A WebQuest for grades 2-4
Introduction
Everyone
wears jeans, but where do they come from?
Over the next couple of days, take an in-depth look at the cycles of
cotton and boll weevil, the history of blue jeans, and the process cotton must
go through to become a pair of jeans.
Task
Your
task is to create a small portfolio (gathering of your work) showing that you have
learned all about cotton, boll weevils, and jeans. By the end of the unit, you will have
completed 2 worksheets, a storyboard, and a small weaving with an artwork
description.
Process
Part 1: Unit Overview
Start
by looking at these
10 photographs class-wide. Brainstorm
what all of the photos have in common.
Were there any photos of things you did not recognize? Were there any photos of things you did
recognize? By the end of the WebQuest, you will know what each one is and how
they link together!
Part 2: History of Jeans
Look
at these three websites and learn about the history of jeans. Answer the questions on the worksheet to record what you have learned about
jeans!
Part 3: Cotton
Look
at the map. It is showing the
Scroll
down and look at the plant
cycle
of cotton. What is the first stage? Where does the cotton go when it is ready to
harvest?
Here
you can watch cotton grow on a farm, starting
as a seed until it is ready to harvest.
This kind of cotton grows right here in
Part 4: Boll Weevil
Take
a look at cotton’s pest: the boll
weevil. A boll weevil is about
the size of your pencil’s eraser. What
else is that small? What colors can the
boll weevil be? What country did the
insect originate (come from)?
Just
like cotton has a life cycle, so does the boll
weevil. What other insect has a larvae,
pupae and adult stage?
(Hint:
It starts as a caterpillar, builds a cocoon, and changes into a…butterfly!)
Complete
the worksheet by filling in the
blanks. Put what each stage the cotton
or weevil is in. You can use the life
cycle charts for help.
Can’t
remember the cycles? Click here or here for help.
Part 5: the Cotton plant to Jeans
After
the cotton has been carded and combed, it is time to spin it. Today there are even machines that clean the
cotton so someone does not have to card and come it by hand. The last picture
is of an old spinning wheel. This
picture is the modern way cotton is
spun. That’s a big machine!
Now that the cotton is spun, it can be woven
into many things, like jeans! Make your own weaving with blue and white
yarn to understand how jeans are made.
Understand the words: loom; warp; weft;
beat. What is your blue yarn
called? What is the cardboard
called? What is the white yarn called? What is the comb called?
Write 5 descriptive sentences about your
weaving. Be sure to use the words, warp,
weft, beat, and loom.
The
cotton needs to be turned into jean material.
It can be harvested and taken to a factory. Watch this video to see how it is
made! Did the big machines surprise you?
How many rows could the picking machine harvest at once? Why is it
better to have a factory right next to the field?
Now
that the jeans are ready to be made, look at the pictures in this step-by-step process how they are
cut and sewed together.
Part 6: Wrap Up
As
a class, read From Plant to Blue Jeans by Arthur John
L'Hommedieu to review the entire process of jeans.
In groups of 2, create
a storyboard. One person will be
the illustrator and one person will be the writer. Together draw and describe 6 steps in the
process of cotton becoming a pair of jeans.
You can use all of these websites to help you. Your descriptions should be 2 sentences
long. Work together to make a good
storyboard! This should show all of what
you learned in this unit.
A storyboard is a
story told in pictures, like a comic book.
It is helpful when turning a book into a movie or visual because it
allows you to see what your scene will look like.
Conclusion
As
you can see, there are many steps in making a pair of jeans. They have been around a long time and have
been work by lots of hard workers, like the farmers that plant our cotton. You
also learned that cotton and boll weevils have life cycles just like other
plants and animals. Your portfolio is a
great way to see everything you have just learned about in this unit!
Evaluation
See
Teacher Page for grading rubrics
and evaluation notes for the portfolio.
This WebQuest was
created by Kelly Henaghan for Virginia Agriculture in the Classroom. WebQuests are made possible through a grant
from Monsanto.
Last revised:
November, 2008
© 2008 Agriculture in
the Classroom; All Rights Reserved