LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

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Irrigating the fields
In Rice farming and rural life in Vietnam, page 4
Wet-rice farming requires that plants stand in water during early stages of their growth. The water then must be drained away before the rice fully ripens for harvesting. Bamboo wheels such as the one shown here aid this process of water management in places...
By Lorraine Aragon.
Working in the fields
In Rice farming and rural life in Vietnam, page 5
Both men and women work in the wet-rice fields. Rural women living in highland Southeast Asia typically scale high mountains and do hard outdoor physical labor, which keeps them physically fit and strong. With one basket strapped at the waist and another larger...
By Lorraine Aragon.
Fertile soils
In Rice farming and rural life in Vietnam, page 2
This view from an airplane shows where the Mekong River joins Tonlé Sap Lake near Siem Reap in Cambodia. The waterways of the Mekong are the region's primary conduit for local trade and transportation. The Mekong River flows approximately 2,800 miles from...
By Lorraine Aragon.
Wet rice in the highlands
In Rice farming and rural life in Vietnam, page 3
This photograph, and most of the photos that follow, was taken in Mai Chau, in the highlands of northwestern Vietnam. In most of Southeast Asia, the highlands are too dry or steep to construct the standing water pools required to nourish wet rice. Therefore,...
By Lorraine Aragon.
From field to bowl
In Rice farming and rural life in Vietnam, page 11
Harvested rice grains generally are stored in their husks until needed for food. At that time, the husks must be removed either in large stone or wood mortars with pestles wielded by farmers, or by the kind of mechanical threshing machine seen here. Such machines...
By Lorraine Aragon.
Winnowing by hand
In Rice farming and rural life in Vietnam, page 12
Winnowing trays are round and generally plaited from bamboo strands woven tightly onto a rattan frame. In rural villages, they are made at home by members of every household along with most of their other farming and household tools. Rice grains that have...
By Lorraine Aragon.
Ducks and rice
In Rice farming and rural life in Vietnam, page 10
In many parts of Southeast Asia, farmers raise ducks and farm wet-rice fields in a mutually beneficial, or symbiotic, relationship. Duck droppings fertilize the water in which the rice grows. Ducks also eat the algae and other weeds that grow near the young...
By Lorraine Aragon.
Working with animals
In Rice farming and rural life in Vietnam, page 7
In addition to providing labor, water buffalo also sometimes are eaten at major community feasts. Traditionally, buffalo were a major source of wealth for Southeast Asian families. They still are favored in highland wet-rice areas where neither humans not...
By Lorraine Aragon.
Caring for children
In Rice farming and rural life in Vietnam, page 20
Throughout Southeast Asia, but especially in highland farming areas, children of both sexes are considered precious and vulnerable. Adults and teens of both sexes and all ages generally enjoy caring for young children. They find it an amusing and relaxing...
By Lorraine Aragon.
A highland farmhouse
In Rice farming and rural life in Vietnam, page 14
The farm house shown here, located by a canal at Dong Ha, has a thatch and corrugated metal roof. Corrugated metal roofs are popular among some farmers in Southeast Asia because they are long lasting and fire resistant. They are, however, hotter, noisier,...
By Lorraine Aragon.
Living in the field
In Rice farming and rural life in Vietnam, page 17
Highland families may use these small houses on a permanent basis, especially if they are near permanent wet-rice fields. Yet the houses sometimes are moved or abandoned when families cultivate other fields during different years or seasons. The canal running...
By Lorraine Aragon.
Women working
In Rice farming and rural life in Vietnam, page 21
The bright green rice plants in the field are still young and unripe. Note, again, the power lines running in the background.
By Lorraine Aragon.
Protection from the sun
In Rice farming and rural life in Vietnam, page 6
Rural women, men, and children throughout Southeast Asia commonly weave their own hats, sleeping mats, and baskets from a variety of palm leaf, bamboo, and rattan fibers. Mountain groups or highlanders are less involved in the national cash economy (often...
By Lorraine Aragon.
Estuaries in North Carolina: A primer
Estuaries are places near the coast where freshwater and saltwater mix. Influenced by ocean forces yet partly sheltered from them, estuaries have unique and fascinating ecologies. This article explains what estuaries are, their geology and role in the larger...
By Waverly Harrell and Jennifer Godwin-Wyer.
Live-at-Home in North Carolina
In this lesson students will examine pictures and documents relating to the Live at Home program started in North Carolina by Governor O. Max Gardner to help North Carolina farmers refocus on food crops rather than cash crops during the Depression. These photographs, from the Green 'N' Growing collection at the North Carolina State University, will help students draw conclusions about the culture of North Carolina in the early 1930s and understand how they overcame the hardships of the Depression.
Format: article (grade 8 Social Studies)
By Loretta Wilson.
Connecting with community through oral history
In Oral history in the classroom, page 5
Through interviews and photographs, Harnett County students learn about their community's agricultural past.
By Jean Sweeney Shawver.
Mountain balds
In Elevations and forest types along the Blue Ridge Parkway, page 8
Many high-elevation areas of the Blue Ridge have no trees. As a result these areas are called balds. The origin and persistence of mountain balds is poorly understood. Some scientists claim that they form in areas particularly susceptible to fires...
By Dirk Frankenberg.
Vietnam: Educator's guide
A guide for K–12 teachers to teaching about Vietnam using LEARN NC's slideshows, with a focus on the question Why should we care about Vietnam?
Format: article/teacher's guide (grade 6–12 Social Studies)
By Steve Goldberg.
Letter of March 16, 1939
In Tobacco bag stringing: Life and labor in the Depression, page 1.1
Law Offices Tucker, Bronson, Satterfield & Mays State Planters Bank Building Richmond, Virginia March 16, 1939 Hon. Graham A. Barden, House of Representatives Washington, D.C. In Re: Fair Labor Standards Act. Dear Mr. Barden: I am deeply grateful to you for...
Letter of April 7, 1939
In Tobacco bag stringing: Life and labor in the Depression, page 1.5
MORSE BAG COMPANY East Bend, North Carolina. April 7, 1939. Mr. Sherlock Bronson, Richmond, Virginia. Dear Sir: In compliance with your request of March 28th, I am glad to give you an idea of my experience in working with tobacco bags. My mother and father,...