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CORN - MAIZ
Corn is a domesticated plant of the Americas. Native Americans developed special cultivation techniques transforming corn from wild grass to a domesticated plant. Maize originally grew in Central America 7,000 years ago. The original plant looked very different from today's corn. The kernels were small and not fused together. Cob length and size grew over the next several thousand years which increased to yield good size crops. Eventually, corn production became large enough for a family to produce food for most of their daily food consumption. Native Americans discovered that surplus corn could be grown and harvested in great amounts without harming the environment. Tribes in New England and the south dried the kernels in heaps upon mats. Then, the bushels were stored in underground pits for winter consumption. Corn became a medium of exchange during colonial times. Debts, taxes, rents, and even used for marriage licenses. In many occasions they would have starved had it not been for supplies of corn.
Activities
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