.:: Blueberries Teacher::.

Teachers

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Students Speak Out in Favor of Highbush Blueberries

Take it from 48 students in Suzanne Kurasz's fourth-grade class at Veterans Memorial Elementary School in New Jersey -- the highbush blueberry deserves to be officially recognized! The class embarked on a mission (Philadelphia Inquirer 12/12/03; Newsday.com 12/2/03) to make the cultivated blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) New Jersey's official fruit. Students made T-shirts that read, "New Jersey Blueberries, The Perfect Choice."

Students from Gail Damiano and Suzanne Kurasz's class wrote letters, collected signatures, appeared before the Board of Education, visited a blueberry festival, were interviewed by the news media, encouraged Assemblyman David Wolfe to get legislation going, and testified before an Assembly committee. Gov. James E. McGreevey signed a bill making the blueberry the official state fruit of New Jersey. He did the signing in a ceremony at Veterans Memorial Elementary School. Quite a remarkable civics lesson for the students and a wonderful blueberry boost. Thank you for the great work!

Teacher's Lesson Plan Photo Tour

The cultivated blueberry growers of North America are very pleased to provide you with this set of instructional web pages for use in your classroom. Our objectives are to help your students learn to enjoy blueberries,
discover the important role blueberries played in the lives of Native Americans and the early colonists, and to give them a greater appreciation of how their food gets from farm to table.

These lessons are designed to enrich your existing curriculum. They can be used alone or be integrated year round into appropriate social studies, geography, science, math, language arts, or art units. They could also add substance and relevance to your unit on Thanksgiving. The activities are designed for student independence in grades 3 through 6 but also may be adapted to a group-centered format. Several of the activities lend themselves to links with home. A letter that can be sent home to parents is included, suggesting a home activity that reinforces the lessons.

The list of additional resources will link you to other web sites that provide information on topics discussed in the lessons. And don't forget to browse this web site http://www.ushbc.org/ to get more information about cultivated blueberries.

One exciting feature about providing curriculum material on the web is that it is not static. From time to time, we will be adding new lessons, activities and resources. So check back regularly. And remember-- the web is interactive. Let us know what you think of this material. Do you have a suggestion you'd like to share with other teachers? We'll incorporate it (and give credit, of course). We appreciate your taking the time to give us feedback. Contact us at press@ushbc.org for additional information.

The US Highbush Blueberry Council

More Fun: The Produce for Better Health Foundation has a blueberry activity sheet for kids called, FIVE A DAY AND BLUEBERRIES.

Photo Tour: The images below are in thumbnail format for fast loading. Strike the image with cursor to see full image.

Some blueberry fields stretch as far as the eye can see. Cultivated blueberry bushes can grow as high as 12 feet tall. How much taller is that than your height?

Blueberries grow in clusters on bushes.

Each blueberry grows from a different white blossom on the bush. Blossoms must be pollinated by bees. Blueberry growers can tell how good their crop will be by counting the blossoms

The fresh blueberry harvest is mainly done by hand. It is hard work, but the pickers are experts and work very quickly.

Blueberries are also picked by big machines called harvesters that move slowly along the rows of blueberry bushes, gently shaking off the ripe berries. Most machine-harvested blueberries are frozen.

The blueberries are gathered in large bins and transported by truck or tractor from the field to the processing plant.

At the plant, the blueberries are placed on moving conveyor belts

The blueberries are sprayed with cool water to remove any dirt or insects that may have been carried with them from the field.

The blueberries are sorted; the bruised and unripe ones are removed. Only plump, beautiful berries are allowed to pass the inspection point.

Fresh blueberries are placed in clear plastic containers called clam shell containers. Most of them hold 1 pint (2 cups) of blueberries but you can find containers that are larger and smaller. Why do you think they call them clamshells?

Labels are placed on each container by machine. The label has lots of good information on it. What kind of information do you think a food label should have?

The containers are placed in cardboard boxes and stored in large refrigerated rooms, then loaded onto big trucks that take the blueberries to market.