Popcorn History

from, Education World®

Research/create a timeline of the history of popcorn.

Subjects: Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Educational Technology

Grade Levels: 3-5, 6-8, 9-12

Objectives
Students will:

• improve their research skills, and
• 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

Procedure
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 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:

• Popcorn: Ingrained in America's Agricultural History
• Corn… The Beginning
• The History of Popcorn: The Early History, Recent History
• Popcorn History
• Popcorn History, Science, and Good Snacky Fun

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.

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