<p>"A Weed Is a Flower" by Aliki </p><p>Student Edition Unit 3, pp. 430-451</p><p>A biography tells about a real person's life. It is written by another person. Next you will read the biography of George Washington Carver, a creative scientist.</p><p>George Washington Carver was born a slave in 1860. When he was a baby, he and his mother, Mary, were kidnapped. He was returned to their owner, Moses Carver. But his mother was not. The Carvers took care of George and his older brother.</p><p>George was very smart. He asked questions about everything. He had a garden where he worked many hours. The neighbors called him The Plant Doctor because he knew how to take care of plants.</p><p>George wanted to go to school. But black people were not allowed in most schools. When he was ten, George left his brother and the Carvers. He looked for schools where he could stay. He worked for people to earn money. He made bread and washed floors and clothes. He was taken in by other people who treated him as a son. George did everything well. And he learned.</p><p>George worked hard and saved money to go to college. He was thirty by the time he had enough. Black people were not allowed at most colleges. Finally, George found one in Iowa that was happy to have a black student. George kept working. He started a laundry. He kept learning. He was good at music and painting. He thought about being an artist.</p><p>But he wanted to help other black people. And he still loved plants. So he decided to study agriculture. He learned a lot about plants, even weeds. "A weed is a flower growing in the wrong place," he said. He was the first person to find out certain things about plants.</p><p>When George finished college, he started to teach. He was invited to Tuskegee Institute, a college for black people in Alabama. He stayed there for the rest of his life. He taught students and poor black farmers. Most farmers grew cotton. But George told them growing only cotton was bad for the soil. They needed to plant different things. He told them to grow sweet potatoes and peanuts so their cotton plants would grow better the next year.</p><p>He knew that hundreds of things could be made from the sweet potato, including coffee and starch. And he knew that peanuts could make even more things, including paper, ink, and even milk. Once George served a whole dinner made of peanuts to important people. It even had creamed "chicken" made of only peanuts!</p><p>Farmers began to listen to George Washington Carver. Soon the whole country listened. He got many honors and offers of money. But he turned down most of the money. He only wanted to help others. He was one of America's greatest scientists. He helped not only black people but all people of the world.</p>