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Overview:
This lesson teaches students that ingredients in the food they eat come from all over the world. Bring in some commonly-used spices for students to smell. They will learn where these spices originated and discuss what the world would be like without any spices.
Connections to the Curriculum:
Geography, history
Connections to the National Geography Standards:
Standard 11: "The patterns and networks of economic interdependence on Earth's surface"
Standard 13: "How the forces of cooperation and conflict among people influence the division and control of Earth's surface"
Standard 16: "The changes that occur in the meaning, use, distribution, and importance of resources"
Time:
Two hours
Materials Required:
Objectives:
Students will
- name some spices they are familiar with;
- smell some spices that you bring into class;
- find out what countries the spices come from;
- figure out which spices are included in selected recipes and the origins of those spices;
- discuss why spices are important and what it would be like without any spices; and
- locate the spices' countries of origin on a map.
Geographic Skills:
Asking Geographic Questions
Organizing Geographic Information
Answering Geographic Questions
Analyzing Geographic Information
S u g g e s t e d P r o c e d u r e
Opening:
Ask students to name some things that grow on farms. They will probably say corn, potatoes, wheat, lettuce, or other crops that are well known in the United States.
Ask the class if they know about spices—the plants that give their food that really special taste. Which spices are they familiar with? Cinnamon? Oregano? Chili powder?
Development:
Bring in some spices from your collection, either in bottles or small plastic bags, and allow students to sniff them. Ask if they recognize any of the scents. Have they eaten food made with any of these spices?
As students pass the spices around, list the spice names on the board and make sure students know what they are smelling.
Where do these spices come from? Have older students look at the Spice Advice Encyclopedia to find out. Ask them to list the countries of origin next to the spice names.
If you teach younger students or are running low on time, find out the spice origins before coming to class, and write the country names on the board.
Place the spices in parts of the room that will correspond to the regions of the world where the spices come from. For example, you can have a region representing South America and another representing Asia.
Bring in a cookbook with recipes for foods that kids tend to like (such as pizza or pumpkin pie), and read the ingredient lists to the class. Which spices are on the list? Are any of those spices in the room? Have students find out where those spices originated (they can use the Spice Guide Encyclopedia again).
Emphasize that all of the spices they have seen have been grown by farmers in different parts of the world, just like corn and wheat are grown in the United States.
Closing:
Have students brainstorm the following questions: What would life be like without spices? Who would be out of work? Who would miss spices the most? What would our food be like? Why are spices important? You can tell students that several centuries ago many spices were very valuable, and people even fought wars over who would have access to the spices.
Suggested Student Assessment:
Ask students to see what spices they have available at home and to smell and taste some of these spices. Ask them to have their parents help them figure out where the spices come from. Have them return to class and describe the spices they liked best and least.
Extending the Lesson:
Have students list the names of the spices next to the names of the countries they are from. Then help them to label these locations on a blank outline map of the world. Or, have students points out the locations on the class world map.
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