- Sep 24, 2019
- 9 min read

The Geography of Thanksgiving Dinner Lesson Plan

6th - 8th Grades

Students will identify common Thanksgiving foods and their farm source, determine if those foods can be produced locally, and locate the common origins of their Thanksgiving day dinner.

“ Thanksgiving is a traditional American holiday celebrated in November. The holiday has historical roots to the early pilgrims who settled America. It's purpose is to celebrate the year's harvest and give thanks. This lesson provides an opportunity for students to recognize the foods they will likely consume in a traditional Thanksgiving dinner and learn how and where they are likely produced.”

Grade Level(s)

6 - 8

Estimated Time

1 Hour

Purpose

In this lesson students will identify common Thanksgiving foods and their farm source, determine if those foods can be produced locally, and locate the common origins of their Thanksgiving day dinner.

Materials

Computer with internet access, projector, and screen
Geography of Thanksgiving Dinner food cards, 1 copy per class
Thanksgiving Dinner Map to project on screen

Essential Files (maps, charts, pictures, or documents)

Vocabulary

commodity: a primary agricultural product that can be bought and sold
crop: a cultivated plant that is grown as food, especially a grain, fruit, or vegetable
livestock: farm animals typically raised for meat, milk, eggs, or wool

Did you know? (Ag Facts)

Thanksgiving didn't become an annual tradition until 200 years after the pilgrims celebrated the first Thanksgiving.
Venison was the meat of the first Thanksgiving feast, not turkey.Pumpkin pie and potatoes were not a part of the first Thanksgiving feast.
Watch Thanksgiving Facts from the History Channel to learn more.

Background Agricultural Connections

Thanksgiving is a traditional American holiday celebrated in November. The holiday has historical roots to the early pilgrims who settled America. It's purpose is to celebrate the year's harvest and give thanks. This lesson provides an opportunity for students to recognize the foods they will likely consume in a traditional Thanksgiving dinner and learn how and where they are likely produced.

Interest Approach – Engagement

Inform your students that they are in charge of making the shopping list for Thanksgiving dinner.
As a class make a list on the board of the foods you will need to prepare your meal. Foods will vary from family to family. Focus mainly on traditional Thanksgiving foods, but include others to fit the needs of your class. Students should also include the ingredients to make each dish. For example, to make pumpkin pie you will need pumpkin, sugar, milk, spices, flour, and butter.
Once the shopping list is complete, inform your students that they will be learning about the geographic origins of their Thanksgiving dinner.

Procedures

Activity 1: Ideal Climate and Geographic Conditions

After completing the Interest Approach or Motivator, students should have a general idea of the foods and cooking ingredients typically used at a traditional Thanksgiving meal. Leave the list on the board for the students to see.
Instruct your students to watch carefully. In silence, cross out all foods on the shopping list that are not typically produced within a 100 mile radius of your school. Use your own background knowledge and prior research if necessary to accomplish this task.
Encourage students to think critically by asking them, "What kind of foods did I just cross off?" Allow students time to think and process your question and then offer their ideas. Your goal is for students to recognize that you crossed off foods that are not produced locally. In your class discussion, build upon their comments and provide students with guiding questions such as: Where are all of these foods produced? (farm)Do any of these foods require special growing conditions? (Yes) Does our climate and geography meet the requirements of growing these foods? (Yes/No)
Provide a hypothetical scenario for your students. Explain that this Thanksgiving they only have access to foods that can be produced near their home. Grocery stores can only stock their shelves with food that was produced locally. Note: In this discussion you should define near. In most cases this will be within a 100 mile radius. Your state's Department of Agriculture website would be a good resource to identify farming industries within your state.
Continue a class discussion using the following questions:

Why are some foods unavailable? Answers will vary depending upon the food item and your location. Possible answers may include lack of open space to grow a crop or raise animals, lack of available water, or a climate with a growing season that is too short.
What factors limit a farmer's ability to grow foods such as grains, fruits, and vegetables? Open space with fertile soil, Water, Climate and length of growing seasons
Are there some geographic locations in the United States that are better suited for the local production of food than others? Yes. Explain that geographic areas with plenty of fertile soil, moisture, and a temperate climate are likely able to produce a large variety of crops and livestock. These areas can provide a large variety of locally grown food. In contrast, geographic areas with colder climates and shorter growing seasons are limited in the crops they can produce. As a class, determine on a scale of one to ten how suitable your area is for eating only locally produced food.
Does technology exist which can help farmers produce local food in areas where it can't naturally be grown? Yes. For the production of some plant based foods, greenhouses can significantly extend the growing seasons in colder climates by artificially creating the ideal environment for year round plant growth. In large cities where open space is a limiting factor, vertical gardens and greenhouses can be implemented. Science can also be used to select and use varieties of plants that require shorter growing seasons or that are more tolerant of local temperatures (heat or cold). Aquaponics, hydroponics, and aquaculture are non-traditional methods of producing food using various forms of water, instead of soil, for plant growth. These cultivation methods are being used more and more in some areas.
What factors limit a farmer's ability to raise livestock animals that provide meat, milk, and eggs to our diet? Open space, Access to affordable feed, Close access to markets to sell livestock.

Activity 2: Origin of our Thanksgiving Foods

In Activity 1, students should have gained a basic knowledge of the portion of their Thanksgiving dinner that is (or could be) produced locally. In this activity, students will learn the geographic areas in the United States that produce the highest quantities of each agricultural crop or commodity and why.
Explain to students that a farmer's goal is to produce a product that is nutritious and economical for consumers. With these two goals in mind, farmers take many factors into consideration when choosing a location for a farm as well as the farm's overall capacity to grow crops and livestock for our food. We will discuss three factors.
Use the following examples to illustrate geographic and agricultural correlations in the production of our food. Climate: Citrus fruits such as limes, lemons, oranges, or grapefruit are a good example of an agricultural crop grown in a specific place to utilize its climate. Ask students if they know where citrus fruits are grown in the United States. Display the Citrus Map for students to see. Point out the map legend so that students recognize the color coding. They should identify that only four states produce a significant amount of citrus fruits. Ask the following questions:Which states produce citrus fruits? California, Florida, Texas, and Arizona.What do the four citrus producing states have in common? They have a tropical or subtropical climate and warm temperatures year round.Why aren't citrus fruits grown in other areas of the United States? Citrus trees are sensitive to frost. Cold temperatures can result in loss of a fruit crop and even kill the tree. Why aren't greenhouses and other technologies utilized to grow citrus fruits in other states? While greenhouses can provide an ideal climate for plant growth, they are very expensive to build and maintain. The cost to produce citrus fruits in a greenhouse would be much greater than simply growing them in the ideal environment and climate and then shipping the fruit to the consumer. Resource Availability: Hog Production is an example of an agricultural commodity being produced in the same area as one of it's necessary resources. Pigs are raised for their meat, known as pork. Their primary diet is corn. Display the Hog and Corn Production Maps. Ask your students the following questions:What are the top 5 hog producing states?Iowa, North Carolina, Minnesota, Illinois, and Indiana. What are the top 5 corn producing states? Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Indiana. Is there a correlation between hog production and corn production? Why? Yes. Corn is the primary diet for pigs. It is economical to raise pigs close to where their feed is grown. This decreases production costs for the farmer allowing the cost of food to be lower. Note: Most large scale pig farms utilize climate controlled facilities to keep their pigs cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Consequently, pig farms are not restricted to being located in a specific climate. Available Space: Space is necessary for farmers to raise animals and grow crops. As a class, compare the Farmer-operator and Geographic Area Maps . Notice that California and Texas are among the largest sized states and have some of the highest numbers of farmers. Display and study the Beef Cow and Geographic Area Maps and the Beef Cow and Acres of Pastureland Maps. Ask your students the following questions:Can you see any correlations between geographic area of a state and their beef cattle production? Yes. Beef cattle require more living space than other livestock species. Most beef cattle spend the majority of their lives grazing pastures and rangelands. Larger states have more likelihood of having fields, pastures, and rangelands for cattle to graze. Notice that Nevada, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico rank among the largest states, but they are not high producers of beef cattle. Can you guess what one limiting factor might be? Moisture. If your students need a clue to answer this question, show them the Rainfall and Beef Cow Maps. These four states are located in a desert region and have some of the driest overall conditions. Lack of rainfall decreases the amount of grazing available for cattle feed, thus decreasing the total number of cattle that can be raised per acre.
At this point your students should have an understanding that our food is typically produced by farmers in geographic areas that have ideal climates, necessary resources (fertile soil, moisture, feed, etc.), and adequate space. With this knowledge they are prepared to complete, The Geography of My Thanksgiving Dinner activity. Print the attached document front to back. This will make 12 sheets of paper, each representing 1 ingredient for Thanksgiving dinner.
Divide your class into 12 teams of two or three students. Assign each team one food item by giving them one of the twelve food cards.
Instruct students to follow the instructions on their paper. Provide internet access and allow class time for students to research the questions and complete the activity. If you have additional time, you may wish to assign students a more in-depth look at their food item. Use either of the following ideas to deepen their understanding of the production of their food:Make a presentation using visual aides such as PowerPoint, Prezi, or other presentation style to illustrate the steps of food production from the farm to their plate.Assign students to find a short and appropriate educational YouTube video to share with the class about the production of their food. Watch the video clips as part of their presentations. Be sure to preview each video prior to their presentation.
After an appropriate amount of preparation time, ask each team of students to present what they have learned to the class.
While students are presenting, project the attached Thanksgiving Dinner Map on the board. Have each group color in and label the state that produces the most of their assigned food.

Concept Elaboration and Evaluation:

After conducting these activities conclude and summarize the following key points:

Farmers aim to produce food that is economical and nutritious.
Many farm commodities thrive in specific geographic locations and/or climates. Therefore, farms produce large quantities of food in these areas and ship it throughout the nation.
The ability to transport food from the grower to the consumer allows for a diet with many different foods and offers food at a lower cost.
Depending on the location, limiting diets to locally grown food will decrease the varieties of food and nutrients in our diet.
Thanksgiving dinner will likely represent food grown in many regions of our country. Some food may even be grown outside of the country.

Enriching Activities

To help students better understand the importance of food transportation and be introduced to related careers, follow this lesson with Food on the Move: Food Transportation Specialist.
As a class take the quiz, Can you name a food just by looking at where it comes from? This quiz was created by the Washington Post and shows a series of maps representing different agricultural commodities. Test your geographical and agricultural knowledge of common places for our food to be grown.
Watch the History Channel's Modern Marvels episodes, Harvesting or Harvesting 2 to learn about the technology involved in the harvesting of our food.
Use the information and video clips included in the Background Agricultural Connections section of the lesson to teach students about the growth and production of these common Thanksgiving dinner foods.
Have students use a grocery store ad to calculate the cost of a Thanksgiving dinner for 8 people.
View the website with the Thanksgiving Maps and Geography.
Divide students into groups and assign them to prepare a portion of Thanksgiving dinner to enjoy as a class activity.

Suggested Companion Resources

Sources/Credits

Author(s)

Andrea Gardner