This lesson is the first of a two-part series on how to help people grow, package, transport, and store food. Farming 1: Farm Machines, focuses on how "machines improve what people get from crops by helping in planting and harvesting. . . "Students are introduced to the workings and importance of farm machines and how they help farmers today, grow, and harvest more and healthier crops for more and more people. Students learn about special types of farm machines and the important tasks they perform on the farm during growing season. In Farming 2: Packaging and Transport, students focus on the second part of the benchmark, which explores the importance of "keeping food fresh by packaging and cooling, and in moving it long distances from where it is grown to where people live." class reads a story about the transformation that harvested wheat takes before it becomes the bread we consume. They learn about the kinds of materials and machines that are involved in transporting, processing, packaging, and distributing wheat and wheat flour in their long journey from the farm to our dining room tables. They learn that machines and other technologies are involved in almost every phase of this journey, making crop and food production faster and easier and within reach of more people worldwide. This basic orientation will help students when they are challenged to construct simple packages or containers to keep eggs safe and cushioned (just like egg cartons during transportation and storage). Even at this early age, students may benefit from knowing that, only a century ago, most people in the U.S. worked in farming. Now, because technology has greatly increased the efficiency of agriculture, only about two percent of the population works as farmers. (However, many people are involved in producing farm equipment and in the processing, storage, transportation, and distribution of food and fiber.) Students also benefit from learning that farm machines have made it possible for one person to cultivate and harvest more land and to cultivate more different kinds of land. In addition, the development of rapid and cheap transportation helps reduce the spoilage of food, refrigeration, processing, and packaging, which enable food to be transported, stored, and consumed thousands of thousands from where it is originally produced. (Science for All Americans, pp. 108-110.) It is also useful to keep in mind that the majority of people never see food or fiber before those products get to retail stores. Primary-school children may have only vague ideas about where their foods and fabrics come from. These lessons are designed to help teach children about some of the basics of agriculture, such as: what grows where, what is required to grow and harvest it, how it gets to the stores, and how modern-day US agriculture compares with agriculture in other times. This series relies mostly on stories, which are useful in telling small children about life on the farm and what happens to food between the farm and the store.