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Back to Popcorn Lesson Plan

Subjects

• Arts & Humanities
  --Language Arts
  --Visual Arts
  
• Educational Technology
  
• Mathematics
  -- Measurement
  
• Science
  --Agriculture
  
• Social Studies
  --Geography
  --History
  ----U.S. History
  ----World History
  --Regions/Cultures
  

Grade

• 3-5
  
• 6-8
  
• 9-12
  

Brief Description

Research/create a timeline of the history of popcorn.

Objectives

Students will

• improve their research skills.
• create a timeline.

Keywords

timeline, media literacy, corn, popcorn, Native American, Indian, Thanksgiving, research

Materials Needed

• library and/or Internet resources about the history of corn/popcorn (Internet resources provided)
• art supplies for creating timelines

Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students use library and/or Internet resources to research the history of popcorn. Students might work in small groups to create timelines showing that history.

This lesson offers an opportunity to teach media literacy skills. Because students use a variety of different resources, they might find contradictory information. You can introduce the concept of media literacy by sharing with students the Web resource No Popcorn! -- The Question of Popcorn at the "First Thanksgiving". This article, from www.plimoth.org, the official Web site of Plimoth Plantation, states that there is no proof that popcorn was served at the thanksgiving meal shared by the Pilgrims and Indians. Other resources below, however, tell a different story. As students create their timelines, they might consider posting only information they can verify by more than one source.

If students do not have online access for this activity, you might print some of the following resources for them to use. If students are working in small groups, each student in the group could be responsible for reading one or two of the resources and sharing with their group what they learn (s):

• Popcorn: Ingrained in America's Agricultural History
• The History of Popcorn: The Early History, Recent History
• Popcorn History
• Popcorn History, Science, and Good Snacky Fun
• The Story of Corn
• Native American History of Corn
• A History of Corn

Among the books you might share with students are Tomie DePaola's The Popcorn Book and Popcorn by Elaine Landau. Both books will provide valuable timeline information.

Encourage students to be creative as they make their timelines. They might work images of corn plants or popcorn into their timelines. They might even use actual corn kernels or popped corn.

Assessment

Students will rate each timeline based on completeness of research, display of information, neatness, and creativity.

Lesson Plan Source

Education World

Submitted By

Gary Hopkins

National Standards

FINE ARTS: Visual Arts
GRADES K - 4
NA-VA.K-4.1 Understanding and Applying Media, Techniques, and Processes
NA-VA.K-4.3 Choosing and Evaluating A Range of Subject Matter, Symbols, and Ideas
NA-VA.K-4.5 Reflecting Upon and Assessing the Characteristics and Merits of Their Work and the Work of Others
NA-VA.K-4.6 Making Connections Between Visual Arts and Other Disciplines
GRADES 5 - 8
NA-VA.5-8.1 Understanding and Applying Media, Techniques, and Processes
NA-VA.5-8.3 Choosing and Evaluating A Range of Subject Matter, Symbols, and Ideas
NA-VA.5-8.5 Reflecting Upon and Assessing the Characteristics and Merits of Their Work and the Work of Others
NA-VA.5-8.6 Making Connections Between Visual Arts and Other Disciplines
GRADES 9 - 12
NA-VA.9-12.1 Understanding and Applying Media, Techniques, and Processes
NA-VA.9-12.3 Choosing and Evaluating A Range of Subject Matter, Symbols, and Ideas
NA-VA.9-12.5 Reflecting Upon and Assessing the Characteristics and Merits of Their Work and the Work of Others
NA-VA.9-12.6 Making Connections Between Visual Arts and Other Disciplines

LANGUAGE ARTS: English
GRADES K - 12
NL-ENG.K-12.8 Developing Research Skills
NL-ENG.K-12.9 Multicultural Understanding
NL-ENG.K-12.12 Applying Language Skills

MATHEMATICS: Representation
GRADES Pre-K - 12
NM-REP.PK-12.3 Use Representations to Model and Interpret Physical, Social, and Mathematical Phenomena

SOCIAL SCIENCES: Geography
GRADES K - 12
NSS-G.K-12.1 The World in Spatial Terms

SOCIAL SCIENCES: U.S. History
GRADES K - 4
NSS-USH.K-4.1 Living and Working together in Families and Communities, Now and Long Ago
NSS-USH.K-4.4 The History of Peoples of Many Cultures Around the World
GRADES 5 - 12
NSS-USH.5-12.1 - 10 All Eras

SOCIAL SCIENCES: World History
GRADES 5 - 12
NSS-WH.5-12.1 - 8 All Eras

TECHNOLOGY
GRADES K - 12
NT.K-12.5 Technology Research Tools

Find more popcorn activities in Education World's article, Popcorn Isn't Just for Movies Anymore.

Click to return to this week's Cover the Curriculum With Popcorn lesson plan page.

Article by Gary Hopkins
Education World®
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