Download 3 Sisters Activities

The Three Sister Plants
Do you know about the three sisters? Native Americans
have known about them for thousands of years. The three
sisters are _______, ________, and ______.
Many Native Americans planted this trio. First, corn seeds
were planted in a hill of soil. When the corn shoots were a
few inches high, bean and squash seeds were planted
around them. The beans sprouted quickly. As they grew,
their vines needed to wind around something so they
________ on the taller corn stalks. The roots of the bean
plants attracted nitrogen in the soil. Nitrogen is an
important _________ that all plants need to grow, so this
helped all three sisters by feeding them. The _______
leaves of the squash plant _________ the roots of the other
plants, protecting them from getting too hot. The shade
kept the soil from drying out too quickly. It also helped
prevent _______ from growing.
The three sisters made good sense nutritionally, too. Corn
has carbohydrates for energy, beans have protein to build
muscles, and squash gives us vitamins. If you eat all three,
you get most of the things your _______ needs to stay
healthy and strong.
Word Bank:
BODY
CLIMBED WEEDS SHADED BEANS
CORN
SQUASH WIDE NUTRIENT
Adapted from: http://www.edhelper.com/ReadingComprehension_54_4065.html
Thinking about the Wampanoags
1) Why do you think the Wampanoags and other Native
Americans called corn, beans, and squash “sisters”?
2) How did planting these three crops together make life easier
for the Wampanoags?
3) The Pilgrims were used to planting each crop separately in
rows. Find an example of that in our garden and write down at
least two observations about what you see.
4) Imagine that you are a Wampanoag child, who is used to
growing the Three Sisters together. When you see the way the
Thinking about the Wampanoags
Pilgrims grow their crops for the first time, what might you
think?
5) Imagine that you are a Pilgrim and have just arrived in the
New World. Winter is coming soon, but you are used to
planting your food in the spring and harvesting it in the fall.
What might be challenging about your first year?
Links to versions of The Legend of the Three Sisters
- http://www.reneesgarden.com/articles/3sisters.html
- http://blogs.cornell.edu/garden/get-activities/signatureprojects/the-three-sisters-exploring-an-iroquoisgarden/a-legend/
- http://www.ncdcr.gov/Portals/7/Collateral/Database/F
05.legend.three.sisters.pdf