1/14/2014 George Washington Carver

"There is a use for almost everything."-George Washington Carver 

January is also the time to say "Happy Birthday!" to George Washington Carver, even if we do not not exactly what day he was born on. George Washington Carver was born as a slave on a small farm in Diamond Grove, Missouri, sometime in January 1864.  By the time he died on January 5, 1943 in Tuskegee, Alabama he was a world-famous scientist, inventor, teacher, and agricultural innovator.  Carver was actually the first African American, and the first person who was not a president, to have a national monument dedicated to them.  

Carver is best known today for promoting crop rotation, and for his work with peanuts.  He is said to have discovered three hundred uses for peanuts, he also developed hundreds more for  soybeans, pecans and sweet potatoes.

You can also learn more about his life with my reader 'George Washington Carver: Farmer and Scientist'


This story is one of the books contained in the collection entitled "Famous African-Americans in U.S. History, Leveled Books for Grades 1 – 3". This book is a second-grade level M reader and has two pages of accompanying worksheets. It is available as a FREE download on my Teachers Pay Teachers site

You can round out a lesson plan on Carver with a hands-on science experiment for you class using one of the many crops that Carter worked with, the sweet potato. It is simple to make a battery that can power a clock using sweet potatoes, or regular potatoes. Your class may also enjoy watching this fun video about Carver's life and work.