Empowering Global Citizens

(Note that this unit can also be connected to the science curriculum, and
specifically to the unit on states of matter. The teacher can explain how
chocolate comes from a solid cocoa pod, is subsequently converted to a liq—
uid, and is finally sold as a solid product as well as how this conversion from
one state of matter to another could take place.)

ACtiVity 3.2.2

Is Chocolate a Modern or Historical Phenomenon?

The students can read a book about the history of chocolate and about how
it spread from the Mayan civilization to Europe and the Americas. Students
can create a time line showing the history of chocolate, and the teacher can
help them plot on a map the spread of chocolate across the world over time.

Through these activities, the students should also be able to produce a list of
the important developments in the history of chocolate (e.g., the Europeans’
addition of sugar, the Aztecs’ use of cacao as a currency, and the cultivation

of the cacao tree).

Resources

0 A lesson plan on how chocolate has changed through the ages
(htrp://www.teachingideas.co.uk/themes/chocolate)

° Reading material on the story of chocolate (http://www.ama—
zon.co.uk/Story—Chocolate—DK—Readers—Level/dp/1405303875/
ref:pd_bxgy_b_text_b)

° A quick overview of the history of chocolate (https://en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/History_of_chocolate)

0 A second overview of the history of chocolate (http://www.history.
com/news/hungry—history/the-sweet—history—of—chocolate)

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