Did You Know That Chocolate
Grows on Trees?
Objective
As a result of this lesson, students will be able to:
- identify the area of the world in which cacao originates and prospers.
- trace the history of chocolate.
- describe the process by which fruit becomes chocolate.
Material
Activities
- Unwrap a chocolate candy bar and show it to the class.
- Ask the class if they know where chocolate comes from – where it originates.
- Spend a few minutes discussing the theories that arise among the students, emphasizing the difference between point of origin and place of manufacture.
- Make it a point (if not already brought up in the previous discussion) to talk about the difference between cacao and the coca plant. (Please refer to the following website for information on the coca plant: http://www.transitionsabroad.com/publications/magazine/0605/the_coca_plant_paradox.shtml.)
- Distribute the student handout entitled How Chocolate is Made. (If the technology is available, you may wish to download the PowerPoint presentation instead from the project website.)
- Emphasize that the handout refers to the manual process observed in Brazil, but the preparation is quite different in the mass production process used in the making of Hershey’s chocolates, for example.
- Direct students to examine the initial segments of the handout, “The Cacao Tree” and “First Steps.” What does the information reveal about the nature of the cacao plant?
- Ask students to read the section entitled “Beans.” Explain that, upon cutting open the pod, the beans are encased in the fruity pulp shown here.
- Direct students to complete the reading of the handout. Ask them if anything surprised them about the making of chocolate based on this manual process.
- Distribute the student handout entitled Chocolate: A History.
- Direct students to read the first four items in the handout: “Origins,” “Meaning,” “Legends,” and “Reverence.”
- Ask students to explain why the Aztecs might revere chocolate. What is its significance?
- Direct students to read the first following item: “Early Use.”
- Ask students to explain why cacao would be a valuable commodity in a barter economy.
- Direct students to read the rest of the handout.
- Ask students to explain the misconceptions the Spanish initially had about chocolate. How do you account for these misconceptions?
- Ask students to explain why the Spanish would want to keep chocolate a secret? How would it have benefited them?
- Once students have an understanding of the history of chocolate, the teacher may set up the included Memory Game to play in groups to review new information.
- Cut out the squares.
- Turn them over.
- Direct students must match the pairs after memorizing where they are.
- Recommendation.
- The Mexican sauce called mole (pronounced MO-LAY) is made from pure chocolate and spiced with pepper. It is usually used to dress chicken in typical Mexican dishes. If there is an authentic Mexican restaurant near you, it would be an interesting experience for the students to try this dish that is closer to what chocolate began as in Mexico and to get a ‘taste’ of another form of chocolate.
- Mole can be bought in many supermarkets or specialty stores and included here is a recipe to try at home : www.sweatnspice.com/recipes/Mole_Sauce_Recipe.php.
