Enduring Understanding
How do objects help us understand the story of Wisconsin?
Essential Questions
- Why do we save things?
- What makes the things we save important?
- What questions can objects help us answer?
- How do we unlock the meanings of an object?
Wisconsin Standards for Social Studies
Social Studies Inquiry Practices and Processes
- Communicate and critique conclusions. (Inq4)
Behavioral Science
- Assess the role that human behavior and cultures play in the development of social endeavors – Anthropology. (BH3)
Geography
- Examine the impacts of global interconnections and relationships. (Geog3)
- Examine the relationship between identity and place. ( Geog4)
Content Questions
- Why would pasties be a good food choice for Cornish miners? How did this object reflect their culture from England and mining?
- How did miners use food to support mining culture with superstitions about the knockers?
- How does the food we eat reflect our cultures and communities?
Educational Goal Assessment
- Summarize how we use food to celebrate cultures.
- Explain how food represents culture.
- Construct a class world map.
- Tell a story about the past through an object and relate that story to today.
Suggested Performance Task
Activity #1, Its’s Time to Eat
- To illustrate the benefits of eating pasties, have students decided if food listed on chart can be eaten with dirty hands. Then have them decide if they can share that food. Last, have the students decide if these foods can be eaten easily in a mine.
Activity #2, Personal Food Culture
- Have each student bring in a recipe that represents their community or culture. Have them present and tell the class why they chose it and how it represents them and where it comes from (Geographically).
Activity #3, The World of our Food
- Have the students place their food and recipe on the world map based on its origin to illustrate the diversity in the class.
Additional Resources:
- Links to Wisconsin 101: Pasty
- Links to Wisconsin Historical Society Resources, Photographs
