Chocolate Lesson Plan: Science, Technology, and Society

Grade Levels: 3-5, 6-8

*Click to open and customize your own copy of the Chocolate Lesson Plan. 

This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP topic Chocolate, and supports the standard of discussing changes in the food products and processing industry. Students demonstrate understanding through a variety of projects.

Step 1: ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Ask students:

  • Where do you think chocolate might come from? 
  • Why do you think chocolate is a popular treat? 

Step 2: BUILD BACKGROUND

  • Read the description on the Chocolate topic page.
  • Play the Movie, pausing to check for understanding. 
  • Have students read one of the following Related Reading articles: “Language,” “Q&A,” or “Way Back When.” Partner them with someone who read a different article to share what they learned with each other.

Step 3: ENGAGE

Students express understanding of chocolate while practicing essential literacy skills with one or more of the following activities. Differentiate by assigning ones that meet individual student needs.

  • Make-a-Movie: Imagine you’re a cocoa bean. Create a video diary of your journey from cacao pod seed to chocolate bar. (Essential Literacy Skill: Determine central ideas)
  • Make-a-Map: Identify the steps in the procedure of making chocolate bars.(Essential  Literacy Skill: Summarize key details)
  • Creative Coding: Code a learning game challenging players to sort chocolate-related vocabulary terms into self-selected categories. (Essential Literacy Skill: Acquire and use domain specific words and phrases)

Step 4: APPLY & ASSESS  

Apply: Students take the Chocolate Challenge, applying essential literacy skills while demonstrating what they learned about this topic.

Assess: Wrap up the lesson with the Chocolate Quiz. 

Step 5:  EXTEND LEARNING

Time Zone X: Chocolate: Challenges players to put historical events in chronological order in this interactive timeline game.  

Additional Support Resources:

Lesson Plan Common Core State Standards Alignments

Related:

    Filed as:  3-5, 6-8, BrainPOP, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.1, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.2, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.4, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.7, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.1, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.2, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.4