This lesson plan is part of a five-lesson series for grades 3-5 which teaches about agriculture by focusing on all aspects of the almond industry. Students will learn about the people involved in growing almonds, development of almond trees and nuts, almond processing, different uses of almonds, almond history and nutritional information. Almonds are an important commodity in California agriculture. Approximately 6,800 growers located throughout the Central Valley of California produce close to two billion pounds of almonds each year. California produces more than 80% of the world’s almonds and virtually 100% of the domestic supply. Lessons in this series include:
Almond trees begin their cycle in a dormant state, which usually lasts from November to February. Once spring arrives, the almond trees burst into bloom and the bees come to pollinate. From March to June, the almond kernel is developing and hardening. In July, once the kernel has grown to its full potential, it goes into the hullsplit phase where the outside hull (the soft, pliable protective layer) splits open. In late summer, the almond trees are harvested and transported to the processing plant to be shipped around the world.
What is dormancy?
Each year, after harvest is over and before spring comes, the almond trees settle in for the long winter. We call this stage dormancy. Dormancy is a time for the almond trees to store nutrients and energy for spring. When you drive by a dormant almond orchard, it may look dead, but the trees are actually still alive. The trees are bare and don’t have any leaves on them. All you can see are the branches and the trunks of the trees. At the return of spring, the almond trees wake up and the first sign of growth on an almond tree is called a bud.
What is pollination?
Pollination is the act of carrying pollen between plants. Without bloom or pollination, we simply would not have almonds. Soft pink-and-white petals appear each spring to attract the bees that pollinate thousands of trees. What’s so special about almond pollination is that generally, every other row of almonds is planted with a different variety of almond. Growers must plant the rows with different varieties for cross-pollination. Cross-pollination occurs when the bees move the pollen from one variety to another. Bees help to pollinate more than 90 crops each year. These crops include apples, cherries, melons, pumpkins and sunflowers. What you may not know is that bats, hummingbirds, wasps, butterflies, moths, flies and beetles can pollinate plants, too; however, bees do the best job at pollinating almond trees.
What is kernel development?
After the bees pollinate the trees, the petals will fall to the ground, and the almonds grow big and round. During this time, there are three main layers growing, maturing and hardening. The center of the almond, which is the part we eat, is called the kernel. Around the kernel is a protective covering called the shell. The hull is the fuzzy green coating, which protects the shell and the kernel.
How are almonds harvested?
From mid-August through October, mechanical tree “shakers” harvest the almonds by vigorously shaking them to the ground. The almonds then dry naturally for about a week in the orchard before they are swept into rows and picked up by machine.
What happens to almonds after harvest?
After harvest, almonds go to a huller/sheller where the kernels pass through a roller to remove the hull, shell and any remaining debris. Next stop: the handler for sizing, where the kernels drop into separate bins according to size. After sizing, almonds are kept in controlled storage conditions to maintain quality until they’re either shipped or further processed into any variety of different forms for diverse culinary uses. More than 80% of the world’s almonds are produced in California, ranging from products like whole natural almonds and almond butter to almond flour, almond milk and almond oil; Americans love all things almonds. And while the U.S. may be the largest market for almonds with about 30-40% of the crop sold for domestic use, the rest of our almonds are shipped internationally.
What happens to the hull and the shell once they are removed?
Rather than throwing them away, the almond growers recycle the almond hulls and almond shells by selling them to dairymen. The almond hulls (the soft green outer covering of the almond) are used as feed for cows. Since the almond shells are hard, cows don’t eat the shells, but they do enjoy sleeping on them.
For more practice, do one class example. Write the word BEE vertically. Add- Buzzing, Everywhere, Every day to each of the letters. Have students complete the activity on page 9.