1. George Washington Carver’s Life

2. Carver’s birth place
George Washington Carver was born in Missouri on the Moses Carver Plantation.
When Carver was a baby, he and his mother were kidnapped and taken away. Later he was taken back to the plantation, but his mother was not.

3. George Washington Carver as a child
He was sick a lot when he was little so he couldn’t do hard work like the other slaves.
Carver still had chores to do such as:
Cooking and sewing
He loved to work in the garden
He taught himself to read.

4. Carver’s Education George Washington Carver wanted to go to school.
When he was 12, he left the Moses Carver Plantation and went to a black school.
There was only 1 teacher for 75 students in the class!
While the other students played at recess, Carver studied. He also studied before and after his chores.

5. Carver’s Education Continued
Carver enrolled in college, but when they found out he was black, they told him he couldn’t attend.
He had to wait 5 years, and finally when he was 30 years old, he was accepted at a college in Iowa.
Carver studied about plants and farming and became a botany student at Iowa State College.
After he graduated, they asked him to teach biology to beginning students.
Later he was asked to teach at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.

6. Carver’s Creations
He did a lot of experimenting to find new ways to use plants.
He made more than 300 products from peanuts like soap and ink.
He made 118 products from sweet potatoes like flour and candy.
He made 75 products from pecans, and building material for walls from cotton stalks.

7. Carver as a Teacher Carver was a great teacher at Tuskegee.
He made his students work hard. If the students told him an experiment was “about right,” he would say, “Don’t tell me it’s ‘about right.’ If it’s ‘about right,’ then it’s wrong.”
He wanted his students to use their minds and learn by doing.

8. Money, stylish clothes, and nice cars were not important to George Washington Carver. He thought that to be truly successful, a person had to learn to serve others.

9. References:
Created by: Randi Russell