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Food on the Ranch
 Preparation
Steps
Credits
Preparation
Grade Levels:: 3-5
This activity would be most effective if delivered in 3 separate 40-50 minute periods.
Prerequisite:
Group Leader should become familiar with the following Web sites:
Materials:
Students will need:
- Markers, Crayons and/or Colored Pencils
- Pencils or Pens
- Index Cards
- Tape
- Computers with Internet access
Group Leader will need:
- Chart paper
- An easel to display the paper or tape to hang on the walls
- Marker
- Copies of Handout #1 and Handout #2 for each student
Academic Goals:
Students will:
- Learn when today's most popular foods were introduced or invented
- Learn which foods were available on the Texas frontier in the 1860's
- Create a period-appropriate menu for a cowboy-themed restaurant
Social Goals:
Students will:
- Have opportunities to work in small groups
- Develop their listening skills, allowing peers to speak and share their opinions and work
- Develop their group speaking skills as they share their work with others
Steps
Introductory Activity (20 minutes)
- Ask children: What are some of your favorite foods? Chart their responses.
- Split children into groups of four or five. Hand out four index cards to each group. Ask each group to come up with four of their favorite foods and write each one on an index card. They should not write the same food more than once.
- Ask children to calculate what year it would be 139 years ago. (Adjust number of years if necessary so that students come up with the year 1867.) Ask children to imagine that they are living that many years ago. Ask: How would life be different in 1867? Would the same food exist? Why/why not? Ask children to look at the different foods written on their index cards and guess which ones had already been introduced or invented in 1867. Share responses.
- Split children into the same groups. Ask them to brainstorm other foods that existed in 1867. Give children five index cards each and ask them to write one type of food on each card.
Activity 1 (20-30 minutes)
- In groups, have children log on to http://www.foodtimeline.org. Tell them that they can use this site to find out what year specific foods became available. Ask children to write the year each food became available on the back of the index card. (Advise children that they can find their item on the timeline more quickly by using the "Find" command on their keyboards (Ctrl + the letter "F" on PCs, Open Apple + the letter "F" on Macs). When the "Find" box appears, children can type in their food item, and it will be found on the timeline.)
- Post chart paper titled: Food that DID NOT exist in 1867 and chart paper titled: Food that DID exist in 1867. Have children share their findings by taping the index cards to the correct chart paper.
- Explain to your children that recently, a group of people had the chance to experience the life of 19th century Texas cowboys first-hand. They were participants in a "hands-on history" TV series called TEXAS RANCH HOUSE, and they agreed to live for more than four months under the conditions of ranchers and cowboys in the year 1867. In the next activity they will be exploring the ranch used in this production to better understand frontier food in 1867 and how it was prepared and transported.
Activity 2 (40-50 minutes)
- Distribute Handout #1, "Visit the Cooke Ranch- Cook's Room." Ask children to log on to the Texas Ranch House: Visit the Cooke Ranch Web site at http://www.pbs.org/ranchhouse/visit.html. Ask children to take the virtual tour of the Cook's Room on the Web site and complete the questions on the handout.
Answers to Handout #1:
- How did cowboys sweeten their coffee?
Molasses
- Why do you think they didn't they use sugar or milk?
Answers will vary. The correct answer is: Because there was no refrigeration so milk spoiled and sugar was expensive. (they will learn this in the next activity)
- Cowboy "grub" consisted mostly of what?
Beans, coffee, bread (biscuits and cornbread), dried beef, salt pork, molasses
- Do cowboys eat fresh fruit?
No they eat dried fruit, like peaches and apples.
- How did the cook preserve the beef?
The cook preserves beef by cutting it into strips and drying it.
- What do cowboys eat for breakfast?
Corn mush and raisins
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- Distribute Handout #2, "Visit the Cooke Ranch- Cook's Kitchen." Ask your children to log on to the Texas Ranch House: Visit the Cooke Ranch Web site at http://www.pbs.org/ranchhouse/visit.html. Ask children to take the virtual tour of the Cook's Kitchen on the Web site and complete the questions on handout #2.
Answers to Handout #2:
- What herbs were used to season the dishes?
Salt, pepper, cinnamon, garlic, ginger, chiles, rosemary, chamomile, dill, mint, parsley, oregano, thyme, lemon balm.
- What vegetables did people in 1867 plant?
Squash, cucumbers, okra, beans, eggplant
- What types of meals were cooked using the dutch oven?
Biscuits, stews, cornbread
- Was their refrigeration in 1867?
No
- Name some of the staple goods that were stored in canvas sacks
Cornmeal, flour, rice, pinto beans
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- Regroup and go over answers together. Make a list of all the foods eaten by cowboys and ranchers in 1867 and add them to the chart paper titled, "Food that DID exist in 1867." Ask children if they like any of the foods that were common in 1867? What types of meals would cowboys and ranchers have eaten? Do they think it would be fun to prepare meals in the year 1867?
Culminating Activity (40-50 minutes)
- Tell children that they are now going to be working in groups to create a menu for a cowboy ranch restaurant in 1867. They can use the Texas Ranch House Web site and the list of foods to help them. Encourage them to be creative and try to use as many of the foods as they can. Explain that they should name their restaurants. They should also draw pictures of each dish. If children are having difficulty starting, come up with a few dishes together.
- Split children into group of three or four. Hand out materials for their sloppy copy (blank white paper, pencils) as well as their final copy (construction paper, markers, pens, etc.)
- When children have completed, have them present their menus to their peers. Peers should have the opportunity to ask questions to the presenters.
Credits
This AFTERSCHOOL EXCHANGE activity was created by Marissa Munn, Beacon Afterschool Coordinator at the Stanley M. Isaacs Neighborhood Center, Inc., based on the Thirteen/WNET series and Web site TEXAS RANCH HOUSE.
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