What is a Grain Elevator?
Grain elevators are storage areas that are used to house grain and prepare it for eventual shipment. A grain elevator may be a single building or an interconnected series of buildings, depending on the size of the operation. Generally, the design of a grain elevator allows for easy storage and retrieval of grain while providing a stable environment that helps to delay the decomposition of the grain. One of the first designs for a grain elevator appeared in the early 1840’s in the United States. Joseph Dart, who was also the creator of the marine leg, designed storage buildings that could be easily located near shipping ports. The design of the grain elevator allowed for the marine leg, which is essentially a large scoop, to easily extract grain from ships and other carriage devices and place it into the storage building. While the first examples of the grain elevator were simple wooden buildings, brick and masonry quickly became the materials of choice for construction. The spouts and
Grade Level: This lesson can be modified easily to work at any grade level (K-12) since the depth of the students’ questions will vary depending on age, experience, interest, and individual ability. Illinois State Learning Standards that can be covered with this lesson: • English – 1C: Comprehend a broad range of reading materials. • English – 5A: Locate, organize, and use information from various sources to answer questions. • English – 5B: Analyze and evaluate information acquired from various sources. • English – 5C: Apply acquired information, concepts, and ideas to communicate in a variety of formats. • Science – 11B: Know and apply the concepts, principles, and processes of technological design. • Science – 11D: Know and apply concepts that describe force and motion and the principles that explain them. • Science – 13B: Know and apply concepts that describe the interaction between science, technology, and society. • Social Science – 15A: Understand how different economic systems
