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Lesson 4 -- The Tropical Supermarket

Third Grade Lesson Resources

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Lesson 4
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Third Grade

Third Grade

Ecuadorian Rainforest

Concept

Everything has a source. When we consume products from the shelves of supermarkets we are intricately connected to the ecosystem in which the natural resources originated and to the lives of those people who produced them.

Essential Question

Whose lives are we eating?

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Expand or Collapse Step 1 -- Connect (The Concept to Prior Knowledge)

Challenge

Students will understand that farmers organize their lives around growing, harvesting and delivering products to markets for other people to enjoy.

Materials

- Locally produced food (brought in by students)
- Local map

Procedure

  1. Students identify and bring in to school a food that is produced locally. It may be a vegetable, fruit, honey, grain, meat, etc.

  2. Using a map of the local area, locate where these foods are grown and how much land each takes to grow, how much time it takes to grow and what kinds of ingredients are necessary for its production. For example: How much rainfall, temperature, fertilizer or feed, soil, etc.

  3. Students study a local food producer. (This will be different for each geographical area.) Have the producer come into the classroom or have children visit the local farm/garden to discuss how much of their time and energy goes into producing the item of study.

  4. Have students write a report of the food item and all the ingredients that go into its production, including the time of the farmer.

Expand or Collapse Step 2 -- Literature/Discuss (Give Expert Information Book; Ask Questions)

Challenge

Students will understand that many lives of people in Ecuador are part of their chocolate.

Materials

- Story: Romel's Rainforest Home, a Rainforest Alliance story
- Chachi Community Profile

Procedure

  1. Read Romel's Rainforest Home, a Rainforest Alliance story. Use the pictures in the story to compare and contrast the students and communities the students know to those that Romel knows.

  2. Read the Chachi Community Profile to share information with students about the Chachi and the social environmetnal benefits of growing cocoa in the shade.

Discussion:

  1. What food products are the same or different in Romel's community than what you find in your supermarket?

  2. How is Romel's life the same and/or different than yours?

  3. How is his home different?

  4. How is the school different?

  5. Do you do chores at home? Are they the same as Romel's?

  6. How much time do you think Romel spends helping produce cocoa beans?

  7. Did you learn anything new about cocoa beans than you knew before after reading the story?

Expand or Collapse Step 3A -- Practice (Math and Learning Centers)

Challenge

Students will calculate the amount of space necessary to produce chocolate for their classroom.

Materials

- Paper, pencils

Procedure

  1. Research how much space is needed to grow 10, 20, 30 or 100 cacao plants.

  2. How big will Romel's farm have to be to supply enough chocolate for your classroom?

  3. How much space will it take to supply chocolate for 20 classrooms?

  4. How many acres of Ecuadorian Rainforest are left?

  5. Romel's family grows cocoa in the shade of the rainforest. How many acres of rainforest will have to be cut down if a farmer decides not to use shade-grown cocoa techniques in order to triple the amount of chocolate being produced now?

  6. How many acres would that leave for protected rainforest?

Expand or Collapse Step 3B -- Create (Performance Tasks Related to Standard Indicators)

Challenge

Students understand the difference between the impact of shade-grown cocoa beans and plantation cocoa production.

Materials

- Profiles in Sustainability

Procedure

  1. Students research different types of growing practices for cocoa.

  2. Students read Profiles in Sustainability and the Adopt-A-Rainforest Ecuador pages.

  3. Students give 2 - 3 minute speeches pretending they are Romel's uncle, the president of San Salvador, to explain the benefits of growing cocoa beans using sustainable farming practices.

Expand or Collapse Step 4 -- Present (Edit Work/Students Present Projects)

Challenge

Students describe the benefits of shade-grown/sustainable growing practices to manufacturing companies who buy cocoa beans from Ecuador.

Procedure

  1. Students develop research papers that describe the process and benefits of sustainable practices in the rainforest of Ecuador especially regarding cocoa beans.

  2. Students create an alternative buying strategy for manufacturers that supports the use of sustainable growing techniques by showing how much of the rainforest can be saved and highlighting the value of preserving its integrity for the lives of plants, animals and Chachi communities.

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