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Oklahoma Agriculture in the Classroom

Calendar


March

In Like a Lion; Out Like a Lamb

This phrase has its origins with the constellations Leo, the Lion, and Aries, the ram or lamb. It has to do with the relative positions of these constellations in the sky at the beginning and end of the month. For those of us who live through Oklahoma's volatile spring weather, it is an apt description of this month.

Before improved animal husbandry made lamb available year round, lamb meat was only available in spring. For that reason, lamb was associated with spring and called "spring lamb."

Spring is the time when most farm animal babies are scheduled to be born. Learn more with these lessons:

Farm Babies
Students match baby farm animals with their parents and learn the correct names for each.
Great Expectations
Students get practice reading charts by answering questions about a gestation chart - a chart used in a cow/calf operation that helps the producer predict when a calf will be born, based on when the cow was bred.
In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb
by Lorie Hill
March roars in like a lion
So fierce,
The wind so cold,
It seems to pierce.
The month rolls on
And Spring draws near,
And March goes out
Like a lamb so dear
  • Read the poem "In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb" above.
  • Students discuss the imagery in the poem. How is the wind like a lion?
  • Students use an online search engine to find weather forecasts for the month of March.
  • Students predict at the beginning of the month whether there will be more lion (windy) days or lamb (calm) days.
  • Students design a chart to keep track of lion days and lamb days for the month.
  • Students vote each day a "lion" day or "lamb" day.
Writing Prompts
  • March comes in like a _______ and goes out like a ________. Make up your own analogy for March and write a poem.
  • Write 10 things about wind.
Wind Power

"When storms come, some build walls, some are thrown by the wind. Others build wind mills." - Lao Tzu

Uneven heating of the Earth's surface causes the wind to blow. Many societies have long taken advantage of this energy to travel great distances and perform diverse tasks such as grinding grains, sawing and pumping water. Modern wind turbines using advanced technologies are able to produce electricity for homes, businesses, and even utilities.

Explore the history of windmills and make your own wind-powered machines with:

Wind Farms

Wind power is the fastest growing of the renewable energies. Large machines called turbines have long blades that are turned by the wind. As the blades turn electricity is generated. This electricity can then move down power lines and to your home. Oklahoma is ranked 8th in the country for wind resources, with 6,600 megawatts of installed wind capacity. The state's first commercial wind farm came online in 2003. In 2016, about 25 percent of the electricity generated in Oklahoma was from wind power. Our state ranked number four in the nation for total wind-energy generated.