Milk from Cow to Carton - Family and Consumer Science

Milk from Cow to Carton
Growing Strong Bodies and Minds
Literature based nutrition education for young children.
Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service/Oklahoma State Department of Health WIC Service
Title of Book:
Milk from Cow to Carton by Aliki
Age-Level: Early Elementary
Nutrition/Health
Objectives:
Materials list:
• Milk from Cow to Carton children’s book
• Food models or pictures of at least four milk
and dairy products: milk carton (various fat
levels + chocolate), cottage cheese, yogurt,
cheese slices/cheese sticks
• Milk’s Journey sequence pictures.
After listening to the story and completing the activity students will be able to:
• Arrange in sequential order the series of Milk’s Journey pictures to demonstrate the steps involved with
processing milk from the cow to the home.
• Identify milk, cheese and yogurt as foods that help build strong bones and teeth.
Cross Curricular Links:
The Oklahoma Priority Academic Student Skills by grade level in this lesson include:
Kindergarten
• Language Arts Reading/Literature: 1.2, 1.4, 4.1, 6.1, 6.2, 7.1, and 7.2 (identify the front cover, back cover,
title and author; understand that printed materials provide information; increase personal vocabulary by
listening to a variety of text and literature; make predictions about text using picture clues; retell the story;
distinguish between fiction and nonfiction; sequentially summarize main points of story)
• Language Arts Oral Language/Listening and Speaking: 1.2 and 3.1 (listen with interest to stories read
aloud; show respect and consideration for others in verbal communications)
• Large Motor Skill Development: 1.1 (demonstrate basic locomotor movements)
• Science Life 2.1 (observe and describe what various plants and animals need for growth)
Grade 1
• Language Arts Reading/Literature 4.1, 4.2, 6.1, 6.3, 7.1, and 8.1 (increase vocabulary by listening; use
prereading strategies to predict; retell stories; discriminate between fiction and nonfiction; recognize
author and title)
• Language Arts Oral Language/Listening and Speaking: 2.4, 3.1, and 3.2 (retell stories and relate sequence;
show respect and consideration for others in verbal and physical communication; make contributions in
group discussions)
• Life Science Standard 2.1 (understand plants and animals need to take in air, water, and food)
• Health & Safety Literacy 3.6 (describe reasons for eating dairy foods and identify source)
Grade 2
• Language Arts Reading/Literature 5.1 and 5.3 (use prereading strategies to preview, activate prior
knowledge, make predication and establish purpose for reading; ask and respond to questions to aid
comprehension; retell and sequence events in story)
• Language Arts Oral Language/Listening and Speaking: 1.1, 3.1, and 3.2 (listen attentively and ask
question for clarification and understanding; show respect and consideration for others in verbal and
physical communication; make contributions in small or large group discussions)
• Health & Safety Literacy 3.6 (describe reasons for eating dairy foods and identify source)
Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service • Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources • Oklahoma State University
Approximate time to present lesson & activity:
10 to 15 minutes to read the book and discuss the questions.
10 to 15 minutes for experiential activity Milk’s Journey.
Preparation:
• Read the book and gather the materials for the discussion and experiential activity.
• Read through the Nutrition Notes for relevant background information.
Focus on the Book:
1. Before reading the book:
a) Start the session by asking the group the following questions:
o How many of you like to drink milk, eat cheese pizza, eat yogurt, and /or eat ice cream? Allow time
between types of dairy food for children to respond.
o What do all of those foods have in common? (acceptable answers: made from milk, come from
cows, help make strong bones and teeth)
o Do you ever think about how the milk got from the cow into the carton?
b) Point out the title of the book and author. For non-readers, ask children to repeat the title as you point
to the words. For readers, ask them to read each word of the title as you point to it.
c) Discuss the cover illustrations. Ask students to predict what the book is about.
d) Explain the book is a nonfiction book that explains how cows produce milk and the journey milk
makes from the farm to the consumer.
2. Read the book.
3. After reading the book lead a discussion using the following questions:
a. What do cows need to make milk? (hay, water, exercise)
b. What do people need to be healthy? (food, water, exercise)
c. Ask students to name different foods made from milk. If time and facility allows, make a graph showing
how many like each type of food. Remind students that milk, cheese and yogurt are better choices
than ice cream.
d. How does milk make our bodies healthy? (builds strong bones and teeth)
e. Ask students how many times each day they should drink milk or eat cheese or yogurt. (Fiveto seven-year-olds need two servings each day; eight-year-olds need at least three servings daily.
Show food models to illustrate a serving size [8-ounce cup milk, 8-ounce cup of yogurt, 1½ ounce
cheese]).
Experiential activity:
Milk’s Journey
Distribute the milk sequence pictures to 6 students; ask them to stand in front of the group with the picture
facing the group. Ask for a volunteer (one not holding a picture) to identify the picture showing first step
of milk’s journey (the cow) from the farm to consumption. Ask the child holding the cow picture to be first
in line. Proceed until the six pictures are in the correct sequence showing milk’s journey from the farm to
consumption.
Moovin’ with Milk (physical activity)
Ask students to stand. Have students touch their nose for each statement if they have never tasted or don’t
like the food mentioned. Then follow the following statements:
1. Reach for the ceiling if you like milk.
2. Jog in place if you like to drink chocolate milk with lunch at school.
3. Pretend you’re hitting a tennis ball if you like cereal with milk on it.
4. Touch your elbow if you like cheese on crackers.
5. Flap your arms like a chicken if you like string cheese for a snack.
6. Hop in place if you like cheese pizza.
7. Act like you are skiing if you like yogurt in a tube.
Review – Ask students to think of a word to explain what they have just completed (exercise). Explain that
exercise is as important as eating enough dairy foods made from milk for keeping bones strong and healthy.
Going home:
• Assess learning by asking:
What animal provides us with milk?
What are some foods made from milk?
How does milk and foods made from milk help make our bodies healthy?
• Send home parent newsletter.
Optional activities as time and children’s attention allows:
Moo patterns ( small motor skill development, art, social studies)
No two Holsteins have the same pattern of spots – just as no two people have the same fingerprints. However,
all people need food (including dairy foods) to be healthy. Allow students to create their own unique Holstein.
Distribute the Cow Outline. Using black paint and a sponge or their thumb, have students create a Holstein
pattern on the cow outline. (Source: National Dairy Council, Milk from Cow to You).
Items needed: Holstein cow outline handout per child, black paint, sponges
Nutrition Notes
Background Information for the Lesson Presenter
Milk and Dairy Foods
People who have a diet rich in milk and milk products can reduce the risk of low bone mass throughout
the life cycle. Foods in the milk group provide calcium, potassium, vitamin D and protein that are vital for
health and maintenance of your body.
Nutrients and health benefits
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Milk and dairy foods are good sources of calcium. Calcium is used for building and maintaining bones
and teeth. Diets rich in milk and milk products help build and maintain bone mass throughout the lifecycle.
This may reduce the risk of osteoporosis.
Milk products are the primary source of calcium in American diets. Diets that provide 3 cups or the
equivalent of milk products per day can improve bone mass. Children younger than 8 years benefit from
2 cups or equivalent milk servings each day.
The intake of milk products is especially important to bone health during childhood and adolescence,
when bone mass is being built.
Milk products, especially yogurt and fluid milk, provide potassium. Diets rich in potassium may help to
maintain healthy blood pressure.
Vitamin D functions in the body to maintain proper levels of calcium and phosphorous, thereby helping
to build and maintain bones. Milk that is fortified with vitamin D is a good source of this nutrient. Other
sources include vitamin D-fortified yogurt and vitamin D-fortified ready-to-eat breakfast cereals.
Milk products that are consumed in their low-fat or fat-free forms provide little or no solid fat.
Diets that include milk products tend to have a higher overall nutritional quality.
Why is it important to make fat-free or low-fat choices
from the milk group?
Whole milk and dairy foods made from them are high in saturated fat and cholesterol. Diets high in
saturated fats raise “bad” cholesterol levels in the blood. The “bad” cholesterol is called LDL (low-density
lipoprotein) cholesterol. High LDL cholesterol increases the risk for coronary heart disease. To help keep
blood cholesterol levels healthy, limit the amount of these foods you eat. Instead, choose fat-free and low-fat
milk and dairy foods to reduce the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol to reduce the risk of heart disease
and help with healthy weight maintenance.
What counts as 1 cup in the milk group?
In general, 1 cup of milk or yogurt, 1 ½ ounces of natural cheese, or 2 ounces of processed cheese can
be considered as 1 cup from the milk group. Please refer to MyPyramid.gov for amounts needed for specific
dairy foods.
Dairy production
Dairy farmers need lots of good pastureland to graze their cows in spring, summer, and fall. A cow can
eat almost two acres worth of pasture grass in a five-month summer. Cows drink about eight gallons of water
every day; a pond in the pasture is handy to have! Cows cannot tolerate too much cold weather and they
spend winters in the barn.
Once a cow starts giving milk, she must be milked 2 or 3 times every day for 300 days. They like to be
milked! Cows don’t take holidays or weekends off, but after 300 straight days of milking, they go into a dry
period for 65 days. They are often put out to pasture during this time, before the milking starts again.
The vitamin and mineral content of milk is determined by what a cow eats. A diet of fresh green grass and
plants such as alfalfa and clover with plenty of sunshine for vitamin D, will produce the highest quality milk.
What cows eat goes into their milk!
Then & Now
Before the 1800s, most families kept their own cow for their milk and butter. Milk didn’t travel too far. At that
time, towns were growing and the farmers packaged their milk and brought it to the towns to be sold. By the
middle 1800s, large cities had developed, and milk and milk products had to be shipped even further away
into these cities. Soon, creameries were built in the cities to process and package milk there.
The demand for milk got so big, milking machines were invented. They have taken the place of hand
milking on many farms. Where it used to take one hour to milk six or eight cows, now hundreds of cows can
be milked in that time. The cow’s udders are attached to the machine and the machine pumps the milk from
the udders. The pump sends the milk through hoses, which empty it into a holding tank. The tank must be
able to keep the milk cold. Milk should be kept below 60° F from the moment it leaves the cow.
Every day, a truck with a tanker trailer comes to pick up the milk. It is pumped from the farmer’s tank into
the tank on the truck. Even though this tank is insulated to keep the milk cold, the truck driver wastes no time
in getting to the creamery. Here, a sample of the milk is taken into the lab. The sample is tested for quality
and fat content. After the sample is tested and recorded, the milk is unloaded by being pumped off the truck
and sent through hoses into the creamery’s tanks.
Even when cows, people, and machinery are kept very clean, bacteria can get into food. Bacteria are in
the air and they are eager for a nutritious place, like warm milk, to live and multiply.
Pasteurization
One of the reasons we can keep milk and other food products longer than in the past is refrigeration.
Another reason is the wonderful research by a Frenchman named Louis Pasteur (1822 –1895). Pasteur was
responsible for many medical and scientific discoveries that stopped the spread of disease. His work made
surgery safer, saved silkworms from a parasite, cured rabies, introduced vaccinations, and helped with the
study of tuberculosis, tetanus, and other diseases. He also made the important connection between bacteria
and fermentation. He proved that an airborne germ (bacteria) caused fermentation, and that it could be killed
and controlled. Pasteur found that heating milk to about 147° F for 30 minutes could kill any harmful bacteria
in it. Then, chilling it to 50° F or less, and keeping it cold until use, would keep the bacteria from multiplying
again. This process, used today in various forms, is called pasteurization after Louis Pasteur.
Today, milk is pasteurized at the creamery, and then homogenized. Homogenization is a process that
breaks up the fat globules that rise to the top of milk. Homogenized milk has been pressurized and pushed
through valves or screens to distribute this fat evenly into the milk for drinking.
Sources:
Inside the Pyramid: Milk. United States Department of Agriculture. Available at MyPyramid.gov. Accessed
June 6, 2009.
From Cows to Cartons, LessonSnips. Available at www.lessonsnips.com/lesson/cowscartons. Accessed
June 20, 2009.
Oklahoma State University, in compliance with Title VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Executive Order 11246 as amended, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990, and other federal laws and regulations, does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, age, religion, disability, or status as a veteran in any of its policies,
practices or procedures. This includes but is not limited to admissions, employment, financial aid, and educational services.
Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Robert E. Whitson, Director of Oklahoma Cooperative
Extension Service, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma. This publication is printed and issued by Oklahoma State University as authorized by the Vice President, Dean, and Director of the
Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources and has been prepared and distributed at a cost of $3.75 per copy. 0809 GH