Moriches, NY - October 19, 2015 - Fourth-grade students in Tom Short’s fourth-grade class at Moriches Elementary School in the William Floyd School District recently harvested the “three sisters” crops – corn, beans and squash – that they planted last spring as third graders in Kerri Dobbeck’s class.
The planting and harvesting of the crops ties in academically with the fourth-grade social studies and science curriculum covering how the plants grow and are harvested, as well as planting and caring for the crops just like the Native Americans once did.
Students also learned how this planting system benefits each crop individually and collectively, while nourishing those who planted them. How it works: the corn supports the bean vines as they grow upward, and the squash covers the soil, helping control weeds and deter animals who might feed on the corn. The beans then convert nitrogen from the air into a form that plants can use. (The nitrogen remaining after the beans have grown will be available for the corn, which requires a good deal of the nutrient the subsequent year).
The three sisters also complement each other nutritionally, with the corn supplying carbohydrates, beans contributing protein and additional vitamins and squash offering lots of vitamin A. To celebrate the successful harvest, students got to feast upon their crops.
