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Calling for Cattle

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Grade Level: 4-6

Approximate Length of Activity: 40 Minutes

Objectives:

Teacher:

  1. Teach students about beef and beef cattle by-products.
  2. Help students understand the concepts "vertical," "horizontal," and   "diagonal" while playing bingo.

Students:

  1. Learn about beef by- products while playing bingo.
  2. Show an understanding of "vertical," "horizontal," and "diagonal" while playing bingo.
  3. Learn about the nutritional value of beef.

Michigan Content Standards: (Health) 1.6; 1.8; 2.1; 2.2; 3.4; 4.1; 4.3

Introduction:

Almost the entire beef animal can be used to benefit man in some way. From a typical 1,000 pound steer, 400 pounds is used for beef that we eat and the remaining 600 pounds are used as by-products.

Some common types of beef are pot roast, sirloin steak, ground beef, rib eye steak, and tenderloin steak. Beef is a good source of protein (which builds, maintains, and repairs body tissues), iron (which helps red blood cells carry oxygen to body cells and tissues), zinc (which is a mineral used for growth and maintaining the immune system), and B-vitamins (which promotes healthy skin, keeps the nervous system healthy, and are important for digestion and metabolism).

Beef by-products are anything made from a beef animal other than beef. You probably use more beef by-products than you think! One of the most important cattle by-products is insulin, a treatment for people with diabetes. Other by-product examples include:

Bone, Horn, Hooves, & Gelatin
Combs, gelatin candy (Gummy Bears), marshmallows, mayonnaise, gelatin, photographic film, steel ball bearings with bone charcoal, fine bone china, pet food, and vitamin capsules/gel coatings.

Hide & Hair
Insulation, paint brushes, glue for bookmaking and band aids, clothes, shoes, luggage, saddles, furniture, automobiles, volleyballs, basketballs, and baseball gloves.

Fats and Fatty Acids
Shampoo, soaps, shaving creams, cosmetics, deodorants, candles, crayons, floor wax, detergents, hydraulic break fluid, plastics, insecticides, paints, perfumes, and synthetic rubber.

Materials Needed:

Activity Outline:

  1. Discuss the introduction information with your students.
  2. Make enough copies of the game board and the game board pieces so each student has one. Give each student one "Beefo Bingo" game board and one "By-products Board Pieces" sheet.
  3. Have the students cut out the by-product pieces. Then they should select 24 of them and glue them to the game board. The center square is a free spot so nothing should be glued there. You may want to laminate the boards after they are put together. (Or you could put the boards together before hand instead of having the students do it.)
  4. The teacher should laminate one by-products sheet to keep track of what by-products have been called. Another by-products sheet can be cut up and put into a container to "call" the products.
  5. Give the students "markers" for their game boards. Markers could be miniature marshmallows, peanuts, grain kernels, buttons, etc.
  6. The teacher or caller reaches into the container and draws out a by-product piece, then calls this out to the group.
  7. The students look at their board to see if they have that by-product. If they do, then they cover it up with a marker.
  8. The first student to have five squares in a row covered, either vertically, horizontally, or diagonally wins. (Make sure the students understand the meaning of vertically, horizontally, and diagonally before beginning.)

Discussion Questions:

  1. Name five beef by-products.
  2. What parts of a beef animal are used for beef by-products?
  3. Name some common types of beef that are eaten.

Related Activities:

  1. Read Your Calf: A Kids Guide to Raising and Showing Beef and Dairy Calves, By Heather Smith Thomas
  2. Compare the nutritional value of beef to other types of food.
  3. Visit the website http://www.beef.org for more information
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