This unit is mostly an excuse to do the final activity. Basically, teach them "How is it?" or "how does it taste?" or something along those lines. Teach them taste vocab:
sweet
salty
bitter
sour
spicy
delicious/tasty
disgusting/gross
Then, for the final activity (which takes most of a period), set up the following on a table:
Crackers
Spreading utensils (spoons/plastic knives)
Paper plates
Spreads
Water cups (for the spicy/bitter/disgusting stuff)
You need approximately 11 different spreads. The spreads I used were as follows:
2: Bitter Choco (maybe make some ganache with it for spreadability)
3: Sauerkraut
4: Vegemite
5: Salsa (med)
6: Peanut Butter
7: Apple Jam
8: Garlic Spread
9: Almond Whip
10: Wasabi
11: Sour Cream
12: Tabasco
The numbering is important. I had all the containers on display, but covered in paper to hide what it was. I wrote the number on the paper in Sharpie.
Have the HRT/JTE/trustworthy student volunteer prepare a few crackers of each, and extra of the middle numbers. Sort them onto plates. This can all happen before class.
The activity is quite simple: the students come up one by one and roll two dice. Then, they eat a cracker that corresponds to the number they rolled. Notice that the gross stuff is on the ends of the list: the relatively-rare numbers. You could switch things around if you hate your kids. Finally, everyone asks the kid "How is it?" when they are nearly done chewing. When they are done, they answer (e.g. "it's sweet").
Go through all the kids once, twice if time permits. At the end, let the kids come up and take another cracker of whatever they want to try.
My fourth graders loved this lesson, and I'm about to do it with third graders next week. It's relatively cheap and easy for a food-related lesson. Also, it's great when the mondaijin eat a tabasco cracker. Heh heh.
Oh, and make sure you at least attempt to get your school to pay for the supplies. Can't hurt!
**WARNING** If any of your kids have allergies (peanut, gluten, etc.) make sure you are aware of it going into this!
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