Spicing up geography Learning about the Middle East and global connectedness through spices
What is a spice? flavoring for food medicine preservative dye incense money (specie) trade good (16,000% markup)
The spice game PART I: Identifying the spices First, try to identify the ground spices Then match the ground spice to its whole form What part of the plant is it?
What’s this spice?
Black Pepper
What’s this spice?
Cinnamon
What’s this spice?
Cloves
What’s this spice?
Cumin
What’s this spice?
Ginger
What’s this spice?
Coriander
What’s this spice?
Turmeric
What’s this spice?
Nutmeg
the spice game PART II: Mapping the spices Research: Where is the spice from? Research: Where is the spice used? Find recipes, pharmacological uses, religious uses Research: What’s the story? Find historical anecdotes involving this spice
THE SPICE GAME Map it! Create a large wall map of Eurasia, or use Google Earth. For each spice, choose several places relating to the spice’s origin, uses, recipes, and at least one story. Make colorful cards (or post-its!) or waypoints with each piece of information, and place them on the map in the appropriate places. Make a line with glue connecting these places, and while glue is wet, sprinkle some of the dried spice along the line. For GE, make paths in different colors.
The spice game Further curriculum connections: Science lab: Do spices prevent bacterial growth? Art project: Colors/mosaic Art: potpourri sachets, clove-studded oranges COOK!!!