TASTE OF NAUVOO

Debra Clofelter, Doris Gott, Kathie Kleckner,
James W. Lennert, Ani T. Smith, Linda Weatherwax

Preview of Main Ideas

America has a rich heritage of foods and cooking. This lesson will foster an appreciation of the self-sufficiency and ingenuity of the early settlers with respect to acquiring and preparing food. Any historic site can be studied using this perspective.

Connection with the Curriculum

This geography lesson can be used across curriculum incorporating math, art, science, social studies, and language arts.

Teaching Level: K-4 (This lesson is best suited for 3^rd and 4^th graders, but can be adapted to any grade level.

Objective Classification Outline (Also see objectives classification matrix below.)

Objective #1: The student will demonstrate awareness and appreciation of the difficulties early settlers faced in meeting their basic food requirements by describing orally how they acquired, processed, and consumed various types of food.

Essential Element: The uses of Geography.

Standard #17: The geographically informed person knows and understands how to apply geography to interpret the past.

Knowledge Statement #2: That people’s perceptions of places and geographic contexts to interpret the past.

Knowledge Statement #3: The geographic contexts influence people and events over time.

Skill Set #2: Acquiring geographic information.

Skill #1: Locate, gather and process information from a variety of primary and secondary sources, including maps.

Theme: Place, Human-Environment Interaction.

Objective #2: The student will develop an understanding of historic Nauvoo by creating a classroom floor map of the site.

Essential Element: The World in Spatial Terms.

Standard #1: How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire process, and report information from a spatial perspective.

Knowledge Statement #3: how to display spatial information on maps and other geographic representations.

Skill Set #3: Organizing geographic information.

Skill #1: Prepare maps to display geographic information.

Theme: Location.

Materials

1. Maps

2. Foods

3. Selections from The Little House Cookbook.

4. Recipes

5. Art materials- large chart paper, large sheet of butcher block paper or a vinyl tablecloth

6. Brochures from the historical site

7. Various sized boxes

Suggestions for Teaching the Lesson

Opening the Lesson

1. Do a KWL (know, what to know, learn) on large chart paper to activate prior knowledge of historical geography. What do you know about food in the pioneer times? What do you want to know? What did you learn about food in the pioneer times? Leave the last column blank until the lesson is completed.

2. Read chapter 2, “The Cooks Domain,” from The Little House Cookbook. This chapter will give the students an appreciation of the difficulties faced by the settlers in meeting basic food needs.

3. Show a film or video that emphasizes the history of the Nauvoo site to provide students with a knowledge base.

Developing the Lesson

1. Create a three-dimensional floor map of the historic site using various sized boxes, such as show boxes or milk cartons for buildings. Students will use maps from the travel brochure as their guide. Streets, street names, a compass rose, and a key can be drawn on butcher block paper or the reverse side of a vinyl table cloth.

2. Assign students to cooperative groups with teacher assigned tasks.

3. Each group will be assigned a food related topic that played a role in the development of the Nauvoo community. These topics will include the following: vineyards, blue cheese factory, grist mill and bakery, early kitchens, and Red Brick Store (general store).

4. Teacher will direct students to gather information from various sources including handouts from the historic site, brochures, encyclopedias, maps, and magazine articles.

5. Students will prepare an oral presentation and demonstration on their food related topic for the “Taste of Nauvoo.”

6. Each food related topic station will be located around the perimeter of the room with the three dimensional floor map as a focal point in the center of the room.

7. Food related topic presentations could include the following: period costumes, role-playing, food preparation, samples of the food, examples of tools used in food preparation, production, and distribution. Students could create all of the above.

8. Each group will present their topic to the entire class. This will give students a chance to practice as well as give the entire class an opportunity to see each presentation.

9. Write and design invitations for other classes, parents, and administrators.

Concluding the Lesson

Students will present their final program, “Taste of Nauvoo.”

Extending the Lesson

1. Contact the actual historic site and arrange for a guest speaker.

2. Create a time line to show important events in the history of Nauvoo foods.

3. Make a flow chart of the production of an assigned food.

4. Create a product map to show raw materials used in Nauvoo’s food production. Conversely, create a map to show raw materials manufactured in Nauvoo that are used elsewhere.

5. Make a Venn diagram that compares the type of food ingredients found in today’s kitchens versus historic kitchens.

6. Create a historic recipe book using old family pictures.

7. Create a word search crossword puzzle using the vocabulary from the unit.

8. Write an advertisement or commercial to promote one of the foods. Videotape if possible.

9. Take a field trip to a local food factory to see different steps in the manufacturing process, both by hand and machine.

10. Make a mobile illustrating the variety of goods found in an 1840’s general store.

11. Organize a bake sale using old time recipes.

Assessing Student Learning

Students will write a persuasive essay to compare the advantages and disadvantages of living in the mid-1800’s versus the present day.

Portfolios can be used to collect and save selected projects and paper completed by students.

Additional Readings

Stenson, Elizabeth. Food For the Shelter. Crabtree Publishing Company.

O’Neill, Catherine. Let’s Visit a Chocolate Factory. Troll.

Recipes Old and New Tried and True from the City of Beautiful Nauvoo. General Publishing & Binding, Inc.

GEOGRAPHY STANDARDS CLASSIFICATION MATRIX – GRADES   K-4 

Title:  Taste of Nauvoo                 Author:  Debra Clodfelter, et. al.

Note:  See also Objectives Classification Outline in the lesson.

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Handouts

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