Watch Wheat Grow on the Web

The recently released movies "The Truman Show" and "EdTV", in which the daily lives of the lead characters are filmed for public view, gave agronomist Jim Shroyer the seed of an idea.

The Kansas State University scientist decided to do the same thing for wheat by photographing almost daily views of life in a Kansas wheat field andoffering the images on a Web site. Shroyer developed the Adopt-a-Wheat Field Web site (www.oznet.ksu.edu/pr_aawf/) to bring the science of wheat production into the classroom. From a wheat field at the university's agronomy farm, Shroyer takes photos of the same spot to show how wheat plants develop.

"The intent is to go all the way through the process, from wheat planting to harvest, to the elevator, to the mill and finally to the baking of bread with flour derived from the wheat," Shroyer said.

Jean Fridell, a fifth grade teacher in Manhattan, Kansas, said the Web site has been helpful in teaching her students about science and the environment. "As the students have watched their own seeds grow, they've been able to compare them with how the wheat plants grow," she said. When she discusses topics like seed germination, her students can look on the Web site and see a seed germinating and also see the word used that they've just learned.

The Adopt-a-Wheat Field Web site has links to other Web sites that offer glimpses of life on four Kansas wheat farms and insights into what makes bread rise.

Back to Index

Seeds for Success A Biannual Newsletter on Agriculture in the Classroom