Title: Couch Potatoes Around the World#138

National Standard: 11 The patterns and networks of economic interdependence on Earth's surface.

State Standard: 13

Teaching Level: E

Lesson Introduction: Primary grades may wish to use this lesson as a classroom activity. Intermediate grades may wish to use this lesson with students working with little teacher support in small groups. You may wish to use the picture book, How to Bake an Apple Pie and See the World with this lesson.

Objectives/Purpose: Students will identify raw materials and manufacturing and processing needed to produce a consumer product.

Materials: almanacs and atlases that identify locations where specific agricultural products are grown, drawing paper, drawing utensils, a large bag of potato chips

Procedure:
1)As a class define a consumer product. Identify potato chips as a consumer product.

2)Discuss the processes needed to make a potato chip. Grow and harvest a potato. Peel and thinly slice the potato. Heat corn oil. Dip the potato slices into heated oil. Add salt.

3)Using the resources made available by the teacher, students identify places where potatoes and corn are grown. In their small groups they create a picture book showing the evolution of a potato chip. The books must include the location of the raw materials (potato and corn) and the location of the plant where the product was manufactured (they could find that on a bag of potato chips). Have the students speculate where they might find salt. Salt is an optional ingredient to their potato chip book.

4)Share books and eat potato chips.

Evaluation/Assessment: Student books show logical progression in the evolution of a potato chip. Students have correctly located and identified the place where their raw materials may be found and the location of the manufacturing plant.

Enrichment/Extension: Use the same procedure with a different consumer product. Visit a manufacturing plant.

Reflection: How successful was this lesson? Did all students benefit? Were there any surprises? What might you do differently another time? Please note any changes that will make this lesson more effective and useful in the future and pass them along to the NHGA. We appreciate your comments.
Thank you.
The authors.

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Original file name: 138rtf - converted on Tuesday, 20 October 1998, 20:55