GREAT MOMENTS IN WORLD HISTORY NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EDUCATOR’S GUIDE

GLOBAL STORIES
Chocolate
WHERE COMMON CORE ALIGNMENTS AND CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES

SPARKED DISCOVERY, INNOVATION, AND

Imagination!
READY . . . SET . . . OPEN these pages to: GREAT MOMENTS IN WORLD HISTORY
• Discover how the story of chocolate is our story . . .

GLOBAL
• Share with students how people, places, and events through history
connect to chocolate’s growth and influence . . .
• Involve students in exercises that expand their language arts,

STORIES
math, and critical thinking skills . . .
• Ignite learning that is fun and challenging by engaging students in
one-on-one discussions and group activities that foster collaboration . . .
• Promote curiosity and creativity through assignments that require
students to find and use key resources . . .
WHERE
Chocolate
• Inspire imagination through fun facts and time lines that show how
chocolate informs the past and promises to be a player in our future!
Mars, Incorporated, and National Geographic Partners combine their missions to educate and inspire through
14 fact-and-fun-packed lessons in the Educator’s Guide Great Moments in World History: Global Stories Where
Chocolate Sparked Discovery, Innovation, and Imagination. It’s a chocolate-filled adventure of little-known facts,
colorful illustrations and maps, and activities that promote creative thinking, collaboration, and action. Working
individually, in pairs, and in teams, students explore print and online resources and develop projects in which
they discover chocolate’s influence through intriguing people and world events.

DID YOU KNOW: SPARKED DISCOVERY,

• That cacao beans were so valuable that ancient counterfeiters made
fake beans?
INNOVATION, AND


• That in the 1700s chocolate was sold in apothecary shops as medicine?
• That Amelia Earhart enjoyed a memorable cup of hot chocolate while
flying 8,000 feet above the Pacific Ocean?
Imagination!
• That 400 million M&M’S® are produced every day in the United States?

DIP IN…and discover the awesome story of chocolate.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Mars, Incorporated, and National Geographic Partners wish to thank the following colleagues who collaborated and created
Great Moments in World History: Global Stories Where Chocolate Sparked Discovery, Innovation, and Imagination. From
Mars, Incorporated: Gail Broadright, David Borghesani, Kelly Lynch; From National Geographic Partners: Bill O’Donnell,
Barbara Brownell Grogan, Glen Phelan, Christopher L. Mazzatenta, Kris Hanneman, Ruth Chamblee, Herman Viola; from
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation: Tab Broyles, Claire De Lisle, Kimberly Costa; from Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Master Teachers: Teresa Potter, Susie Hoard, Dee Besl, Georgette M. Hackman; from Fort Ticonderoga: Rich Strum and
Stuart Lilie; from Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello: Linnea Grim, Rachel Baum, Jacqueline Langholtz; from Captain Jackson’s
Historic Chocolate Shop at the Old North Church & Historic Site: Linda Greene and Erin Wederbrook Yuskaitis; from Salem
Museums & Gardens: Darlee Snyder; from George Washington’s National Geographic Partners • 1145 17th St. NW, Washington, D.C.
Mount Vernon: Roy Young.
© 2018 Mars or affiliates
 GREAT MOMENTS IN WORLD HISTORY

GLOBAL STORIES
Chocolate
WHERE

SPARKED DISCOVERY, INNOVATION, AND

Imagination!
Introduction 3 CHOCOLATE ADVENTURE
Where Cacao is Grown 4
The Origins of Chocolate 6 TimeLine
European Explorers Discover Chocolate 8 1961 c.e.
Chocolate Lands in Europe 10 CT
IVI Chocolate Meteorites (grades 4–8) Yuri Gagarin becomes
the first person in space

TY
Have students use a variety of candy bars or homemade chocolate treats to

A
Chocolate Comes to the American Colonies 12 model the composition of meteorites. You can use the NASA activity in this
and eats from a tube of
lesson’s Resources section as is, or adjust it to your classroom needs. Caution: chocolate sauce.
Colonial Chocolate Making 14 Be sure to check student records for food allergies, especially nut allergies, before doing this
activity. Or adjust it to exclude the allergens. 1969
Chocolate as Health Food and Medicine 16 Chocolate pudding
Early American Chocolate Drinkers 18 CT
IVI Design a Bag of M&M’S® (grades 4–8) travels to the moon

2 on Apollo 11, the first

TY
A
Tell students that people who watched the flights of SpaceShipOne (above, left),
Chocolate in the Military 20 in person were treated to a commemorative bag of M&M’S® made especially for manned lunar landing.
the occasion. As shown in the photo (above, right), the M&M’S® were gray, white,
Cacao Plantations and Trade Routes 22 and light blue and had the word “Go” on one side and a rocket on the other. 1981
M&M’S® are eaten
Chocolate and American Explorers 24 Ask students to think of a special spaceflight, either one from the past or an imagined aboard the first space
flight from the future. What color might a commemorative mix of M&M’S® have for the shuttle mission.
Innovations in Chocolate Making 26 occasion? What design might the students create for the two sides of the candies? Invite
students to design and draw their M&M’S® mix along with a description of the event it would
Chocolate at Earth’s Extremes 28 commemorate. Encourage students to present their designs to the class. See if students can 2004
guess the significance of each design before being told. SpaceShipOne becomes
Chocolate in Space 30 the first privately funded

CT
IVI What Would You Take? (grades 4–8) spaceflight. Its pilot eats
M&M’S®.
3
TY
A
Illustrations Credits Explain that every six months, “bonus containers” of food items are sent to the
Key: Top = t; Bottom = b; Left = l; Right = r International Space Station (ISS) to supplement the balanced meals that are 2006
Alamy Stock Photo = Alamy; Getty Images = GI; Library of Congress = LC; Shutterstock = SS
planned for their time in space. Ask students to imagine they were on the ISS Cups of vanilla ice
Front Cover, top row left to right: Blend Images/Alamy; Brooklyn Museum (CC BY 3.0); George Rinhart/GI; center background: Liza Ievleva/SS; center inset: milanfoto/
GI; bottom row left to right: James Worrell, courtesy Mars, Inc.; NASA; Photography by Gavin Ashworth, courtesy of Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association. for several months and a spacecraft with bonus containers was being sent up. What are five cream with chocolate
Back Cover, top to bottom: AnnaNenasheva /SS; WIBOON WIRATTHANAPHAN/SS; New York Times Co./GI; courtesy of Mars, Inc. (2). items they would request be included? Have students write a letter as if they are “putting in a swirls are sent to the
2-3 (and throughout): Norman Chan/SS; saiko3p/SS; ImagoPhoto/SS; 4: sursad/SS (l); Fotos593/SS (r); 5: courtesy ICCO (t); WIBOON WIRATTHANAPHAN/SS (b); 6: New request” to NASA for their items, explaining why they are requesting them. The items do not International Space
York Public Library (l); Leon Rafael/SS (r); 7: photo © Museum Associates/LACMA (2); 8: AnnaNenasheva/SS (l); Maks Narodenko/SS (r); 9: infografick/SS (tl); Maxime Iattoni have to be chocolate, or even sweet treats of any kind. Encourage volunteers to read their Station.
(tr); TADDEUS/SS (b); 10: Gift of George O. May, 1943/The Metropolitan Museum of Art (l); Ramon Manent/Album/Superstock (r); 11: Travelpix /Alamy (t); Photo12/UIG/
GI (b); 12: North Wind Picture Archives/Alamy (l); Purchase, The Charles E. Sampson Memorial Fund and Gift of Irwin Untermyer, by exchange, 1986/The Metropolitan letters aloud.
Museum of Art (r); 13: koyash07/SS; 14: Rebekah Hanover Pettit, courtesy of Mount Vernon (tl); Chad Zuber/SS (bl); The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (r); 15: Blend
Images/Alamy (tl); The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (tr); 16: Leemage/UIG/GI (l); LC (r); 17: art nick/SS; 18: Silver Askos. Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Inc. (l); David
2011
Smart/SS (r); 19: Will Brown, courtesy of Mount Vernon (bl); The New York Public Library/Art Resource (tr); 20: Everett Historical /SS (l); Roman Samokhin/SS (r); 21: Mike Specially designed
McNey, Senior Cartographer, National Geographic Maps (t); courtesy Mars, Inc. (b); 22: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, gift of Mrs. R. Keith Kane and daughters:
Mrs. James H. Scott, Jr., Mrs. Timothy Childs, Mrs. N. Beverly Tucker, Jr., and Mrs. Lockhart B. McGuire; The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Museum Purchase (r); 23: RESOURCES For more on the chocolate meteorites activity: www.nasa.gov/centers/jpl/education/ediblerocks. M&M’S® are aboard
gornjak/SS; 24: New York Times Co./GI (l); LC (r); 25: Mike McNey, Senior Cartographer, National Geographic Maps (t); map: Bardocz Peter/SS and plane: Steve Mann/SS html; International Space Station: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html; SpaceShipOne: airandspace. the space shuttle’s
(b); 26: imageBROKER/Alamy (l); courtesy Mars, Inc. (r); 27: courtesy Mars, Inc. (6); 28: Sergey Goryachev/SS (l); Arsgera/SS (r); 29: Chronicle/Alamy (l); courtesy of Helen si.edu/collection-objects/spaceshipone.
Thayer (r); 30: NASA (l); Photo by Eric F. Long, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, NASM 2009-4765 (r); 31: Mike Massee, courtesy of Scaled Composites (l); last flight.
Jim Sugar/National Geographic Creative (r).

2 31
 Introduction
To Educators
Chocolate! For some 3,500 years this delicious confection has been at the center of world history, from its
beginnings around 1500 b.c.e. as a ceremonial drink in the ancient Olmec, Maya, and Aztec cultures through
its multifaceted forms and uses today in the 21st century. The story of chocolate leads us on an illuminating
journey through time and around the world, one that is filled with adventure and risk, struggle and triumph,
breakthroughs and discovery. Prepared by National Geographic in partnership with Mars, Incorporated, the
Educator’s Guide Great Moments in World History: Global Stories Where Chocolate Sparked Discovery,
Innovation, and Imagination! will engage each participant to experientially learn about key people and events
that fostered chocolate’s expansion. Students will create a drink similar to the one that the Aztec emperor
Moctezuma II (Montezuma) shared with Spanish conquistador, Hernán Cortés. Students will also create an
advertisement promoting chocolate during the American Revolutionary War and be able to design the
next M&M’S® Brand chocolate candies to fly into space.
Thanks to guidance from Mars, Incorporated, students will take a journey in time to see how chocolate played
an integral role in world history. Students will understand how the story of chocolate played a transforming
role in trade, commerce, medicine, the military, and culture. Mars, Incorporated, undertook extensive research
into the history of chocolate, partnering with several historic sites as well as educators from the University of
California, Davis. From the research, the AMERICAN HERITAGE® Chocolate Brand was developed to “share
the delicious transformation of chocolate’s flavor, texture, and format through the ages.” Mars, Incorporated,
provides educational discussions and presentations with hands-on learning to tell the story
of America and the world, “through the unique lens of chocolate.”
To formulate the lessons in this guide, the partners from Captain Jackson’s Historic Chocolate Shop at the
Old North Church & Historic Site, Boston; Fort Ticonderoga, New York; George Washington’s Mount Vernon,
Virginia; the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Virginia; Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, Virginia; and Old Salem
Museums & Gardens, North Carolina, have been generous with their time and ideas. They’ve recommended
chocolate-making recipes, mapping activities, shipbuilding and racing challenges with a mathematical twist,
an ad campaign, creative journaling and storytelling, guidelines for inventing a new chocolate product, and
so much more.
Using the Guide
Fourteen lesson plans walk educators through time, from our first known appearance of chocolate to the space
age. Each lesson plan is crafted with a variety of entry points for different grade levels and interests. Although
the guide focuses on grades 4 to 8, these lessons can be recast to engage younger or older groups—and we
encourage you to do so!
The first page of each lesson begins with an In this Lesson overview and a Warm-up activity. Then Share with
your students … gives key historic information to serve as background for upcoming activities. A column listing
an Essential Question, Common Core State Standards in Math and English, Objectives, and Vocabulary words
summarizes each lesson’s key learnings and provides information for planning.
The Common Core State Standards focus on Math and English Language Arts. Under each heading you’ll find
domain abbreviations, such as NF (Numbers and Operations – Fractions) and SL (Speaking and Listening), and
the learning levels for which the lesson is most focused. The abbreviations and their terms include
For Common Core Math:
• NBT = Number and Operations in Base Ten
• OA = Operations and Algebraic Thinking
• MD = Measurement and Data
• EE = Expressions and Equations
• NF = Numbers and Operations - Fractions
• RPA = Ratios and Proportional Relationships
For Common Core English Language Arts:
• RI = Reading: Informational Text
• SL = Speaking and Listening
• W = Writing
On the second page of each lesson, Activities draw from and expand upon information on the first page and
promote research and creativity. Beside each activity is the recommended grade level range, but each can be
crafted to appeal to younger and older groups. Students are encouraged to dig more deeply into relevant
websites and print resources—including those suggested in the Resources section beneath the activities—and
to use their imaginations to craft stories, art, strategies, maps, and foods, to echo the adventure of chocolate
through time. (You’ll see that the resource weblinks sometimes flow onto the next line, so be sure to use the
entire link.)
Finally, a Time Line features key milestones in the story of chocolate and the people who make it, enjoy it, and
continue to discover the secrets and surprises that make chocolate a global superstar.
3
 Cacao
ES S O

1 WHERE
N
L

IS GROWN
Warm-up
Show students a chocolate bar wrapper with “cacao” printed
on it, such as “60 % cacao.” Write cacao on the board and
model its pronunciation. Then ask the class what they know
about it. Students might mention “cocoa” or “chocolate.”
Note these words and discuss the differences. “Cacao”
generally refers to the plant itself or the beans before
processing. “Chocolate” refers to anything made from the
beans. “Cocoa” generally refers to chocolate in a powdered
form.

Share with your students . . . ESSENTIAL

Cacao trees are found in limited geographical zones. These QUESTION
trees grow only in hot, rainy tropical areas within 20° north Where and how is
and south of the Equator. They thrive in areas that receive cacao grown?
rain almost daily and have temperatures that average 80°F
year-round.
COMMON
Cacao trees grow in the understory of tropical rain forests, in CORE MATH
the shadow of much taller trees. Here they are protected from
the hot sun while still getting the necessary moisture from the
4.NBT.A.1, 4.OA.A.3,
warm, humid air. 5.NBT.B.5
IN THIS LESSON Cacao trees begin producing fruit, called pods, after about
COMMON
Students explore three years, though a full yield may take six or seven years.
Each pod is about the size and shape of a small football. The CORE ENGLISH
the regions best LANGUAGE ARTS
pods grow directly on the trunk and lower branches. This
suited for growing
allows for pods to be harvested easily by hand, which is done RI.4.3, RI.4.7, RI.7.4
cacao, as well as the multiple times throughout the year.
specific needs of the
cacao tree (above). Workers typically harvest and cut open the pods using a OBJECTIVES
machete (upper right) to expose the beans. Each pod usually ➊ Identify where
contains 30 to 50 beans. The beans and pulp are removed cacao is grown.
from the pod and placed in open boxes or on banana leaves
to dry for several days. This process is called “sweating,” or ➋ Identify the
fermentation, and is when the chocolate flavor develops in conditions needed for
the beans. The fermented beans are then left to thoroughly cacao to grow.
dry in the sun before being transported to manufacturing
facilities. VOCABULARY
For more about the growing process of cacao trees, see • understory
www.icco.org/about-cocoa/growing-cocoa.html. • machete
• fermentation

n
FuFACT Monkeys like cacao, too! They bite holes in the pods. Then they sink their teeth into the
pulp and seeds, sucking the juice and spitting out the seeds. The discarded seeds then
germinate and begin a new generation of cacao trees.

4
 IVI Map It! (grades 4–8) CHOCOLATE ADVENTURE

TimeLine
CT
TY
A

Pass out a blank world map. Have students locate the region best suited
for growing cacao trees by determining 20° north and south of the Equator.
Students should label the lines of latitude and lightly shade the area in
between. To see the Equator and latitude and longitude lines, use the map here:
www.eduplace.com/ss/maps/pdf/world_country.pdf.
1500 b.c.e.
Next, have students research countries that are the top cacao producers. Then on the The Olmec may be
map, they should locate, label, and color in those countries. The current top three are: the first to consume
Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Ghana, and Indonesia. Lists are available for at least the top
10 cacao producers.
chocolate.
1519 c.e.
CT
IVI Design a Mural (grades 4–8) Explorer Hernán Cortés
meets Moctezuma II.
2
TY
A

Have students create a mural of the rain forest understory, with a focus on the
life cycle of the cacao tree. Students can show the tree at different stages: some 1789
trees with flowers budding, some with pods forming, and some sprouting from
George Washington
seeds on the ground. Students might also show some pods opened, exposing the seeds
and pulp inside. enjoys chocolate at
Mount Vernon.
Students can use a large roll of mural paper if available. Or they can use poster boards and
place them side by side on the wall. Materials for the mural might include paint, markers, or 1862
construction paper cutouts. Chocolate is served
Begin by having students use classroom textbooks and online sources to research the cacao at Abraham Lincoln’s
tree’s life cycle. They can also research other plants, as well as animals they might want to Inaugural Ball.
show in the mural. Then use students’ suggestions to plan out the mural, perhaps making a
rough drawing on the board and then transferring the drawing to the mural. You might want 1941
to assign students to work in small groups, with each group focusing on a part of the mural, M&M’S® make their
perhaps on a certain stage of the cacao tree’s life cycle. debut.

CT
IVI Counting Beans (grades 4–6) 1981 to Today
Chocolate flies into
3
TY
A

Remind students that each cacao pod contains about 30 to 50 beans. For this space.
activity, they can assume each pod contains 40 beans. Tell them that it takes
about 400 dried beans to make one pound of chocolate.
Write the following question on the board: How many pods are needed to make one
pound of chocolate? Students can work in pairs to find the answer. (10 pods)
Then, have students work together to create word problems and take turns solving
them. For example: I went to the store and bought a two-pound box of chocolates for
my mom and a half-pound box for friends. How many cacao pods were used to make
the chocolates I bought? (10 x 2 = 20; 10 x 0.5 = 5; 20 + 5 = 25 cacao pods)

RESOURCES Louis Evan Grivetti and Howard-Yana Shapiro, Chocolate: History, Culture, and Heritage (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley and Sons, 2009);
AMERICAN HERITAGE® Chocolate Time Line, at www.americanheritagechocolate.com/home/history.

5
 ES S O THE ORIGINS OF
2
Chocolate
N
L

Warm-up
Write “chocolate” in the middle of the board and build a word
web around it by asking students what words come to mind
when they think of chocolate. Encourage them to consider all
of their senses as they think of different descriptive words and
words associated with this treat. If necessary, suggest they include
products that contain chocolate, such as candy bars, cookies,
cakes, ice cream, syrup, and sauces.
Then show students an almond or object of similar size and say
that all of these products, sensations, and ideas are the result of ESSENTIAL
the cacao bean that looks similar to the object you are holding. QUESTION
Finally, review the word web for the word “bitter.” Most likely this How did early cultures of
word is absent, but point out that for most of chocolate’s long the Americas use cacao?
history, “bitter” was the perfect way to describe it.
COMMON
Share with your students . . . CORE MATH
The earliest known use of cacao traces back to the Amazon 4.MD.A.2, 6.EE.B.5
Basin in the northeast corner of present-day Ecuador. The
native people in the region ate the sweet pulp that surrounds COMMON
the cacao beans within the fruit. They may have also fermented CORE ENGLISH
the pulp to make an alcoholic drink.
LANGUAGE ARTS
The first people known to consume the cacao beans were the SL.4.1, SL.4.4, SL.5.1.D,
Olmec, who lived in what is today southern Mexico. The beans
are extremely bitter, and the Olmec did not eat them as you
SL.7.5
IN THIS LESSON might eat peanuts or kidney beans. Instead, they fermented,
OBJECTIVES
dried, and ground the beans into a chocolate paste using a stone
Students explore
the origins of choco-
metate (above right). They then mixed the paste with water and ➊ Identify early
spices to create a rich—though bitter—chocolate drink. cultures of the Americas
late through activi- that used cacao before
The Olmec were followed by the Maya (of present-day
ties that reveal the Guatemala, Belize, and Yucatán Peninsula), and then the Toltec Europeans arrived.
use of cacao and Aztec of central Mexico. Each civilization valued the drink
by early cultures of the cacao bean. Called xocolatl by the Aztec, the prized ➋ Describe how cacao
of the Americas: drink was used in religious rituals and as medicine. Cacao beans was important to early
the Olmec, Maya, even became a form of currency. In an Aztec market, one bean cultures of the Americas.
Toltec, and Aztec, could buy a tamale or a tomato; 100 beans could buy a turkey.
including (above) A copper ax cost a whopping 8,000 beans. The great wealth of VOCABULARY
the Aztec ruler the Aztec ruler Moctezuma was based on cacao currency. • cacao beans
Moctezuma II (also Given the importance of cacao to these ancient civilizations, • fermented
called Montezuma). it’s no wonder that the scientific name of the cacao tree is • metate
Theobroma (“food of the gods”) cacao. • currency
For more information about the importance of cacao in
Mesoamerican tribes, see www.smithsonianmag.com/history/
archaeology-chocolate-180954243.

n
FuFACT Cacao beans were so valuable that ancient counterfeiters risked making fake beans.
Archaeologists have found beans in which the cacao contents had been removed and
replaced with clay or wax.

6
 CT
IVI Chocolate Migration (grades 4–8)
TY
A

Pass out a simple map of Central America to each student. The map should
also include the extreme northwest portion of South America. You can use
the map here:
www.printablemaps.net/central-america-maps/maps/MEX-CAM-Countries.pdf.
Have students work in pairs to do the following tasks:
• Use a social studies book or other source to indicate on the map the location of the
Olmec, Mayan, Toltec, and Aztec civilizations. Suggest students use a key to make
the map easier to read.
• Use the information in the time line to the right, other information you’ve shared
with the class, as well as other resources, including those listed below, to show the
migration of cacao from South America to south central Mexico. You may wish to
read the information in the time line aloud or display it for students to use.
• Have students take turns using the map to explain to a partner what they know so far
about the history of chocolate. Encourage student pairs to revise their maps if they find
them inadequate as a tool for explanation. Then invite all student pairs to share their
maps and explanations with the class. Encourage questions. If students don’t know the
answers, write them down for further research and discovery.

CT
IVI Decorate a Cacao Glyph (grades 4–8)
2
TY
A

Tell students that the ancient Maya had an extensive written language
consisting of pictures called hieroglyphs, or glyphs. Each glyph stood for
a letter, group of letters, or a concept. The glyphs were written in books
called codices (singular: codex) on paper made of the inside bark of trees.
Show students the glyph decorating the pot at right, perhaps enlarging it on a screen.
Although it shows a fish, it is the glyph for cacao. Have students make a sketch of it. Or you
might ask a volunteer to draw it large on a sheet of paper, and then make copies for the class.
Next, invite students to decorate the glyph. They might simply color it. Or they could fill it
in with different colors of beans representing cacao beans. They might place the drawing
over a thin slab of clay and press over the lines to make a bas-relief. Encourage creativity.
CHOCOLATE ADVENTURE

TimeLine
Display the finished products.
Older students may want to do research as to why the glyph for cacao is a fish, and report
to the class.

CT
IVI What a Bean Could Buy (grades 4–8) 1500–400 b.c.e.
3
TY

The Olmec tribe likely

A

Remind students that cacao beans were a form of currency in Mesoamerican

cultures. Using the examples from the background information on page 4, becomes the first group
have student pairs make a list of at least 10 goods and how many cacao to consume chocolate.
beans each item costs. Then, choose from these activities:
• Have pairs explain to the class why they chose the items they did and why they priced 250–900 c.e.
them as they did. As a class, discuss whether the items and the prices make sense The Maya drink
based on the information they have. chocolate; it is key
• Have pairs create math problems using their prices. They can write equation problems, to their economy.
or make up word problems, using the math concepts they are currently learning. Pairs
can exchange problems and pricing lists, and solve them.
900–1200
The Toltec consume
• Invite pairs to create a skit in which one partner plays a seller and the other a buyer. chocolate in northern
Students can use dried beans to represent cacao beans, or just pretend to be Central America.
exchanging beans. Encourage students to add humor to their skits. For example, they
might show how the buyer and seller would haggle, or bargain, over the price of an item. 1100–1525
Perhaps the seller is willing to go lower on a price if the buyer purchases more than one The Aztec grow their
of the items.
empire, based partly on
Ask the audience to pay close attention to how the pair uses math skills, and their wits, to the value of chocolate.
get a good deal. Then discuss who got the better deal.

RESOURCES Grivetti and Shapiro, Chocolate; AMERICAN HERITAGE® Chocolate Time Line, at www.americanheritagechocolate.com/
home/history; Josie Garthwaite, “What We Know About the Earliest History of Chocolate,” at www.smithsonianmag.com/history/archaeology-
chocolate-180954243.

7
 ES S O EUROPEAN
3
N
L

EXPLORERS DISCOVER

Chocolate
Warm-up
Ask students to share their experiences with a food or drink that
they didn’t like the first time they tried it. Ask for specific examples.
Did they eventually come to like the food or drink? Tell students
that, believe it or not, many people felt the same way about
chocolate.

Share with your students . . . ESSENTIAL

Christopher Columbus (left) was the first European explorer to QUESTION
see cacao beans. During his fourth voyage to the Americas in
1502, he came upon a native Maya trader whose canoe was filled How did two famous
with what Columbus first thought were almonds. Seeing that the explorers introduce
beans were different, and that someone else thought them to be chocolate to western
valuable, he seized them and brought them back to the Spanish Europe?
court. But Columbus did not know what the beans were or how
they were used, so the court was not impressed, and nothing COMMON
came of the discovery at that time. CORE MATH
In 1519, Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés arrived in the 5.NF.B.3, 6.EE.A.1
Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan to meet with the Aztec emperor,
IN THIS LESSON Moctezuma II (also called Montezuma). The emperor thought
Students discover Cortés was a god and welcomed him with great ceremony.
COMMON
how two explorers, Moctezuma offered Cortés a frothy drink made from cacao CORE ENGLISH
Columbus (above) beans and seasoned with local spices, including chili peppers LANGUAGE ARTS
and Cortés encoun- (above, right). Though Cortés did not initially like the drink, SL.8.1.A, SL.8.1.C,
tered chocolate in calling it bitter and almost undrinkable, he grew to enjoy the W.6.2.A, W.7.2
new concoction. He continued to consume it as he explored the
the New World and region for eight more years, and eventually conquered the Aztec.
brought news of OBJECTIVES
this phenomenon to After the Spanish conquest of the Aztec, Cortés returned to ➊ Describe European
Spain in 1528. His explorers brought back stories of how a explorers’ first
western Europe.
cacao drink was made, but there is no record that they brought encounters with cacao
cacao beans. In 1544, Dominican friars escorted Maya nobles
to the court of Prince Philip of Spain, with cacao. The drink they
in the New World.
made from it was bitter and flavored with unfamiliar New World ➋ Describe how cacao
spices. To make it more appealing, European spices such as was introduced to
nutmeg, cinnamon, and anise (opposite, bottom right) replaced western Europe.
the unfamiliar vanilla, annatto, and chili flavors. The drink was
sweetened with sugar, and it became a royal favorite. VOCABULARY
For more information about how early explorers introduced • seized
chocolate to Europe, see www.smithsonianmag.com/arts- • conquistador
culture/a-brief-history-of-chocolate-21860917. • frothy

n
FuFACT The word “chocolate” comes from the Aztec word xocolatl (sho koh LAH tuhl), which
means “bitter water.”

8
 CT
IVI Taste Test (grades 4–8)
TY
A

CAUTION: Check for food allergies among your

students before completing this activity.
Have students describe the taste of a chocolate drink,
such as hot cocoa (right) or chocolate milk. Students
should write their descriptions in a comparison chart
you’ve created on the board, with two to three columns
for familiar chocolate drinks and one for a new drink.
Next, entice their taste buds by telling them that they
will be sampling a New World chocolate drink. Prepare
the drink ahead of time in a slow cooker. You can simply make a large batch of hot chocolate
using unsweetened cocoa and then add vanilla and a pinch of ground chili powder—two
of the ingredients from the ancient Aztec recipe. Be sure to taste the drink ahead of time
to make sure it will not be too spicy for your students.
Invite students to taste the drink. Then have them complete the chart comparing the familiar
chocolate drinks to the New World chocolate drink. They might call out adjectives like
“spicy.” You might want them to write a compare-and-contrast essay about the taste test.
Encourage students to try making a similar drink at home, using spices that Europeans
added to make the drink more palatable to them: nutmeg, cinnamon, or anise, the star- CHOCOLATE ADVENTURE

TimeLine
shaped spice below. They can report back to the class with their favorite recipe.

CT
IVI Journal Entry (grades 4–8)
2
TY

Have students recall Christopher Columbus’s first encounter with cacao.

A

Write or project on the board this diary entry from Columbus’s son, Ferdinand: 1502 c.e.
Columbus and his son,
“... for when they were brought on board the ship together with their goods,
I observed that when any of these almonds fell, they all stooped to pick it up, as if an eye Ferdinand, visit the
had fallen.” Maya in present-day
Honduras and bring the
Discuss what this quote means and how it shows the importance of the cacao bean at the
time. Then invite students to write their own journal entry, as if they were an explorer who
first cacao beans back
discovered the cacao bean. to Europe.
Pose these questions for their journals as well: How would you feel if you were Columbus 1519
and just brought back these very special beans, but no one cared? Why was the Spanish Hernán Cortés shares
court more impressed with the beans Dominican friars and Maya nobles brought decades a bitter chocolate
later?
drink with Aztec
emperor, Moctezuma II;
CT
IVI A Fateful Meeting (grades 4–8) Moctezuma is
3 taken hostage.
TY

Have students research more about the meeting of Cortés and Moctezuma
A

II. Then divide the class into groups and have them create skits about the first
encounter between the two men. Skits should include the presentation of the 1520
cacao drink but may also include Moctezuma’s feelings prior to the meeting (excitement of Cortés’s men break
thinking that Cortés might be a god), Cortés’s initial reaction to the drink (bitter and almost into Moctezuma’s
undrinkable), and Moctezuma taken hostage by the Spanish. warehouse and steal
cacao beans; Mocte-
zuma is killed, though
cause is unknown.
1528
Cacao comes to the
court of Prince Philip of
Spain, from Maya nobles
escorted by Dominican
friars who had visited
the New World.

RESOURCES Howard -Yana Shapiro, Great Moments in Chocolate History (Washington, D.C.: National Geographic, 2015.); Grivetti and Shapiro,
Chocolate.

9
 ES S O

4
Chocolate
N
L

LANDS IN EUROPE
Warm-up
Ask students to name and locate the nearest coffee shop. It might be
part of a chain or an independent shop. Ask if any students have ever
been inside such a shop, and if so, to describe its interior. Focus on
the comfortable chairs, couches, and tables. Ask why such furnishings
would be in a coffee shop (to provide a welcoming environment in
which customers can have conversations and feel at home). Explain
that similar kinds of shops existed hundreds of years ago, except they
weren’t as common, and they were chocolate shops.

Share with your students . . . ESSENTIAL

When Christopher Columbus and Hernán Cortés brought news
of cacao back to Spain from the New World, they could not have QUESTION
predicted how chocolate would spread throughout Europe, and How did chocolate
how important it would become in daily life. For a while, it spread throughout
seemed as though chocolate wouldn’t spread very far at all. Europe among the
IN THIS LESSON The Spanish court and aristocracy consumed the chocolate aristocracy?
themselves; it was not exported to other countries. This is likely
Students discover a major reason why the rest of Europe was unaware of the
how chocolate COMMON
cacao bean and the recipe that yielded the exotic beverage. CORE MATH
spread throughout Chocolate generally was known only to Spain and Portugal for
Europe as a luxury nearly a hundred years. During this time, Spain established cacao 4.NBT.A.3, 4.NBT.B.4,
of royalty and the plantations throughout the lands they held in the Caribbean. 5.MD.B.2, 6.RPA.3.B
wealthy, who poured Eventually, as supplies of cacao and sugar grew, the drink spread
it from a silver pitcher, to other countries. It entered France in 1615, at the wedding of COMMON
like this one. Louis XIII and Anne of Austria, King Philip III’s daughter. That same CORE ENGLISH
year, Francesco Carletti, an Italian merchant and travel writer, LANGUAGE ARTS
visited Central America and saw how chocolate was made. His W.5.2.B, W.5.3, W.6.2.E,
knowledge helped establish chocolate making in Italy. W.6.2.D
In the early 1600s, the Dutch took control of the island of Curaçao,
off Venezuela. They began to import cacao beans to Holland, OBJECTIVES
which made Amsterdam a leading port in the cacao industry.
➊ Describe how
Chocolate reached England in the 1650s after the British captured chocolate spread
Jamaica, and its cacao plantations, from Spain. Soon, chocolate throughout Europe.
houses, similar to today’s coffee shops, opened to the public.
Unlike our coffee shops, these houses catered to wealthy, and ➋ Explain why
male, aristocrats and gentry. Cacao beans, sugar, and spices had chocolate was an
to be imported from the Americas, and the chocolate drink was expensive drink.
time-consuming to make (above, right). Thus, chocolate
was an expensive drink that only the wealthy could afford. VOCABULARY
For more information about how chocolate spread throughout • plantations
Europe, see www.cadbury.com.au/about-chocolate/discovering- • import
chocolate.aspx. • aristocrats

n
FuFACT In 1579, English pirates burned and sank a Spanish ship filled with cacao beans after they
mistakenly thought the beans were sheep droppings.

10
 CT
IVI European Chocolate Map (grades 4–8)
TY

Briefly review with the students how and where cacao first entered Europe.
A

Spend a few minutes discussing the general movement of chocolate

throughout Europe.
Then pass out a copy of a map of Europe, such as the one at www.d-maps.com/carte.
php?num_car=2254&lang=en. Working in pairs and using the information on page 8 and
the Time Line at right, have students track chocolate’s expansion. They can use colored
pencils or markers to label the country and the year chocolate was introduced there.
Also, have them draw arrows to show the expansion of chocolate.

CT
IVI

2
Chocolate House (grades 4–8)
TY
A

In this three-part activity, students will work in small groups to create their
own chocolate house, like the one in England (below).
Part 1: Design a Sign
First, have groups decide in which country their chocolate house will be located. Next,
direct them to come up with a name for their establishment, possibly using the native
language of the country (e.g., chocolaterie in France).
Project on the board some examples of Old World European signs, like the one from
England, at right, to give students ideas about their own. After brainstorming designs
on paper, groups can make their signs on poster board.
Display the signs in the classroom and have students vote on which sign would make
them most likely to stop in for a delicious chocolate drink. CHOCOLATE ADVENTURE

TimeLine
Part 2: Create a Menu
Now have groups begin the job of creating a menu for their chocolate shop. Each group
should come up with a list of three to five chocolate drink items for their chocolate house.
Each item should have a name and description. Menus can be created using construction
paper or poster board, or on a computer. 1585 c.e.
As an extension, suggest students research the currency used in that country, determine First commercial ship-
the price of chocolate or other products at that time, and assign prices to each menu item. ment of cacao beans
Part 3: Visit a Chocolate House arrives in Spain from
the New World.
As a culminating activity, have groups visit each other’s chocolate house and pretend to
each purchase a drink. Students should use paper cutouts for the currency of the time and 1591
place. The keeper of the house should be able to make change. If students are learning Pope Gregory XIII, the
about European history, have the group members discuss the events of the day. head of the Catholic
Church in Rome, Italy,
declares that Catholics
could drink chocolate
during the holy season
of Lent without breaking
their fast.
1615
Chocolate enters France
at the wedding of Louis
XIII and Anne of Austria.
1650–1657
Chocolate reaches
England; chocolate
houses open.
1659
First French chocolate
RESOURCES C. J. Polin, The Story of Chocolate, (London, Dorling Kindersley, 2005); Grivetti and shop opens in Paris.
Shapiro, Chocolate; AMERICAN HERITAGE® Chocolate Time Line, at www.americanheritagechocolate.com/
home/history.

11
 Chocolate
ES S O

5
N
L

COMES TO THE
AMERICAN COLONIES
Warm-up
Show students a picture of a tall-masted ship from the 17th or 18th
centuries under full sail. Ask them to describe how such ships were
different from today’s oceangoing vessels (they were made of wood,
wind-powered, and were without today’s navigation equipment such
as GPS, accurate maps, or radar). Discuss how, because of these
characteristics, the old tall-masted ships were much more vulnerable ESSENTIAL
to weather than ships today. State that this fact played a significant QUESTION
role in how chocolate first arrived in North America. How did chocolate
become a drink of the
Share with your students . . . masses in colonial
America?
Chocolate’s first appearance in North America may have
happened by accident. In 1641, a Spanish ship, the Nuestra COMMON
Senora del Rosario del Carmen, was on its way from Puerto Rico
to Spain when a bad storm forced it to take refuge in the port
CORE MATH
of St. Augustine, Florida (left). On board were crates of cacao 5.MD.C.3, 5.MD.C.4,
beans and equipment for making chocolate. It is not known what 6.RPA.3.B
became of this shipment of chocolate goods.
The first recorded sale and consumption of chocolate in the
COMMON
American Colonies came nearly 30 years later in Boston,
CORE ENGLISH
IN THIS LESSON Massachusetts. In 1670, two women opened a tavern to sell LANGUAGE ARTS
Students explore chocolate to their patrons. This chocolate most likely was W.7.7, W.7.8, W.8.1.A,
how chocolate imported from England. It came as a powder mixed with sugar W.8.2.A
and pressed into cakes about the size of a flattened hockey puck.
spread throughout OBJECTIVES
the American Col- Chocolate production in the Colonies probably began in 1682,
onies and how this when the first shipment of cacao beans from Jamaica (at upper ➊ Explain how
right) arrived in Boston. By importing directly from plantations importing chocolate
drink, once reserved in Jamaica, the Colonies avoided costs associated with extra directly from Jamaica
for the royal and shipping and the high import duties on chocolate that had to made the drink
wealthy, became first pass through England before it came to the Colonies. Thus affordable to colonists
available to people the chocolate drink became more affordable to people of all other than the wealthy.
of all classes. classes in America and was readily available in coffee houses and
taverns up and down the East Coast. ➋ Describe how
chocolate spread
Chocolate was also expanding into the American Southwest.
throughout the
Explorers, missionaries, soldiers, and settlers carried chocolate as
they ventured north from New Spain (today’s Mexico). Ground, American Colonies.
pressed cakes of chocolate were portable and resistant to VOCABULARY
spoilage, making them ideal for long journeys. • patrons
For more information about chocolate in the American Colonies, • import duties
see: www.history.org/history/teaching/enewsletter/volume9/jan11/ • portable
featurearticle.cfm. • resistant

n
FuFACT In the 1770s a Moravian merchant in Salem, North Carolina, ordered pounds of chocolate
to be sent from the Moravian Community Store in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Chocolate
was a popular drink in Salem, especially at the Boys School and the Girls School.

12
 CT
IVI Ship Design
TY

Challenge
A

(grades 4–8) CHOCOLATE ADVENTURE

TimeLine
In this three-part activity, students will
work in teams to design, build, and
test a ship that could have been used
for transporting goods, such as cacao.
Part 1: Sailing Ship Designs 1641 c.e.
Review with students the importance First appearance
that ships and the proximity to water of chocolate in
played in the growth of the American
North America, in
Colonies. Display a picture of a
Bermuda sloop, like the one shown St. Augustine, Florida.
at right. Explain that this type of ship 1670
carried many of the goods, including
cacao, from the West Indies to the Colonies along the Atlantic seaboard. Share other
First recorded consump-
examples of sailing ships of this era and discuss the differences and similarities in tion of chocolate in
their designs. American Colonies, in
Boston, Massachusetts.
Part 2: Design and Build
Have students work in teams of two to four to design and build a model sailing ship. As a 1682
class, decide on design requirements. For example, the model should hold a certain number First shipment of cacao
of pennies or chocolate pieces (cargo) and move swiftly in a steady breeze. arrives in the American
Also decide on design constraints. For example, set a limit on size and weight for the Colonies, in Boston.
models. You may want to provide a selection of materials such as aluminum foil, paper,
clay, craft sticks, straws, cloth, string, tape, and glue. Or you can leave the materials up to
1687
the teams to decide upon and purchase, and include a limit on expense of materials as one A Jesuit missionary
of the design constraints. establishes a mission in
Pimeria Alta, in today’s
Part 3: Test and Refine Arizona, and offers gifts
Arrange the materials needed for teams to run test trials for their designs. For example, you of chocolate to local
may want to provide a fan to produce wind and a plastic trough of water through which the Native Americans.
wind can push the models.
Before running the trials, invite teams to explain their choice of materials and describe their
1690
design to the rest of the class. Then, let the trials begin! An expedition searching
for the first Spanish
You may want to run the trials as head-to-head competitions, such as two-boat races. Or mission, San Pedro
trials can be run separately (for example, seeing how far a model sails in a certain amount of
Creek in eastern Texas,
time or how long it takes a model to sail a certain distance).
records having choco-
If interest is high, allow teams to use their test results to refine their designs and retest them. late among their food
Discuss why certain designs were more successful than others. supplies.

CT
IVI Mapping Chocolate in North America 1695
2 Settlers traveling to
TY

(grades 4–8)
A

Santa Fe record having

Remind students of maps they have made in previous chocolate activities. chocolate among their
Discuss the importance of maps in understanding the spread and development
of ideas. Then tell students that they will be adding to their portfolio of maps.
food supplies.
Pass out a blank map of North America to each student. Display the Chocolate Adventure 1712
Time Line for this lesson, and have students add the information to the map by locating Jesuit missionaries in
and labeling the place in each time line entry. They should also include the date and a the Sonora and Sinaloa
brief phrase noting what happened at that place and time. Be sure to have them label the regions of Mexico order
top colonial ports for cacao shipping: Boston, Newport, New York, and Philadelphia. Have
chocolate and spices to
younger student pairs use their maps to take turns reading and explaining an event to
each other. prepare the chocolate
drink.

RESOURCES A sea captain and the chocolate trade at Old North Church:
oldnorth.com/historic-site/13-captain-newark-jackson-and-his-chocolate-shop; Moravian
community of Old Salem: www.oldsalem.org/learn/town-of-salem.

13
 ES S O

6
Chocolate
N
L

COLONIAL

MAKING
Warm-up
Bring to class a kitchen mortar and pestle (below, left). Ask students
how they think it is used. Then describe how it is used to grind spices
and herbs, or how pharmacists use it to grind some medicines.
Explain that a similar tool was used to grind cacao beans and that
they will have a chance to use the tool later.

Share with your students . . .

Although some tools changed, the process for making chocolate
in early America remained relatively the same for centuries. ESSENTIAL
Colonists followed a four-step process like the ancient Aztec’s: QUESTION
roasting, winnowing, milling, and molding.
How did American
Step 1: Roasting Roasting allowed the cacao beans to reach colonists make
their optimal flavor. It took a skilled chocolate maker, relying on chocolate?
smell and sight, to tell when the beans were “done.” Roasting
too much or too little left a burnt or bitter taste.
COMMON
Step 2: Winnowing After the roasted beans cooled, the next CORE MATH
IN THIS LESSON step was winnowing. The beans were placed in baskets and
thrown into the air (upper right). This loosened and removed 4.MD.B.4, 5.NF.A.1,
Students discover the thin shells, leaving the naked beans, called cacao nibs. 5.NF.B.7.C
how American
Step 3: Milling The nibs were then placed on a hot stone called
colonists made and
a metate. The chocolate maker held another stone, or mano,
COMMON CORE
served chocolate, with both hands and used it to mill, or grind, the nibs against the ENGLISH
including the tools metate (upper left). A mortar and pestle (below left), was used if LANGUAGE ARTS
they used, like the a metate and mano weren’t available. As the cocoa nibs melted W.4.2.B, W.4.7, W.4.9,
mano and metate on the hot stone, spices were added, and the combination was W.5.8
(above) and the ground into a paste. The stone tools worked for home use but
mortar and pestle not for mass production. Efficient machinery was needed as OBJECTIVES
(below). chocolate became the colonists’ choice drink.
Step 4: Molding The chocolate paste produced on the metate
➊ Describe how
American colonists
was scraped into molds where it was allowed to solidify into a
rounded or blocky shape for sale to the public.
made chocolate.
At home or in a chocolate house, the solidified chocolate was ➋ Identify and
grated and placed into a hot liquid (water or milk) in a chocolate explain tools used in
pot. A wooden stick called a molinillo was used to vigorously stir the chocolate-making
and dissolve the grated chocolate until a froth formed at the top. process in colonial times.
Then the chocolate drink and its froth were poured into a fancy
cup made for the scrumptious beverage. VOCABULARY
For more information about chocolate production, visit: • winnowing
www.history.org/history/teaching/enewsletter/volume9/jan11/ • metate
featurearticle.cfm. • molinillo

n
FuFACT
George and Martha Washington were big fans of chocolate. Martha, however, preferred
to make the beverage from cacao shells rather than from the processed nibs. She
steeped the shells in hot water, as if dipping a tea bag, to make a thinner drink that
was easier on her stomach than was the oily chocolate.

14
 CT
IVI Milling Spices and Beans (grades 4–8)
TY
A

Revisit the purpose of the metate and mano, or mortar and pestle, in the
chocolate-making process. Remind students that the tools were used to grind
spices to mix in with the cacao paste. Let students take turns using the mortar
and pestle to grind whole spices such as cinnamon sticks or vanilla beans. They can also try CHOCOLATE ADVENTURE

TimeLine
grinding coffee beans—or even cacao beans, which can be purchased online—to get an idea
of the work involved in grinding these beans.
Then have students write a brief paragraph about why a mortar and pestle would not be a
very effective tool for making chocolate on a large scale—and show pictures of a modern
cocoa press. 1728 c.e.
Englishman Walter
CT
IVI Make a Molinillo (grades 4–8) Churchman develops
2
TY

a water engine to
A

Display or project some pictures of molinillos (above left). If you have not yet
discussed this tool with students, ask them what they think it is used for. Some power his mill in
may know or guess that it was used to mix a chocolate drink. Inform the class Bristol, England.
that this was indeed the purpose of the tool and that it’s called a molinillo.
1737
Then hold up a long-handled wooden spoon or similar utensil and ask two or three A Boston newspaper
volunteers to use it to demonstrate how a molinillo was used. Students will likely demonstrate runs an ad for a
a stirring motion. Show them how to hold the handle of the spoon between their palms and
move their palms back and forth (above right) so that the spoon spins as if it were part of an
hand-operated,
electric beater. Next, ask why the tool is made up of different intricately carved sections. (The chocolate-making
roughness of the carvings creates a froth better than a smooth tool would.) machine.
Finally, provide students with modeling clay and dowels purchased at a local arts and crafts 1765
store to design their own molinillo. Students can work in pairs. Suggest they form the clay James Baker begins
around the dowel to provide a sturdy “skeleton” for their molinillo. Encourage creativity in to produce chocolate
the sculptures and colors. Invite pairs to explain the significance of the designs they chose. in Dorchester,
Massachusetts; later
CT
IVI
Chocolate Survey (grades 4–6) his company would
become famous for
3
TY

Have students work in small groups to design and conduct a school-wide survey
A

about chocolate. Some possible questions: high-quality “Baker’s”

• Do you prefer hot chocolate or cold chocolate milk? chocolate.
• How often do you consume chocolate? 1770
• What is your favorite chocolate product? James Watt perfects
Students might want to add some questions that test people’s chocolate knowledge, such as: the steam-powered
• What plant does chocolate come from? engine, which helps
• What part of the plant does chocolate come from? dramatically increase
• Where was chocolate first made? the production of
chocolate.
Students will need to record their findings and keep track of the data. Have each group
produce an appropriate graph to show their findings. You may choose to display the
completed graphs in the hallway or on a bulletin board. As an extension, you could have
students create word problems based on the data in their graphs. Pair up students to solve
each other’s problems.

RESOURCES Making chocolate at Williamsburg: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvWTeOYJOdA; Grivetti and Shapiro, Chocolate; Shapiro, Great
Moments in Chocolate History.

15
 Chocolate
ES S O

7
N
L

AS HEALTH FOOD
AND MEDICINE
Warm-up
Ask students for examples of healthy foods. Answers will likely
include fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. List the responses on
the board. Ask what makes these foods good for you (vitamins,
minerals, fiber). Then write the word “chocolate,” and say that
chocolate was long considered among the healthiest of foods.

Share with your students . . .

Throughout most of its history, chocolate was believed to have
numerous health benefits. In fact, it was prescribed as a medicine
to cure or prevent many ailments.
In 1570, Spanish physician Francisco Hernandez traveled to the
New World on a scientific expedition largely to study medicinal ESSENTIAL
plants. He documented the use of the cacao plant by the Aztec QUESTION
for treating stomach pain, diarrhea, fever, cough, chest pain, What were some of
hemorrhoids, fatigue, dental problems, and more. For such the perceived health
remedies, cacao was often mixed with other ingredients, such
as various plant roots and tree barks, to create a medicinal
benefits of chocolate
chocolate drink. throughout its history?
IN THIS LESSON
In addition to its perceived health benefits, chocolate was long
Students investigate considered a food (although in liquid form) rather than a treat
COMMON
the health benefits or dessert. As the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation points out, CORE MATH
of chocolate through- conquistador Girolamo Benzoni wrote, “it [cacao] satisfies and 5.NF.A.1
out its history, refreshes the body but does not inebriate.”
including its use Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, doctors in Europe COMMON
as a medicine experimented with chocolate and concluded that it did indeed CORE ENGLISH
(above). have health benefits. American colonists were also aware of these LANGUAGE ARTS
benefits. Chocolate was often sold in apothecary shops—early
pharmacies—alongside medicines and healing balms. Visitors
W.5.6, W.5.8, W.8.1,
to Colonial Williamsburg can visit such a shop and discuss with W.8.4
the owner colonial remedies that included chocolate. Benjamin
Franklin suggested chocolate as a cure for smallpox in a 1761 OBJECTIVES
edition of his popular Poor Richard’s Almanack. ➊ Describe how
Coincidence likely played a role in chocolate as a healing chocolate was used as
agent—patients would have recovered with or without it. a food and a medicine
However, modern science does support some of the historical throughout its history.
claims. Cacao beans contain chemicals called flavanols. These
compounds help prevent clogged arteries, promote healthy ➋ Compare the
blood flow, and improve cognitive function. perceived health
benefits of chocolate
For more information about the health benefits of chocolate,
see: www.marscocoascience.com/about-cocoa-flavanols.
hundreds of years
ago with the benefits
supported by modern

n
FuFACT
science.
One chocolate chip provides enough energy for an adult to VOCABULARY
walk 150 feet.
• ailments
• apothecary

16
 CT
IVI A Spoonful of
Chocolate ...
TY
A

CHOCOLATE ADVENTURE

TimeLine
(grades 4–8)
Explain that chocolate was often used
as a means of delivery for medicines,
besides being used as a medicine
itself. Bad-tasting medicine was more
palatable when mixed with liquid 1552 c.e.
chocolate (right). Next, review some A document called the
of the medicinal uses of chocolate Badianus Manuscript lists
throughout history. Then, play a many ailments the cacao
recording of the Mary Poppins song plant is used to treat.
“A Spoonful of Sugar.” Challenge
students to work in pairs to write 1662
revised lyrics to the song, focusing on Henry Stubbe, the
chocolate. Invite students to perform doctor to England’s
their song in front of the class, or they King Charles II, writes
could use video technology to record that chocolate could treat
their performance. apoplexy (stroke) and
“hypochondriac melancholy.”
CT
IVI Advertisement (grades 4–8) 1685
2
TY
A

Bring in a few magazines with medicine advertisements to show the class. You A recipe for medicinal
may also project some old-fashioned medicine ads on the board for students to chocolate is seen in a
look at (see www.vintageadbrowser.com/medicine-ads-1890s). Point out slogans,
French publication.
product claims, and other information as well as design elements such as font size and style,
illustrations or photos, and so on. 1761
In small groups or pairs, have students create a print or Internet ad for the medicinal use of Benjamin Franklin’s
chocolate. They should list what positive effects the use of chocolate has on the ailment and Poor Richard’s Almanack
include that information in the ad. Suggest that groups design their ad on notebook paper recommends chocolate
before creating it on poster board. Remind them of the elements of the real ads they have for treating smallpox.
seen as they design their made-up ads.
Display the ads around the classroom. Discuss the qualities of each and whether they think 1796
the ad successfully “sells” the product. Groups may wish to create their ad as a television Scottish physician William
commercial. If so, invite them to perform the commercial as a skit for the classroom, and Buchan notes that choco-
discuss it afterward. late prevents “fainting fits.”
1875
CT
IVI Persuasive Essay (grades 4–8) A Gem Cookbook is pub-
3
TY

lished in which chocolate is

A

Have students conduct more research on the positive and negative effects of
eating chocolate. They could use the site on the pros and cons of chocolate represented as “beneficial
in the Resources as well as other reputable sources. As a class, develop a pro/ for the ill and indisposed.”
con list. Then assign half the class the pro side and half the class the con side of the issue.
Students should write a persuasive essay to support their assigned point of view. Remind 1901
students to back up their argument with evidence from the lesson and their research. Chocolate recipes are
As an extension, especially for older students, suggest holding a debate on the issue. Ask included in Helena Viola
for volunteers to form teams of three to five students for each side of the issue. Provide time Sachse’s How to Cook for
for the teams to examine their individual essays and prepare their arguments. Clarify debate the Sick and Convalescent.
rules. While the teams debate, the rest of the class should listen and take notes so as to ask
questions afterward. After the question-and-answer session, have the class vote on who was
most convincing in their arguments.

RESOURCES “Chocolate: Pros and Cons of This Sweet Treat,” Harvard Health Publishing, February 2014, at www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/
chocolate-pros-and-cons-of-this-sweet-treat; Grivetti and Shapiro, Chocolate; Mary Theobald, “A Cup of Hot Chocolate S’good for What Ails Ya,” at
www.history.org/foundation/journal/winter12/chocolate.cfm.

17
 ES S O

8
Chocolate
N EARLY
L

AMERICAN

DRINKERS
Warm-up
Write this quote on the board: “The superiority of chocolate both
for health and nourishment will soon give it the same preference
over tea and coffee in America which it has in Spain.” Tell students
that these words were written in a letter by one future president
to another future president. See if students can name the sender
(Thomas Jefferson) and recipient (John Adams). If needed, give a
hint: Both men died on the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the
Declaration of Independence.
ESSENTIAL
Share with your students . . . QUESTION
Jefferson wrote his letter to Adams from Paris in 1785, while What role did
Jefferson was serving as the U.S. ambassador to France. In chocolate play in
France, chocolate was still an expensive drink, only for the America’s struggle for
wealthy and elite. freedom from Great
Not so in America. By importing cacao beans directly from the Britain?
IN THIS LESSON Caribbean and making their own chocolate, rather than buying
Students learn how it from Britain, colonists had kept the price affordable for most COMMON
chocolate played a budgets. CORE MATH
role in the founding Besides it being an affordable, nourishing, and good-tasting 4.MD.A.2
of America, including beverage, the colonists had another reason to drink chocolate—
Thomas Jefferson’s patriotism. In the 1760s, to help pay for a war against France in COMMON
the Colonies, the British Parliament passed several acts, or laws,
family use of this ves- to impose taxes on many goods that the colonists had to import
CORE ENGLISH
sel, called an askos. from Britain, including tea—the colonists’ favorite beverage. LANGUAGE ARTS
Drinking chocolate became a patriotic act of defiance. W.4.2.B, W.6.2.A, W.7.3.D
Many of the young nation’s leaders enjoyed chocolate. Jefferson
had a silver vessel made (at left) that was modeled after a Roman OBJECTIVES
artifact called an askos, used to pour wine. Jefferson’s family ➊ Explain why drinking
used his to pour chocolate at Monticello, his home in Virginia. chocolate was a patri-
Other notable chocolate drinkers included George and Martha otic act in the latter half
Washington. They often drank it for breakfast. Records indicate of the 1700s in colonial
that George Washington regularly purchased chocolate in America.
quantities of 1 to 50 pounds beginning in 1757 until his death
in 1799. ➋ Describe the con-
nection with chocolate
Benjamin Franklin ran a print shop in Philadelphia from which he
published the popular newspaper Pennsylvania Gazette and his for some of America’s
Poor Richard’s Almanack. Visitors to his shop could also purchase most notable founding
books, pencils, and fine chocolate. citizens.
For more information about the role of chocolate in the founding
of America, see: www.americanfoodroots.com/features/ VOCABULARY
americans-have-always-been-sweet-on-chocolate. • budgets
• patriotism

n
• impose

FuFACT
Captain Jackson’s Historic Chocolate Shop, at Old North Church • defiance
& Historic Site, in Boston—the only one of its kind in New England
today—serves authentic colonial drinking chocolate and gives
living history demonstrations of chocolate making.

18
 CT
IVI Chocolate Colonial Gazette (grades 4–8)
TY
A

Show students a picture of Benjamin Franklin’s Philadelphia print shop

(right). Explain that reading newspapers and pamphlets, like the ones
printed in Franklin’s shop, were important ways of communicating in
colonial times. These publications not only informed citizens, but also tried to sway
public opinion.
Then invite the class to play the role of newspaper publisher in the colonies during
the 1760s and 1770s, the period leading up to America’s war of independence.
Students can break into teams to create a chocolate-themed newspaper based
on one of these AMERICAN HERITAGE® Chocolate partner sites: Old North Church
& Historic Site, Fort Ticonderoga, George Washington’s Mount Vernon, Colonial
Williamsburg, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, or Old Salem Museums & Gardens.
Discuss a good name. Students might choose Chocolate Colonial Gazette or
something appropriate to the place they represent. Encourage creativity.
Teams will need to conduct research to incorporate real events into the parts of the
newspaper. Different teams can work on different tasks. Here are some possibilities:
• Write articles about what is being discussed over cups of chocolate in local taverns.
• Write opinion pieces or create political cartoons, with a reference to chocolate. CHOCOLATE ADVENTURE

TimeLine
• Make drawings that illustrate events and that include chocolate, such as a colonist
holding a cup of chocolate as British soldiers march into Boston.
• Draw ads for Captain Jackson’s Historic Chocolate Shop, near Old North Church, or a
chocolate house or apothecary at Williamsburg or Fort Ticonderoga. (See their websites
in Resources.)
• Write poetry about chocolate and its connection with colonial life.
1744 c.e.
A Dr. Hamilton
You might have students choose editors who help guide the writers. Other students might be notes in his diary:
the designers who decide where to place the articles and other parts to build the newspaper. “I breakfasted upon
Suggest students create the newspaper on the computer and then print out the pages, staple some dirty chocolate.”
them, and distribute them to other classes, family, and friends. Discuss the effectiveness of “Dirty” meant mixed
each article and of other parts of the newspaper. with other substances.

CT
The Great Colonial
IVI
1758
George Washington
2 Chocolate Cooking
TY
A

places his first order of

chocolate: 20 pounds
Show (grades 7–8) from Britain.
CAUTION: Check for food allergies among your
students before completing this activity.
1783
A mill in Central Falls,
Play a video clip of a TV cooking show in which a chef or Rhode Island, grinds
baker shows how to cook or bake. Then invite students cacao beans and makes
to work in groups to create their own cooking show chocolate, giving the
segment—as chocolate bakers from the 18th century. town the nickname of
First, students should find a recipe for a chocolate drink, pudding, pie, cake, or cookie that “Chocolateville.”
may have been made in a colonial kitchen. The links in the Resources section are possibilities.
1794
Then, students should make a video of their group following the recipe. They may want to Benjamin Franklin writes
practice each step of the recipe, pretending to follow it, before taking a video of the real step. in an essay that one
Suggest that students avoid using modern appliances as much as possible. For example, if they should take chocolate
need to mix ingredients, they can use a spoon or whisk instead of an electric mixer. Students on a long sea voyage.
may want to dress up in colonial costumes for authenticity.
1801
Afterward, hold a Colonial Chocolate Cooking Show. Students can play their videos and pass Thomas Jefferson orders
out their creations for tasting.
a silver copy made of an
ancient Roman askos,
RESOURCES Chocolate recipes at: www.americanheritagechocolate.com/home/recipes; Captain later used by his family
Jackson’s Historic Chocolate Shop: chocolate.oldnorth.com; Williamsburg: www.history.org/history/index.cfm; as a chocolate pot—
Fort Ticonderoga: www.fortticonderoga.org/history-and-collections/history; Monticello:
http://www.monticello.org.
which can be seen at
Monticello.

19
 Chocolate
ES S O

9
N
L

IN THE MILITARY
Warm-up
Tell students that panning is a method in which a hard sugar coating
is added to candy, such as jelly beans. Then explain that in the field,
soldiers eat prepackaged meals called “meals ready to eat” or MREs,
introduced in the 1970s. The military doesn’t use brand names, so
it describes one of the snacks in MREs as “pan-coated chocolate
discs.” Can students guess what popular candy it is? (Milk Chocolate
M&M’S®.) If students are stuck, tell them that another MRE snack
is called “pan-coated oval/round milk chocolate with peanuts”
—Peanut M&M’S®!

Share with your students . . .

Chocolate has been used as a military ration for centuries. Aztec
warriors carried pellets and wafers of hard chocolate, which they
shaved into bits and dissolved in water for drinking.
In the French and Indian War (1754–1763), Benjamin Franklin
ordered provisions for British troops fighting the French and ESSENTIAL
their Native American allies for control of much of North America.
Franklin saw chocolate as a compact, energizing, and tasty food
QUESTION
that could be easily carried and boosted morale. In his provisions How has chocolate
IN THIS LESSON list, Franklin included six pounds of chocolate per officer. been important in the
Students investigate During the Revolutionary War, a chaplain happily wrote his wife American military since
the role that choco- from Fort Ticonderoga in 1776 that chocolate was a ration, and the 18th century?
late has played “as … at Home, my Porringer of Chocolate was brought in . . . ”
in the American Chocolate continued to play a role in the nourishment of COMMON
military from the American troops. In 1937, the Logan Bar, a field ration for CORE MATH
18th century (as in emergencies, was developed by Army Colonel Paul Logan. High- 4.MD.A.2, 4.OA.A.3,
the Revolutionary energy, nutritious, and temperature-resistant, it was so hard that 5.MD.C.4
War, above) to the soldiers could eat it only by shaving off slices with a knife.
present. Tastier military chocolate came along in 1940. Forrest E. Mars, Sr., COMMON
the son of the Mars, Incorporated founder, developed a button- CORE ENGLISH
shaped candy (upper right) made of milk chocolate with a hard LANGUAGE ARTS
sugar shell. Mars and R. Bruce Murrie, son of a former Hershey
W.4.2, W.5.2.B, W.6.2.F,
president, produced M&M’S® (Mars and Murrie) Brand Milk
Chocolate Candies exclusively for U.S. military rations in WWII. The W.8.7
candies were packaged in tubes (see the ad on opposite page).
After the war, demand for the tasty treat from returning troops
OBJECTIVES
helped make M&M’S® Brand Milk Chocolate Candies the world’s ➊ Describe the benefits
most popular chocolate candy. And they are still popular in of chocolate as a military
military rations. ration.
For more information about the role of chocolate in the military, ➋ Compare and
see: chocolateclass.wordpress com/?s=an+army+marches+on contrast the Logan
+its+stomach. Bar and M&M’S®
as military rations.

n
FuFACT More than 400 million M&M’S® Brand Milk Chocolate Candies
are produced every day in the United States.
VOCABULARY
• ration
• provisions
• nourishment
20
 CT
IVI Getting Montréal
PROVINCE OF
0
0
miles

kilometers 75
75

Chocolate to
QUEBEC
TY

CHOCOLATE ADVENTURE
A

TimeLine
MASSACHUSETTS

Troops (grades 4–8)

(District of Maine)
INDIAN Lake
RESERVE Champlain

ebec
Tell students to imagine that they are

Kenn
Fort
quartermasters, in charge of getting Ticonderoga
Green
food, clothing, and other provisions to Adirondack Mountains White

troops during the Revolutionary War. It is

Mountains Mountains
1755 c.e.
the spring of 1776. General Washington NEW
HAMPSHIRE Gulf of Benjamin Franklin
Maine

cut
has recently driven the British out of secures six pounds of

Connecti

Merrima
Boston. The Americans had taken Fort chocolate for each officer

ck
Ticonderoga the previous spring. As NEW YORK Albany ATLANTIC in General Braddock’s army
OCEAN
quartermasters, students must plan how to MASSACHUSETTS Boston near the beginning of the
Catskill Taconic
quickly and safely get chocolate from mills Mountains Mountains
French and Indian War.
Hudson

near Boston to Fort Ticonderoga (map at

right). Tell them the quickest route may CONNECTICUT Newport 1777
not be a straight line. (The main route was West
Point RHODE The Continental Congress
via Albany, avoiding the Green and White Sound
ISLAND
imposes price controls on
Island
Mountains.) Have students work in pairs to Long

consult maps and research travel modes

NEW
JERSEY New York
Plotting a Route During the
Revolutionary War
chocolate to keep it afford-
of the day. Then have teams explain their
1775–1783 able for the military during
routes and travel times. Invite questions. the Revolutionary War.

CT
IVI Rations Math (grades 4–8) 1813
A commander in the British
2
TY

Explain that in 1779, the Continental Congress defined monthly chocolate Royal Navy requests that
A

rations for officers as follows: chocolate be included

• colonels and chaplains, 4 pounds in the provisions for his
• majors and captains, 3 pounds sailors.
• lieutenants, 2 pounds
Present this problem: How many pounds of chocolate must a quartermaster secure for a fort 1899
that has one colonel, one chaplain, two majors, four captains, and six lieutenants? (Answer: Three British chocolate
38 pounds.) Have students work in groups of four. Students should use the monthly officer makers, at the request of
rations listed to write their own math problem. Then students can exchange problems to Queen Victoria, produce
solve. Encourage the use of word problems that incorporate historical events. For example, tin containers filled with
in 1777, the British retake Fort Ticonderoga. A captain and a major leave half their monthly chocolate bars for each
ration of chocolate when they abandon the fort. How much chocolate did they leave behind? soldier and officer fighting
(Answer: 3 pounds.) in the Boer War in South
Africa.
CT
IVI Chocolate Uniforms (grades 4–8) 1937
3
TY
A

Have students research military uniforms, from past eras to today. Then students
can work individually to design and create a uniform using chocolate candy The Logan Bar, or D ration
wrappers from home. Encourage creativity. Students might form groups, with bar, is developed as an
each member designing and making a uniform from a different historical period. Have emergency ration for the
students present their uniforms while others try to identify the wrappers. U.S. military.

CT
IVIT Operation Gratitude (grades 4–8) 1940
Forrest Mars, Sr., of Mars,
4
Y

Explain that Operation Gratitude is an organization that sends care packages

A

Incorporated, develops
to U.S. military personnel overseas. Have students research the organization’s
M&M’S® with the help of
website to find out the kinds of items they might put in a care package. Then
they can work in pairs to make a list of items, R. Bruce Murrie, of Hershey
including M&M’S®. Next to each item, they heritage.
should explain why they would want to include
it in the care package. Students might wish to 1988
put together and send their packages, along M&M’S® become part of
with letters. the “meals ready to eat”
military rations.

RESOURCES Fort Ticonderoga, at www.fortticonderoga.org; Operation Gratitude: How You Can Help: www.operationgratitude.com/can-help.

21
 10
ES S O
N
Cacao
L

Plantations

AND TRADE ROUTES
Warm-up
Hand one student a wooden block, another a packet of sugar,
and a third a T-shirt. Have the students form a triangle. Direct
student #1 to walk the wooden block to student #2 with the sugar
and exchange the items. Student #1 now walks the sugar to student
#3 with the T-shirt and exchanges items. Student #1 walks back to
the original spot with the T-shirt. Ask what this series of exchanges
represents (Answer: ocean trade between the American Colonies
and England or other Old World countries).

Share with your students . . . ESSENTIAL

The Maya established the first cacao plantations by clearing QUESTION
areas of lowland rain forest on the Yucatán Peninsula and
planting cacao trees. Later, Aztecs established large plantations
How did Europeans and
along the Pacific coast of today’s Mexico and El Salvador. the American colonists
benefit from cacao
The Spanish founded cacao plantations on the islands of Cuba,
plantations?
Trinidad, and Hispaniola (present-day Haiti and the Dominican
Republic) as well as in Ecuador and Venezuela in South America.
The French established plantations on Martinique and St. Lucia. COMMON
IN THIS LESSON The English maintained plantations on Jamaica. CORE ENGLISH
Cacao beans from these plantations were among the goods
LANGUAGE ARTS
Students discover
how cacao was exchanged between the Old and New Worlds in what came W.6.3.B, W.6.3.D, W.7.2,
grown and how it to be called the triangular trades. These routes (see map, W.7.3.A, W.7.8
opposite) generally formed triangles across the Atlantic as ships
was part of the
triangular trades that
carried goods between the Americas, Europe, and Africa. OBJECTIVES
drove the colonial In a typical route, ships from New England carried lumber and ➊ Describe how
economies through salted fish south along the coast, perhaps stopping in New York cacao was grown on
or Philadelphia to pick up grain and preserved meat before plantations.
the exchange of continuing to the West Indies of the Caribbean. The ships
clothing and other exchanged their cargo for sugar, cacao, and other goods, which ➋ Explain how cacao
goods (above and then went to England. These goods were exchanged for clothing was part of the triangular
upper right). and furniture, which went back to the Colonies to be sold. trades.
Another triangle formed as sugar was transported from the
West Indies to New England for making rum. Ships carried the VOCABULARY
rum to the west coast of Africa, where it was exchanged for • plantation
African slaves. The slaves were brought to the West Indies or • triangular trades
the southern colonies and sold to work on plantations. • West Indies
For more information about cacao plantations and the triangular
trades, see: www.medicinehunter.com/brief-history-cocoa and
www.eduplace.com/kids/socsci/books/applications/imaps/maps/
g5s_u3/index.html.

n
FuFACT Moravian Church communities such as Salem, North Carolina,
had strong ties to missions established on cacao and coffee plan-
tations in the West Indies. Their mission work was supported by
shipping these goods back to their communities in the Colonies.

22
 Great
Britain

EUROPE
goods
ctured
manufa
s

NORTH
nie
lo
Co

AMERICA
ish
gl
En

s
sse
mola
ar,
sug
suga
grain

r, mo

Atlantic
lives

Ocean
tock

lasse

rum
s

AFRICA
West Indies Triangular
(Mid
slave
s Trade Routes
dle P
SOUTH assag
e) Gold Coast about 1770
AMERICA

CHOCOLATE ADVENTURE
Plantation Diorama (grades 4–8)
TimeLine
IVI
CT
TY
A

Have students work in pairs or small groups to construct a diorama of an

18th-century cacao plantation. Students should include representations of the
cacao trees, slave quarters and other buildings, the harvest of cacao fruit (pods),
the process of drying and placing the cacao beans in burlap sacks, and a means of
transporting the beans, such as a waterway to the ocean. 1635 c.e.
Instead of a diorama, you might suggest the class create a large plantation mural. Groups Spanish friars are the first
can be in charge of researching and creating different parts of the mural, such as the Europeans to successfully
landscape, the trees, the buildings, and the processing of cacao seeds. Have groups explain cultivate cacao trees, in
how they chose what to show in the dioramas or mural. Ecuador.
1650–1691
CT
IVI Slavery in the Chocolate Trade (grades 6–8) English law forbids the
2
TY
A

Have students research and report on the role of slavery in the development Colonies to manufacture
of the cacao trade. Students should discover that Europeans first enslaved goods, forcing them to
the native Mesoamericans to work the plantations. But when diseases from buy from England.
the Europeans wiped out much of the native population, slaves were brought from Africa.
Encourage students to illustrate their reports with maps and drawings, perhaps showing how 1739–1800s
slaves were packed into slave ships. Invite students to present their reports to the class. Increased demand for
American crops like
CT
IVI Triangular Trades Journal (grades 4–8) tobacco increases planta-
3 tions’ demand for slaves.
TY
A

Invite students to imagine that they are merchant sailors about to embark
on a voyage as part of the triangular trades. Students should record journal Trade with Africa grows.
entries, beginning in the bustling port of Boston, New York, or Philadelphia, 1807
and continuing to the West Indies to trade their goods for a shipment of cacao beans, then
Slavery is abolished in
crossing to Europe and returning to America with a shipment of other goods. Encourage
students to use creativity in their journal entries, and to convey their thoughts as well as England; the leg of
reporting on what they see, hear, smell, taste, and feel. Suggest students write their entries in triangular trade between
a paper journal book to be true to the times. Or they can put a modern twist on the journal Africa and England stops.
and write it as a blog. Invite students to exchange their journals and/or take turns reading Mid-1800s
their entries aloud.
To help the English
economy, taxes on cacao
beans are lowered so
RESOURCES For more on slavery, visit www.ducksters.com/history/colonial_america/slavery.php; manufacturers will buy
for colonial city life, see www.ducksters.com/history/colonial_america/daily_life_in_the_city.php. more to produce more
chocolate products.
23
 Chocolate
ES S O

11
N
L

AND AMERICAN EXPLORERS

Warm-up
Ask students to imagine they are taking a long nature hike. What
kind of food would they take along? Trail mix? Fresh fruit? What
makes those foods good choices for a hike? They’re high in energy
and easy to carry! Then explain that throughout history, explorers
brought along another high-energy, easy-to-carry food: chocolate.

Share with your students . . .

In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson purchased from France
the vast territory between the Mississippi River and the Rocky
Mountains, called the Louisiana Territory. This Louisiana Purchase
doubled the size of the United States. Jefferson sent an
expedition, led by his secretary, Meriwether Lewis, and a skilled
frontiersman, William Clark, to establish trade with the Native ESSENTIAL
American people there and to find a water route to the Pacific QUESTION
(map, opposite).
What role did chocolate
The expedition left St. Louis, Missouri, in spring 1804, traveled play in the expeditions of
to the Pacific Ocean in the Oregon Territory, and returned to St.
Louis in fall 1806. Among the provisions was chocolate, used
some famous American
IN THIS LESSON both as food and medicine. On September 13, 1806, Clark wrote explorers?
Students learn how in his journal, “I felt my Self very unwell and I drank about a pint
chocolate was an [of chocolate] and found great relief.” COMMON
important part of the Many explorers ate chocolate. After serving as U.S. president, CORE ENGLISH
adventures of some Theodore Roosevelt (upper right), co-led a 1914 expedition into LANGUAGE ARTS
famous American the rain forests of Brazil to explore the newly discovered “River W.5.3, W.5.3.D, W.5.7,
explorers, like of Doubt,” now named Rio Roosevelt. Rations for his team of five W.7.2.F, W.7.3, W.7.3.A
Amelia Earhart included a pound of chocolate once a week.
(above). One famous explorer—and hero—who understood the value of OBJECTIVES
chocolate for its nutritious, comforting, and filling qualities on ➊ Provide an example
long, difficult journeys was Amelia Earhart. This pioneer pushed of how chocolate was
the frontiers of aviation in the 1920s and 1930s. She was the used on the Lewis and
first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic and to fly solo nonstop
across the United States, and the first person to fly solo across
Clark expedition.
the Pacific between Hawaii and California. ➋ Explain why Amelia
Amelia Earhart’s flights often took 15 to 20 hours along little- Earhart included choc-
known routes in planes far less safe than today’s. Her adventures olate on many of her
required endurance, skill, and courage. Earhart knew that it was long-distance flights.
critical to carry as little weight as possible on such long flights,
so she took light, high-energy foods such as hard-boiled eggs, VOCABULARY
raisins, and—you guessed it—chocolate, in solid squares and as • expedition
hot chocolate in a thermos for drinking. • frontiers
For more about Amelia Earhart’s in-flight foods, see: www.npr. • aviation
org/sections/thesalt/2017/07/08/536024928/amelia-earharts- • critical
travel-menu-relied-on-three-rules-and-peoples-generosity.

n
FuFACT Amelia Earhart recalled that her “brightest gastronomic
memory” was drinking a cup of hot chocolate on her solo
flight across the Pacific from Hawaii to California.

24
 The Lewis and Clark
Expedition
May 1804 - September 1806

R
O
November 1805
OCEAN

EXPEDITION Lewis
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18
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L i t t l e M i ss
R a n g e

EXPEDITION S a l mon

CHOCOLATE ADVENTURE
Shortcut

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1806 k
RETURNS ar
ke

Jefferson R. Cl 806
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Fort Clatsop 1

TimeLine
(winter camp 1805-06) Madison Gallatin
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September 1806
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si ss i p p i
0 km 500
and shorelines are shown. ENDS
St. Louis
sions being established
throughout California.
Among the items are
copper pots for heating
chocolate and molinil-
CT
IVI
Lewis and Clark’s Route (grades 4–8) los, tools to whisk the
TY
A

Have students research the Lewis and Clark expedition and make a map of the liquid chocolate to
route, shown on the map (above), both the outbound and homeward trips. Maps create a foam.
could be drawn on poster board or on a blank base map of the United States. Then write on
the board or project on a whiteboard Clark’s quote about his use of chocolate on September 1804–1806
13, 1806. Challenge students to determine where along the route this incident most likely Lewis and Clark explore
took place and to mark the location. Provide the website in this lesson’s Resources section, the Louisiana Territory;
which shows a time line of the expedition in 1806. Ask students how they determined the
location. (The incident likely took place just north of Leavenworth, Kansas, along the Missouri
along the way they use
River, because the diary entry of the next day occurred across the river from Leavenworth.) chocolate for both food
and medicine.

CT
IVI Journal Entry (grades 6–8) 1806
2
TY

Students interested in the Lewis and Clark expedition may enjoy finding out
A

Zebulon Pike, who

more about the team’s adventures. Invite students to investigate the Journey
discovered Pikes Peak,
Log site in this lesson’s Resources section. After reading the brief introduction,
students can click on a leg of the trip, follow along with the route map for that leg, and then explores the Rocky
click on Journals and Maps to read first-person accounts of the exciting adventures. Mountains and is given
chocolate to drink by a
Suggest that students choose one or more of the journal entries and add a chocolate hospitable priest.
reference to it. Or they might add a separate entry or entries about an incident involving
chocolate. Invite students to read their entries to the class and discuss the likelihood that 1914
such an entry would have been made on the Lewis and Clark expedition. Theodore Roosevelt

CT
IVI Chocolate at 8,000 Feet (grades 4–8) explores the Brazilian
wilderness, taking along
3
TY
A

Amelia Earhart commented on a drink of hot chocolate she had during her 1935 chocolate as part of the
flight from Hawaii to California (below): expedition’s rations.
“Indeed that was the most interesting cup of chocolate I have ever had, sitting 1935
up eight thousand feet over the middle of the Pacific Ocean, quite alone.” Read the quote Amelia Earhart enjoys
a couple times. Then have students close their eyes and
imagine being Amelia Earhart at that moment. What are the
chocolate high above
sights and sounds? How does the chocolate taste? What the Pacific Ocean on
may be going through Earhart’s mind during that moment of her historic flight from
contentment, yet still danger? Ask students to write one to Hawaii to California.
three paragraphs describing the scene. Interested students
may want to read Earhart’s own account of that historic flight
using the link in the following Resources section.
2,400 miles

RESOURCES For more on the Lewis and Clark route: www.nps.gov/jeff/learn/historyculture/lewis-and-clark-timeline-1806.htm; Lewis and Clark
Journey Log: www.nationalgeographic.com/lewisandclark/journey_intro.html; Earhart 1935 Pacific Flight: news.nationalgeographic.com/news/
2014/07/140727-amelia-earhart-history-flight-airplanes-adventure-explorer.

25
 ES S O

12
Innovations
N
L

IN CHOCOLATE MAKING
Warm-up
On the board, list Cadbury, Ghirardelli, Godiva, Hershey, Lindt,
Mars, Nestlé, Tobler: Have students heard of these major chocolate
companies? Bring in samples so they can link the products to each
company. Most were founded long ago by chocolate makers who
invented or refined processes still used to make chocolate today.

Share with your students . . .

How did chocolate go from being exclusively a drink to the
candy bars, fudges, cakes, and cookies we enjoy today? The story
begins in 1828. That’s when Dutch chemist Coenraad van Houten,
Sr., figured out how to separate fat from the cacao beans in a
process called pressing. ESSENTIAL
The beans are ground into a liquid, then the liquid is pressed. QUESTION
Pressing “expresses out,” or removes, most of the liquid’s fat—a What innovations made
yellowish substance called cocoa butter. The cocoa butter is the manufacture of an
collected. The dry chocolate that remains is pulverized into cocoa edible, solid chocolate
IN THIS LESSON powder. Chocolate makers then mix the different components possible and led to the
along with sugar in different ratios to adjust the flavor and, to a kind of chocolate candy
Students learn how degree, the texture, to make various chocolate products.
nearly two centuries (above) we enjoy today?
And that’s just what brothers Richard, Frances, and Joseph Fry,
of innovations in the of the English chocolate company J. S. Fry and Sons, did in 1847.
chocolate-making COMMON
They blended cocoa butter, cocoa powder, and sugar into a CORE MATH
process, such as paste, poured the mixture into a mold, let it cool, and created
conching (above) the first chocolate candy bar. It was gritty but was still a hit. 5.NF.A.1, 5.NF.B.6
have led to the The problem of grittiness was solved in 1879. Swiss chocolate
chocolate that we maker Rodolphe Lindt invented a machine that blended the
COMMON
enjoy today. ingredients for up to three days. The process became known CORE ENGLISH
as conching because Lindt’s machine (unlike today’s, at left) LANGUAGE ARTS
resembled a conch seashell. Conching broke up the particle size W.4.6, W.4.9, W.6.3,
of the ingredients, thoroughly mixed them, and took out much W.6.7
of the acidity that is natural in cacao beans. The result was a
delicious chocolate with a smooth texture. OBJECTIVES
Another improvement in the chocolate-making process came ➊ Describe the process
with the invention of tempering. Raising and lowering the that enabled people to
temperature of the chocolate repeatedly produced a chocolate
eat rather than only drink
bar with a glossy surface and a pleasing “snap” when broken.
chocolate.
By 1900, innovations had paved the way for chocolate today.
For more about the chocolate-making process, see
➋ Describe processes
developed in the 19th
equalexchange.coop/products/chocolate/steps.
century that improved
the quality of chocolate.

n
FuFACT
VOCABULARY
SNICKERS Bar, from Mars, Incorporated, is the best-selling
® • pressing
candy bar in the world. • cocoa butter
• conching
• tempering
26
 CHOCOLATE ADVENTURE

TimeLine
1861 c.e.
Cadbury Brothers creates
the first heart-shaped box
of chocolates, a popular
gift for Valentine’s Day.

CT
IVI Industrial Revolution (grades 4–8) 1875
Henri Nestlé and
TY

Have students write a brief report explaining the role the industrial revolution
A

Daniel Peter create

played in the innovations of chocolate in the 19th century. They might use this milk chocolate by using
lesson’s Resources section, or other resources. Have them report to the class Nestlé’s newly invented
about inventions during the industrial revolution, such as mechanization that made possible
condensed milk.
advancements in chocolate making, including mass production.
1879
CT
IVI Invent a Candy Bar (grades 6–8) Rodolphe Lindt invents
2 the conching process for
TY

Ask students to name some of their favorite chocolate candies. Refer to the
A

samples you may have from the Warm-up, or bring in some samples to display smoother chocolate.
(like those above). Discuss each candy’s name and wrapper or other packaging.
Are the name and packaging effective? Why or why not?
1893.
Whitman’s Chocolates
Then tell students that they will be inventing their own chocolate candies. It could be in the creates Easter bunnies.
form of a bar or some other form, such as small pieces in a bag or box. Students should
describe the product and draw a picture of it, showing what the candy looks like on the 1900
inside as well as the outside. Next, they can give the product a name and design the candy’s Hershey’s begins making
wrapper or packaging to make the product inviting. Students should determine what milk chocolate bars.
information to include on the packaging, and then draw it.
1908
Students can put their descriptions and drawings on a poster board or on the computer. The Tobler candy com-
Some students may wish to make a 3-D model of the product in its packaging. Encourage pany invents a chocolate
volunteers to explain the choices they made for their new product. bar in sections shaped
like the Swiss Alps.
CT
IVI Test Kitchen Recipes (grades 4–8) 1911
3
TY

Display a variety of Mars chocolate products, including some of those shown

A

Frank Mars starts a candy

above. Tell students to imagine that they work in the test kitchens at Mars, company, first selling
Incorporated. One of their jobs is to develop new recipes that use Mars products.
butter creams.
Then have students work in teams of two to four to create a recipe. (Emphasize that 1923
teamwork is important at Mars, Incorporated, and that it leads to the very best products.)
Either provide the products or ask teams to purchase their own. They can use the Resources
Mars introduces its first
section for recipe ideas, including cookies and other desserts, oatmeal, pancakes, beverages big hit, the Milky Way bar.
such as hot chocolate, or even sauces for meats. Arrange to use the school cafeteria kitchen 1926
or have each team develop their recipe at the home of one member. The Draps family in
Have teams keep track of ingredients and the amounts they use, then write down the recipes Belgium sells fine choco-
and include a photo of the final product. Have a taste test and vote for the best recipe. lates named Godiva.
Teams could hold a bake sale to benefit a food pantry or other charitable group.
1930s
Ruth Wakefield invents
RESOURCES For info on the industrial revolution and chocolate, see chocolateclass.wordpress. the chocolate chip
com/2015/03/12 industrial-revolution-chocolate-revolution; for Mars Recipes: www.facebook.com/pg/mms/ cookie.
photos/?tab=album&album_id=10151252474531957; Shapiro, Great Moments in Chocolate History.

27
 ES S O

13
Chocolate
N
L

AT EARTH’S EXTREMES
Warm-up
Show students a photo of pemmican—an early Native American food
made by drying thinly sliced meat, grinding it into grains, and mixing
the grains with melted fat. This solidified into a high-energy food that
was edible for years. In the early 1900s, Arctic and Antarctic explorers
relied on pemmican for expeditions that lasted three or four years.
Ask what other food gave explorers energy and had a sweeter taste.
Chocolate!

Share with your students . . .

Early 20th-century Arctic and Antarctic explorers initially attempted ESSENTIAL
to be the first to reach the North and South Poles, then to further QUESTION
explore these remote places. Their names became synonymous
with adventure and heroism: Roald Amundsen, Robert Peary, What role did chocolate
Robert Scott, Ernest Shackleton. They all carried chocolate. play in some of the most
For example, Robert Scott’s first Antarctic expedition (1901–1904)
daring explorations of
included 3,500 pounds of chocolate in powder (for drinking) and the 20th century, such
bars. Huts along his route were stocked with it and other foods. as to Mount Everest
IN THIS LESSON (above)?
Since those early days, explorers have continued to depend on
Students discover chocolate for energy and comfort. In 1988, Helen Thayer, at age
that chocolate has 50, became the first woman to travel on foot solo to the North COMMON
accompanied Pole. Her only companion was her dog Charlie. Thayer walked CORE MATH
explorers, like and skied 364 miles—pulling a 160-pound sled loaded with 4.MD.A.2
Edmund Hillary and supplies, including fuel to melt snow for drinking water and to
heat chocolate, which helped replenish the calories she burned. COMMON
Tenzing Norgay
At one point she wrote: “I ate fast, then gulped down one cup CORE ENGLISH
(above), to some of of hot chocolate . . . Charlie and I were ready to leave.”
the most extreme LANGUAGE ARTS
places on Earth. In addition to the top and bottom of Earth, chocolate has reached W.4.7, W.5.1, W.5.4,
the highest and deepest places, too. On May 29, 1953, Sir Edmund
Hillary and his Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay became the first to
W.6.2.A
reach the summit of Mount Everest, the highest point on land.
Hillary noted in his journal that “Tenzing made a little hole in OBJECTIVES
the snow and put in some food offerings [to the gods of Everest], ➊ Explain why chocolate
lollies and biscuits and chocolate.” was an important
Earth’s deepest point was reached in 1960 when Jacques Piccard provision on polar
and Don Walsh descended 6.7 miles in the vessel Trieste to the expeditions.
bottom of the Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench. There they ate
chocolate bars to celebrate before returning to the surface.
➋ Describe two
examples of how
For more information about chocolate and exploration, see the first explorers used
www.slate.com/blogs/atlas_obscura/2014/10/16/food_in_ chocolate to reach
antarctica_what_explorers_and_researchers_eat.html.
Earth’s highest and
deepest points.

n
FuFACT
VOCABULARY
In 2001, a bar of Cadbury’s chocolate left behind on Scott’s • pemmican
Antarctic expedition of 1901–1904 sold at auction for $686. • heroism
• replenish
• summit
28
 CHOCOLATE ADVENTURE

TimeLine
1898 c.e.
Documents from the
gold rush in Canada’s
Yukon indicate that
chocolate should be
in a miner’s supplies.
1901–1904
Robert Scott leads first
South Pole expedition.
1903–1906
Roald Amundsen
navigates the Northwest
Passage between the
Atlantic and
Pacific Oceans.
1909
CT
IVI Sponsored by... (grades 4–8) Robert Peary leads first
North Pole expedition.
TY
A

Tell students that companies often sponsored expeditions, either with cash
donations or by donating their products. The ad (above, left) shows an example 1910–1912
of such sponsorship. Fry’s donated their chocolate products to one of Robert Roald Amundsen leads
Scott’s Antarctic expeditions, prominently displayed on the ad.
first expedition to reach
Discuss with students how they think the companies benefited from such sponsorship. the South Pole.
Then have students choose a current chocolate candy, or the candy they “invented” in an
activity in Lesson 12, to be used by explorers during an extreme adventure. Suggest they
1910–1912
create a billboard ad that highlights the use of the product during that adventure. Students In his second South Pole
might work individually or in pairs. Invite students to present their ads and discuss the ads’ expedition, Robert Scott
effectiveness. Then display the ads around the room. arrives five weeks after
Amundsen.
CT
IVI Graphic Novel (grades 4–8) 1914–1917
2
TY

Ernest Shackleton leads

A

Encourage students to read more about an expedition of one of the explorers in

the background information that you shared. For example, they might read more his third expedition to
about Helen Thayer’s expedition to the North Pole (above, right), using the link in the Antarctic; his ship is
the Resources section. Suggest students relate the expedition as a graphic novel. They might crushed by ice.
start by deciding which incidents they want to illustrate. Then they can map out what they
want to show, how many panels to have on certain pages, when to write narration, and when 1953
to write dialogue. Suggest a limit of 4 to 10 pages depending on the ages and writing levels Edmund Hillary and
of your students. Remind students to include the use of chocolate in their work. Finally, plan a Tenzing Norgay are the
Book Exchange Day for students to read each other’s graphic novels. first to summit Mount
Everest.
CT
IVI Poetry Slam (grades 4–8) 1960
3
TY

Instead of a graphic novel, some students may prefer to write a poem about the
A

Jacques Piccard and

expedition they choose. Again, remind students to include at least one reference Don Walsh reach the
to chocolate. Schedule a poetry slam and encourage students to read their ocean’s deepest point,
poems to the class.
the Mariana Trench.
1988
Helen Thayer becomes
the first woman to walk
RESOURCES For Fry’s postcard: www.nls.uk/learning-zone/geography-and-exploration/scotts-last- solo to the North Pole.
expedition/frys-advertising-postcard; for more on Helen Thayer: historylink.org/File/9849.

29
 ES S O

14
Chocolate
N
L

IN SPACE
Warm-up
Ask students what chocolate candy they think would be the most
fun to eat in the weightlessness of space. Ask them to explain
their answers. Perhaps students will mention that M&M’S® would
be fun to snatch with their mouths while the candies floated in the
air, like the astronaut at left is doing. Ask why M&M’S® might be a
good chocolate snack in space instead of a candy bar. (M&M’S® are
eaten whole, so no crumbs float around to get stuck in electronic
equipment.) Tell students that M&M’S® and other chocolate treats
have accompanied astronauts in space for decades.

Share with your students . . .

Before John Young and Robert Crippen piloted the first space
IN THIS LESSON shuttle mission in 1981, they had a special request: Could ESSENTIAL
Students explore the M&M’S® be included in their food rations? You bet! And these QUESTION
role that chocolate button-sized candies have been part of astronauts’ rations How has chocolate
has played in the ever since.
played a part in space
U.S. space program, It wasn’t the first chocolate in space. That honor goes to a tube programs?
including as an ener- of chocolate sauce carried by the first person in space—Russian
gizing snack (above). cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin—in 1961. In the late 1960s and early COMMON
1970s, chocolate traveled to the moon on U.S. Apollo missions.
One menu item was dehydrated chocolate pudding (upper
CORE ENGLISH
right); astronauts injected water into it through an opening in LANGUAGE ARTS
the package. Hot chocolate was another Apollo favorite. W.4.7, W.5.1, W.5.4,
Since then, a list of chocolate items taken into space reads like W.5.7, W.6.2.A
a checkout display in the grocery store—with many versions of
chocolate in different types, sizes, and shapes. But no candy is OBJECTIVES
as popular as M&M’S®. These have traveled into space more ➊ Provide several
than 130 times. examples of chocolate
One of those times was on June 21, 2004. That’s when Mike that astronauts have
Melvill piloted SpaceShipOne on the first privately funded eaten on space missions.
human spaceflight. Melvill experienced only about 3 ½ minutes
of weightlessness on the brief flight, but it was enough for him ➋ Explain why M&M’S®
to release a handful of M&M’S® into the air. He was mesmerized are special among all
by how they spun and sparkled in the light. Then he ate them. of the chocolate treats
Well, most of them. Some made it back to Earth, including one eaten in space.
that sold at auction for $1,400.
For more about chocolate in space, see www.smithsonianmag. VOCABULARY
com/science-nature/rich-and-flavorful-history-chocolate-space- • weightlessness
180954160/#Vs2P2r68o18JWTbR.99. • cosmonaut
• dehydrated

n
FuFACT M&M’S® are in the Space Food Hall of Fame and are part of
a food exhibit at the National Air and Space Museum in
Washington, D.C.

30
 GREAT MOMENTS IN WORLD HISTORY

GLOBAL STORIES
Chocolate
WHERE

SPARKED DISCOVERY, INNOVATION, AND

Imagination!
Introduction 3 CHOCOLATE ADVENTURE
Where Cacao is Grown 4
The Origins of Chocolate 6 TimeLine
European Explorers Discover Chocolate 8 1961 c.e.
Chocolate Lands in Europe 10 CT
IVI Chocolate Meteorites (grades 4–8) Yuri Gagarin becomes
the first person in space

TY
Have students use a variety of candy bars or homemade chocolate treats to

A
Chocolate Comes to the American Colonies 12 model the composition of meteorites. You can use the NASA activity in this
and eats from a tube of
lesson’s Resources section as is, or adjust it to your classroom needs. Caution: chocolate sauce.
Colonial Chocolate Making 14 Be sure to check student records for food allergies, especially nut allergies, before doing this
activity. Or adjust it to exclude the allergens. 1969
Chocolate as Health Food and Medicine 16 Chocolate pudding
Early American Chocolate Drinkers 18 CT
IVI Design a Bag of M&M’S® (grades 4–8) travels to the moon

2 on Apollo 11, the first

TY
A
Tell students that people who watched the flights of SpaceShipOne (above, left),
Chocolate in the Military 20 in person were treated to a commemorative bag of M&M’S® made especially for manned lunar landing.
the occasion. As shown in the photo (above, right), the M&M’S® were gray, white,
Cacao Plantations and Trade Routes 22 and light blue and had the word “Go” on one side and a rocket on the other. 1981
M&M’S® are eaten
Chocolate and American Explorers 24 Ask students to think of a special spaceflight, either one from the past or an imagined aboard the first space
flight from the future. What color might a commemorative mix of M&M’S® have for the shuttle mission.
Innovations in Chocolate Making 26 occasion? What design might the students create for the two sides of the candies? Invite
students to design and draw their M&M’S® mix along with a description of the event it would
Chocolate at Earth’s Extremes 28 commemorate. Encourage students to present their designs to the class. See if students can 2004
guess the significance of each design before being told. SpaceShipOne becomes
Chocolate in Space 30 the first privately funded

CT
IVI What Would You Take? (grades 4–8) spaceflight. Its pilot eats
M&M’S®.
3
TY
A
Illustrations Credits Explain that every six months, “bonus containers” of food items are sent to the
Key: Top = t; Bottom = b; Left = l; Right = r International Space Station (ISS) to supplement the balanced meals that are 2006
Alamy Stock Photo = Alamy; Getty Images = GI; Library of Congress = LC; Shutterstock = SS
planned for their time in space. Ask students to imagine they were on the ISS Cups of vanilla ice
Front Cover, top row left to right: Blend Images/Alamy; Brooklyn Museum (CC BY 3.0); George Rinhart/GI; center background: Liza Ievleva/SS; center inset: milanfoto/
GI; bottom row left to right: James Worrell, courtesy Mars, Inc.; NASA; Photography by Gavin Ashworth, courtesy of Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association. for several months and a spacecraft with bonus containers was being sent up. What are five cream with chocolate
Back Cover, top to bottom: AnnaNenasheva /SS; WIBOON WIRATTHANAPHAN/SS; New York Times Co./GI; courtesy of Mars, Inc. (2). items they would request be included? Have students write a letter as if they are “putting in a swirls are sent to the
2-3 (and throughout): Norman Chan/SS; saiko3p/SS; ImagoPhoto/SS; 4: sursad/SS (l); Fotos593/SS (r); 5: courtesy ICCO (t); WIBOON WIRATTHANAPHAN/SS (b); 6: New request” to NASA for their items, explaining why they are requesting them. The items do not International Space
York Public Library (l); Leon Rafael/SS (r); 7: photo © Museum Associates/LACMA (2); 8: AnnaNenasheva/SS (l); Maks Narodenko/SS (r); 9: infografick/SS (tl); Maxime Iattoni have to be chocolate, or even sweet treats of any kind. Encourage volunteers to read their Station.
(tr); TADDEUS/SS (b); 10: Gift of George O. May, 1943/The Metropolitan Museum of Art (l); Ramon Manent/Album/Superstock (r); 11: Travelpix /Alamy (t); Photo12/UIG/
GI (b); 12: North Wind Picture Archives/Alamy (l); Purchase, The Charles E. Sampson Memorial Fund and Gift of Irwin Untermyer, by exchange, 1986/The Metropolitan letters aloud.
Museum of Art (r); 13: koyash07/SS; 14: Rebekah Hanover Pettit, courtesy of Mount Vernon (tl); Chad Zuber/SS (bl); The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (r); 15: Blend
Images/Alamy (tl); The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (tr); 16: Leemage/UIG/GI (l); LC (r); 17: art nick/SS; 18: Silver Askos. Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Inc. (l); David
2011
Smart/SS (r); 19: Will Brown, courtesy of Mount Vernon (bl); The New York Public Library/Art Resource (tr); 20: Everett Historical /SS (l); Roman Samokhin/SS (r); 21: Mike Specially designed
McNey, Senior Cartographer, National Geographic Maps (t); courtesy Mars, Inc. (b); 22: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, gift of Mrs. R. Keith Kane and daughters:
Mrs. James H. Scott, Jr., Mrs. Timothy Childs, Mrs. N. Beverly Tucker, Jr., and Mrs. Lockhart B. McGuire; The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Museum Purchase (r); 23: RESOURCES For more on the chocolate meteorites activity: www.nasa.gov/centers/jpl/education/ediblerocks. M&M’S® are aboard
gornjak/SS; 24: New York Times Co./GI (l); LC (r); 25: Mike McNey, Senior Cartographer, National Geographic Maps (t); map: Bardocz Peter/SS and plane: Steve Mann/SS html; International Space Station: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html; SpaceShipOne: airandspace. the space shuttle’s
(b); 26: imageBROKER/Alamy (l); courtesy Mars, Inc. (r); 27: courtesy Mars, Inc. (6); 28: Sergey Goryachev/SS (l); Arsgera/SS (r); 29: Chronicle/Alamy (l); courtesy of Helen si.edu/collection-objects/spaceshipone.
Thayer (r); 30: NASA (l); Photo by Eric F. Long, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, NASM 2009-4765 (r); 31: Mike Massee, courtesy of Scaled Composites (l); last flight.
Jim Sugar/National Geographic Creative (r).

2 31
 GREAT MOMENTS IN WORLD HISTORY NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EDUCATOR’S GUIDE
GLOBAL STORIES
Chocolate
WHERE COMMON CORE ALIGNMENTS AND CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES

SPARKED DISCOVERY, INNOVATION, AND

Imagination!
READY . . . SET . . . OPEN these pages to: GREAT MOMENTS IN WORLD HISTORY
• Discover how the story of chocolate is our story . . .

GLOBAL
• Share with students how people, places, and events through history
connect to chocolate’s growth and influence . . .
• Involve students in exercises that expand their language arts,

STORIES
math, and critical thinking skills . . .
• Ignite learning that is fun and challenging by engaging students in
one-on-one discussions and group activities that foster collaboration . . .
• Promote curiosity and creativity through assignments that require
students to find and use key resources . . .
WHERE
Chocolate
• Inspire imagination through fun facts and time lines that show how
chocolate informs the past and promises to be a player in our future!
Mars, Incorporated, and National Geographic Partners combine their missions to educate and inspire through
14 fact-and-fun-packed lessons in the Educator’s Guide Great Moments in World History: Global Stories Where
Chocolate Sparked Discovery, Innovation, and Imagination. It’s a chocolate-filled adventure of little-known facts,
colorful illustrations and maps, and activities that promote creative thinking, collaboration, and action. Working
individually, in pairs, and in teams, students explore print and online resources and develop projects in which
they discover chocolate’s influence through intriguing people and world events.

DID YOU KNOW: SPARKED DISCOVERY,

• That cacao beans were so valuable that ancient counterfeiters made
fake beans?
INNOVATION, AND


• That in the 1700s chocolate was sold in apothecary shops as medicine?
• That Amelia Earhart enjoyed a memorable cup of hot chocolate while
flying 8,000 feet above the Pacific Ocean?
Imagination!
• That 400 million M&M’S® are produced every day in the United States?

DIP IN…and discover the awesome story of chocolate.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Mars, Incorporated, and National Geographic Partners wish to thank the following colleagues who collaborated and created
Great Moments in World History: Global Stories Where Chocolate Sparked Discovery, Innovation, and Imagination. From
Mars, Incorporated: Gail Broadright, David Borghesani, Kelly Lynch; From National Geographic Partners: Bill O’Donnell,
Barbara Brownell Grogan, Glen Phelan, Christopher L. Mazzatenta, Kris Hanneman, Ruth Chamblee, Herman Viola; from
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation: Tab Broyles, Claire De Lisle, Kimberly Costa; from Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Master Teachers: Teresa Potter, Susie Hoard, Dee Besl, Georgette M. Hackman; from Fort Ticonderoga: Rich Strum and
Stuart Lilie; from Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello: Linnea Grim, Rachel Baum, Jacqueline Langholtz; from Captain Jackson’s
Historic Chocolate Shop at the Old North Church & Historic Site: Linda Greene and Erin Wederbrook Yuskaitis; from Salem
Museums & Gardens: Darlee Snyder; from George Washington’s National Geographic Partners • 1145 17th St. NW, Washington, D.C.
Mount Vernon: Roy Young.
© 2018 Mars or affiliates