1948 Lesson Plan
Teacher Name Mary Barcroft Grade level(s) 9-12 Course American History, World History, US Foreign Policy and Wars of the 20th Century
Describe the classroom or homework activity to be performed (individual assignment, cooperative learning, cross curricular, technology based, using artifacts and/or primary sources, etc.)
This will be a cooperative learning assignment using technology and primary sources, it can also be considered cross-curricular with Health classes, as it will require students to do some research on minimum nutritional requirements for various age/gender groups. Since students will also perform calculations on calorie content and measurements, this can also augment Math classes.
Rationale (why are you doing this?) Students remember things so much better when they can perform hands on type activities. By actually creating recipes and cooking them, students will be able to hold, in their hands, the meals that people in Berlin ate during the Airlift, compared with the food that actually fulfills minimum requirements.
Required time frame: This activity should last two or three days, assuming the teacher has already prepared them with background information on conditions in Berlin and the airlift.
From where in this conference did you get the idea for this activity or assignment (speaker, document, photograph, activity, audio recording, other)? This idea came from the discussions of caloric intake during the Berlin Airlift, and the Operations Vittles Cookbook and recipes.
Lesson objectives – the student will:
· Research types and quantities of airlifted materials to find out how much food was available to each person
· Research the caloric requirements for minimum daily nutritional requirements as suggested by the government
· Evaluate the deficit between the food provided for the Berliners and minimum daily
· requirements
· Create a meal (or meals) to complete a day’s worth of calories and present to class in order to visualize what they were actually eating.
· District, state, or national performance and knowledge standards/goals/skills met (be specific when referencing):
· National Standards for US History: Era 9, Standard 2, How the Cold War and conflicts in Korea and Vietnam influenced domestic and international politics
· National Standards for World History: Era 9 The 20th Century Since 1945: Promises and Paradoxes
Standard 1 How post-World War II reconstruction occurred, new international power relations took shape, and colonial empires broke up.
Standard 2 The search for community, stability, and peace in an interdependent world
MISSOURI SHOW ME Standards:
2. continuity and change in the history of Missouri, the United States and the world
4. economic concepts (including productivity and the market system) and principles (including the laws of supply and demand)
5. the major elements of geographical study and analysis (such as location, place, movement, regions) and their relationships to changes in society and environment
6. relationships of the individual and groups to institutions and cultural traditions
7. the use of tools of social science inquiry (such as surveys, statistics, maps, documents)
Secondary materials (book, article, video documentary, etc.) needed – cite title and other detailed information:
· School provided health textbook
· Caloric value chart
· Cookbooks or recipes either online or books
· Attached Powerpoint for background information
Primary sources (document, photograph, artifact, diary or letter, audio or visual recording, etc.) needed – cite detailed information:
· Copy of Operation Vittles Cookbook located at http://www.berlinbrats.org/books.htm
· Photographs from the Berlin Airlift, showing conditions of the city during the airlift
· Gail Halverson Presentation available on Truman Library website.
Technology required: Computer Access; Access to cooking facilities
Fully describe the activity or assignment in detail. What will both you and the students do?
As an introduction to the activity, the teacher will provide students with the background information on the Berlin Airlift and the conditions in Berlin. Show the students the Gail Halverson presentation available on the Truman Library website, and pictures of the German people working to help bring in food from the airlift. Talk about the amounts of food that were airlifted and the number of people requiring food and coal. Remind the students that a majority of the people in Berlin were women and children (who require higher caloric intake, as well as particular vitamins and minerals to sustain growth.)
Divide the students into small groups of four to six. Half of the people in each group will be assigned Berlin, the other half will be assigned modern guidelines for nutrition. The Berlin group will research to find out what kinds of food goods were delivered to Berlin, and how much was available per person. Using this information, the Berlin group will create a menu for one day, using those foods and the calories available. If possible, it is desirable that the students cook the meals as planned for tasting and visual display.
At the same time, the students in the other group will research the minimum daily requirements recommended by the federal government for men, women, and children. They, too, will develop a menu for one day utilizing calories and food available, and then cook the meals for class. Note: Here, it might be desirable to have them pick breakfast, lunch or dinner (making sure you have each meal covered) rather than cooking all three meals in each group.
As the students present their menus and food to their classmates, the disparity between diets should become painfully obvious. The teacher will then lead a wrap up discussion with the students about the hardships and courage it took for the Berliners to hold out, and discuss why they were willing to do so. This is also a good time to revisit Gail Halverson’s presentation and reiterate that the desire for freedom and the hope provided by the airlift were the main components that inspired and kept the Berliners going during the blockade. As a final act, and part of the assessment, students should write a short essay summarizing their work and what they learned from the project.
Assessment: fully explain your assessment method in detail or create and attach your scoring guide:
As with most projects, this will require a scoring rubric that gives the students specific goals to reach their grade, they will be evaluated on the quality and extent of information, how well they do in utilizing their calories and use of authentic foods in their project. The exit essay will comprise a part of the rubric score.
Berlin Airlift Project
You and your group will be investigating the goods transported during the Berlin Airlift, and the amount of food available to the people of Berlin. You will also determine how that food relates to the minimum daily nutritional requirements suggested by the federal government. You will develop two one day meal plans, one utilizing the calories and food available to the Berliners, and the other using minimum requirements and food that is available today. After developing your meal plan, you must cook one meal to present to the class. Each group will present their findings to the class. Finally, you will need to write a five paragraph essay describing what you have learned from this project.
Scoring guide: Possible Points Your Grade Project Grade
Content: Project and presentation should clearly demonstrate knowledge
of the foods transported in the Berlin Airlift and the caloric content available
to the people of Berlin, as well as the minimum requirements for good
nutrition. 10
Accuracy: All information is correct. Students will stay within their
caloric allowance and create three nutritional meals for each day, using
goods available to the people of Berlin 10
Required Elements: Project includes two meal plans, minimum caloric
requirements, availability in Berlin, a cooked meal and a well-written five
paragraph essay. 15
Shows Knowledge: The group can answer basic questions on 10
Their research.
Creativity: All of the material is presented in a creative and interesting 5
manner.
Paper: Well written five paragraph essay utilizing correct grammar and spelling 50
Total: ____/100
Members of
Group:______