OUR GLOBAL KITCHEN Activities for Grades K–2

Where Does Our Food Come From?

OVERVIEW NYS Core Curriculum:
Students will learn about where food comes from and what is required LE 1.1b: Plants require air, water,
to grow plants. nutrients, and light in order to live
and thrive
•B
 efore Your Visit: Students will learn how seeds germinate and
plants grow. LE 3.1b: Each plant has different
structures that serve different
• During Your Visit:
functions in growth, survival, and
o In Our Global Kitchen, students will use their senses to reproduction.
observe and investigate how food grows, and find out how it
reaches our kitchens. • Seeds contain stored food that aids
in germination and the growth of
o In the Windowfarms display, students will observe plants in young plants
a vertical garden.
•B
 ack in the Classroom: Students will discuss what they learned at
the Museum, observe seedlings growing, and talk about cultural and family traditions.

BACKGROUND FOR EDUCATORS Plan how your students will explore

Most of the plants and animals we raise for food barely resemble their the Our Global Kitchen exhibition
wild ancestors; they have been dramatically changed by humans. using the group worksheets.
Thousands of years ago, for instance, there was no maize (corn).
Today’s massive cobs were bred from a wild grass. Divide your class into small groups
of three to four and assign each to
All plants require water, light, and a growing medium (e.g. soil) in a teacher/parent chaperone who
order to thrive. will facilitate their exploration of the
dioramas.
BEFORE YOUR VISIT If possible, distribute and review
Activity: Where Does Our Food Come From? copies of the map and worksheets to
Objective: Students will explore familiar foods and food origins. chaperones beforehand.
Then the class will plant seeds.

Part 1: Class Discussion

Have students work in pairs to discuss the following:
• What is your favorite food?
• What food do you find gross or disgusting?
• Tell me about a time you were afraid of or didn’t want to try a food.
• What foods do you eat but your parents don’t eat?
• What foods do your parents eat but you don’t eat?
Ask students to share some of their answers with the class. Write them on the board. Then have students look at
the list. Ask: Where does this food come from? (Accept all answers.) Elicit the fact that most of our food comes from
animals and plants.

Ask students for examples of animals and plants that we eat. Write down their ideas and save this information for
follow-up after the Museum visit. Keep a separate list of items whose origin is unclear.

© 2012 American Museum of Natural History. All rights reserved. amnh.org/our-global-kitchen

OUR GLOBAL KITCHEN Activities for Grades K–2

Part 2: Growing Seeds

Plant seeds as a class. The easiest way to do this is to purchase a bag of dried black beans and soak them
overnight. Once they sprout, you can use the instructions and materials on any of these websites:
• Using soda bottles: http://weirdsciencekids.com/ecosystem.html
• Using cotton balls: http://www.theimaginationtree.com/2012/04/growing-beans-on-cotton-balls.html
• Using baggies: http://www.greeneducationfoundation.org

Additional Information
• Bottle Gardens: http://www.bottlebiology.org/index.html

Tell students that at the Museum, they will see lots of pictures and models of foods from all kinds of plants and
animals. They will use their senses to observe and describe the foods.

DURING YOUR VISIT

Our Global Kitchen: Food, Nature, Culture
3rd floor (30–45 minutes)
Guided by chaperones, students will use their senses to make observations about the appearance, flavor,
ingredients, and origins of different foods. Ask the chaperones to write down all the types of foods the students
observe on the group worksheets.

Windowfarm
1st floor, Weston Pavillion (15–30 minutes)
Visit the vertical garden. Use the following questions to prompt conversation and observation:
• What do you notice about these plants?
• Have you ever eaten any of them? If not, would you try them? (Why or why not?)
• Why are they planted along a wall? How is this different from growing plants in a garden?

Try and get the students to observe that the plants are growing in a liquid that contains food for the plants.
Ask how this compares to the way their seeds are growing in the classroom.

Note: The living plants in the vertical garden are edible greens, mostly lettuce and kale. They grow indoors, hydro-
ponically — that is, without soil. Their roots derive nutrients from fortified water, which continuously drips through
the system in a low-energy cycle. It requires technology, but without the need for soil, hydroponic gardeners can
grow food almost anywhere, even in the desert or outer space. Pest and weed control is easy.

Warburg Hall of New York State Environment

1st floor (15–30 minutes)
Find the diorama that describes how maple syrup is made. Use the following prompts to help students make
observations: What do you notice in the diorama? Describe what you see. What more can we find?

© 2012 American Museum of Natural History. All rights reserved. amnh.org/our-global-kitchen

OUR GLOBAL KITCHEN Activities for Grades K–2

BACK IN THE CLASSROOM

Activity: What Do Seeds Needs to Grow?
Students will discuss what they learned at the Museum and observe the plants they’re growing.

Discuss the following with students:

• Look at your seeds. What do seeds need to grow?
(Answer: Plants require air, water, nutrients, and light in order to live and thrive.)
• What is stored in a seed that helps it grow?
(Answer: Seeds contain stored food that aids in germination and the growth of young plants.)
• Think about all the plants that you saw at the Museum. Which ones would you like to grow?

Over the next few weeks, have students observe the seeds they planted before the Museum visit. Have them
measure and draw the seedlings as they grow.

Activity: Culture and Family Traditions

Have students share their ideas about cultural and family traditions. Use the following questions as prompts:
• Can you name a food that your family eats but your friends don’t?
• If you could choose the meals for a day, what would your menu be?
• What food does your family eat on holidays?
• Can you think of a food that your grandmother or grandfather makes, and that they learned from their parents?
• Have you ever travelled to a new place and eaten something for the first time?
• Tell us about a time something you ate surprised you.
• Can you remember a time you were afraid to try a food? Have you tried it since then?
• Tell us about a time when you spat something out.

© 2012 American Museum of Natural History. All rights reserved. amnh.org/our-global-kitchen

OUR GLOBAL KITCHEN Grades K–2

Group Worksheet
Instructions for the adult facilitator:
1. As you go through the exhibition, invite students to use their senses to learn more about the plants and animals
that we eat.
2. Encourage contributions from all students.
3. Record as many of their observations as possible.

Location Ask Students Record Their Responses

Grow section Look: Which foods
come from plants?

Grow section Look: Which foods

come from animals?

Trade section: Look: What foods are

Aztec market- made from plants?
place diorama

Trade section: Sight: What foods are

Aztec market- made from animals?
place diorama

Cook section Smell: What did you

smell? Are these plant or
animal smells?

Cook section Taste: How are our

sense of taste and smell
connected?

Eat section: What dishes are made

Kenyan Comfort from animals? From
Food meal plants?

Eat section: What dishes are made

Power Meal from animals? From
(Michael Phelps plants?
breakfast)
Eat section: What dishes are made
Choose a meal from animals? From
plants?

© 2012 American Museum of Natural History. All rights reserved. amnh.org/our-global-kitchen

OUR GLOBAL KITCHEN Grades K–2

Group Worksheet
Instructions for the adult facilitator:
1. As you go through the exhibition, invite students to use their senses to
ANSWER KEY
learn more about the plants and animals that we eat.
2. Encourage contributions from all students.
3. Record as many of their observations as possible.

Location Ask Students Record Their Responses

Grow section Look: Which foods (Answers may include: corn, cassava, potatoes, crab
come from plants? apples, watermelon, cabbage, peppers, rice, beans)

Grow section Look: Which foods (Answers may include: fish, cows, test tube beef, oysters,
come from animals? pigs, chicken)

Trade section: Look: What foods are (Answers may include: squash, pumpkin, chiles,
Aztec market- made from plants? tomato, cacao beans, vanilla, peppers, corn, prickly
place diorama pear cactus, chayote, squash blossoms, maguey heads)

Trade section: Sight: What foods are (Answers may include: insects, lizards, turkey,
Aztec market- made from animals? grasshoppers, maguey worms, fish )
place diorama

Cook section Smell: What did you (Answers may include: lemon, lavender, thyme, fennel)
smell? Are these plant or
animal smells?

Cook section Taste: How are our (Answers will vary. Your sense of smell helps you taste
sense of taste and smell food.)
connected?

Eat section: What dishes are made (Answers may include: from animals: chicken; from
Kenyan Comfort from animals? From plants: grains, vegetables, tea)
Food meal plants?

Eat section: What dishes are made (Answers may include: from animals: cheese, eggs,
Power Meal from animals? From cream, butter, milk; from plants, bread, strawberries,
(Michael Phelps plants? berries, maple syrup, lettuce, tomato, coffee)
breakfast)
Eat section: What dishes are made (Answers will vary.)
Choose a meal from animals? From
plants?

© 2012 American Museum of Natural History. All rights reserved. amnh.org/our-global-kitchen