on an African American scientist who was ahead of his time. 

Levi Strauss and Blue Jeans tells the story of the man who made the first pair of blue jeans and changed the way the world dressed! In the mid-1880s, while adventurers rushed off to California to find gold, Levi Strauss followed with an idea of his own. In dramatic, graphic novel format, this book follows Strauss as he works to create a pair of pants sturdy enough for gold miners. Readers will learn how Levi found that not just gold miners, but hard-working people everywhere wanted the durable pants with the pocket rivets.

Mr. Blue Jeans is a 64-page chapter book which tells the story of the life of an immigrant Jewish peddler who founded Levi Strauss & Company, the world's first and largest manufacturer of denim blue jeans.

Right here on this spot, where today Grandpa drives a tractor in his cabbage field, Indians in ancient times lit their campfires, chipped stone into tools, and then moved on. Time passed, trees grew into a forest, and settlers came from across the ocean to clear the land again and make a new home. Years later, a Union soldier crossing that field lost a button. Grandpa was digging a ditch when he found that button... In graceful words and striking pictures, this book chronicles the changes the centuries bring to one field and offer young readers a vivid slice of history.

This book tells the story of one African American family, fighting to stay together and strong in the face of brutal racist attacks, illness, poverty, and betrayal in the Deep South of the 1930s. Nine-year-old Cassie Logan, growing up protected by her loving family, has never had reason to suspect that any white person could consider her inferior or wish her harm. But during the course of one devastating year when her community begins to be ripped apart by angry night riders threatening African Americans, she and her three brothers come to understand why the land they own means so much to their Papa. "Look out there, Cassie girl. All that belongs to you. You ain't never had to live on nobody's place but your own and long as I live and the family survives, you'll never have to. That's important. You may not understand that now but one day you will. Then you'll see."

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.

Working Cotton describes the long days of work in a cotton field from the view of a child in a migrant family. Shelan describes how her parents, brothers, and sisters arrive at the cotton fields before dawn and work until night to harvest cotton.

A four-page student reader examines how cotton is grown, its agricultural importance, product evolution, and economic importance. It can be easily printed for individual or small group use in the classroom.

Help your students understand how the fiber in their clothing, towels, and sheets comes from cotton plants. The seeds must be removed from the cotton fibers to make cloth. This process is called ginning (after Eli Whitney's cotton gin; gin is short for engine). The cotton bolls in this kit may be hand ginned, or dissected, allowing students to experience the process of hand ginning, understand the significance of the cotton gin, and explain how machines help us today to be more productive. Each kit contains a classroom set of individually wrapped cotton bolls. Each cotton boll can easily be pulled apart into four distinct sections so that a group of four students may use one cotton boll. Teacher Note: The purpose of this activity is to investigate cotton, the process of hand ginning cotton, and the impacts of the cotton gin. Adjusting this investigation into a role-play or simulation of a slave activity is absolutely discouraged. In addition, no student should be required to participate in hand ginning cotton. We recommend consulting your administrator and/or communicating with parents prior to presenting this lesson. You may want to consider ginning as a teacher demonstration if you anticipate tension or uncomfortable feelings. For more information concerning teaching about the history of African Enslavement, refer to research conducted by the Southern Poverty Law Center Teaching Hard History: American Slavery. Order this kit online from agclassroomstore.com.

This Cotton Education Kit is designed for students, teachers and anyone who is interested in learning about cotton. This kit can be used by educators as a companion to any lesson about cotton in the subjects of science, geography, history, or agriculture science. The kit includes cotton seed with planting instructions, cotton boll from the farm, cottonseed separated from raw cotton, cotton lint separated by removing seeds, cotton bale that is sent to mills, cotton sliver that makes yarn, cotton yarn used to make cloth, denim representing the final product, and the Cotton in the Classroom brochure with lesson plan ideas.

Watch all or part of these episodes to learn about cotton. Follow the production of cotton from field to fabric and learn about the genetic improvement of cotton plants, their harvesting, history, use as cattle feed, and more. 

Take a walk through cotton's journey from dirt to shirt, and find out the many ways we use cotton everyday!

Explore how cotton is produced "from field to fabric" and processed into cotton cloth on a modern farm and in a modern textile mill. Order this DVD online from agclassroomstore.com.

Cotton has been grown and used throughout the history of the United States. This 9-minute DVD teaches how cotton plants have impacted and changed the history of the United States. From the production of blue jeans to the filament in the first light bulbs, you will be amazed to learn some of the many uses of cotton, past and present. Order this DVD online from agclassroomstore.com.

In just under five minutes, this video shows how cotton is processed in modern factories. See cotton cleaned, carded, coiled, drawn, stretched, spun, and wound onto giant spools—all by machines. In 48 hours raw cotton is transformed into cotton yarn.

This link highlights the growth and production of the cotton plant. Begin with a short video clip about the growth of cotton including its history with slaves. Continue by learning about the modern use of genetic engineering in the cotton industry today. Following the video you can learn where cotton is grown across the world and what technology is used to plant, harvest, and process it into fabric.

This three-page informational sheet describes the process of how oilseed crops are grown and harvested, how the products get from the farm to the store, and nutrition facts. Words and graphics are used to portray this information for canola, cottonseed, peanuts, soybeans, and sunflower seeds. Print your own or order a set of 30" x 8" printed charts from agclassroomstore.com.

This natural plant fiber is a globally important crop with many uses. But cotton growers are continually dealing with environmental challenges like drought and pests. Explore the content of this website to learn more about cotton, its wild ancestors, and some of the approaches scientists are using to study and improve cotton plants.

The Cotton Campus is a digital simulation of a college university all about cotton. Begin with how cotton is grown and harvested and then continue your "education" to learn how the fibers are processed into fabric, how to wash and care for cotton fabric, and other fun facts.

This website provides a variety of publications for teaching about cotton, including printable handouts on cotton and the consumer, what can be made with a bale of cotton, and the history of cotton from its first planting in the United States until today. An online presentation provides images and text to show your students how cotton goes from field to fabric.