GLOBAL CONNECTIONS INQUIRY
Discovering People and Processes
DAY 2 ACTIVITY
15-20 Minutes
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Learn about the process of making everyday items
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Create a draft of your “My Global Connections Infographic”
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Paper or notebook
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Pencil, pen, or other writing tool
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“Infographic Template” handout (optional)
THIS WEEK
We’re thinking about
the question:
“How do the things we use connect us to people and places around the world?”
Your challenge this week is to create a “My Global Connections Infographic” showing how the items you use every day connect you to faraway people and places.
Let's Get Started!
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Look back at the list of items you found in your home. Did you find a pencil? A phone? A T-shirt?
The items you found went through a process before they got to you. That means things happened to them, one after another, that changed them.
The items started with materials found on earth and ended up as things you use.
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Look at the pictures to the left. They show a process. Each arrow points you to the next step. The steps of this process are:
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Take: Get material from the earth
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Make: Make it into something new
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Send: Get it to people who use it
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Use: Buy or use it
process:
the actions that happen one after another to change something
Let’s explore a process like the one described above.
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Many of us buy chocolate treats from the store.
But did you know that these treats go through a long process and travel very far before they get to the store?
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The tree in this picture is the cacao tree. Chocolate is made from the seeds of the cacao tree.
These seeds are in the fruits that you see hanging from the tree.
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Cacao trees grow in warm places.
Click on the map to the left to make it bigger. The colors show where cacao trees grow.
Cacao trees grow very far from the United States of America!
So what is the process that brings chocolate to our local store?
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Step 1: Take
When the pod is ripe, a farmer cuts open the pod with a sharp tool. Inside the cacao pod are white, mushy seeds.
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Step 2: Make
The seeds are put in boxes so they get very hot. They turn from white to brown.
Next, the seeds must dry out. The dried seeds are called cocoa beans.
Then, the beans are cooked at a very high heat. The shells are taken off. The beans are ground into a powder. The powder is heated and cooled to make a “mass” that will become chocolate.
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Step 3: Send
Ships take it all over the world.
Many people work hard to get chocolate to you!
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Step 4: Use
Then we buy and eat it!
“Does Your Class Know What Cacao Is?” video from Eat Happy Project
Pulling it all together:
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Watch this video to learn more about the process of making chocolate.
Look!
Take another look around you and notice all the objects you use.
Ask yourself:
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How do these connect you to people and places far away?
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Are there connections you already knew about?
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Are there connections that surprised you?
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Are there any objects or items you’d like to add to the list of items you created?
Your challenge this week: Create a “My Global Connections Infographic” showing the way you are connected to people and places through the items you use.
Today, you will use the information you’ve collected about your items to start creating your infographic.
infographic:
words and pictures that are used together to explain something quickly and clearly
Today, you will only create a sketch of your infographic using pencil.
Your infographic will show how the items you use every day connect you to faraway people and places.
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Let’s look at another student’s draft to give us ideas.
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Notice how this infographic shows the student using some of their items.
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Notice how this infographic explains how the student is connected to faraway places.
Now it’s your turn to create a sketch of your “My Global Connections Infographic.”
Review your goals:
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I will draw 4 of my items
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I will draw myself as I use 1 (or more!) of my items
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I will use words that tell how my items connect me to a faraway place
On a piece of paper, create a sketch in pencil of your “My Global Connections Infographic” (or use the “Infographic Template” handout if you like).
Remember to save your sketch! You’ll use it to create your final “My Global Connections Infographic.”