Everyday Foods from Rainforests
Connect familiar foods with tropical forest plants. Chocolate uses cacao seeds, bananas grow on large non-woody plants, coffee seeds grow inside berries, and Brazil nuts grow inside hard fruits on Amazon rainforest trees. Many food plants are also grown on farms.
What a learner can do afterwards
- Name foods linked to tropical forest plants, including chocolate, bananas, coffee and Brazil nuts
- Explain that cacao seeds grow inside pods on trees and go through processing to help make chocolate
- Explain that a snack's appearance alone does not show where its plant grew, and that many food plants grow on farms
1 · Read
Some familiar foods are linked to tropical forest plants. Chocolate uses cacao seeds, often called beans. Bananas, coffee and Brazil nuts have forest connections too. Today, people grow cacao, bananas and coffee on farms as well.
Cacao seeds grow inside pods on cacao trees. Workers harvest ripe pods and take out the seeds. The seeds go through several steps, including drying, roasting and grinding, to help make chocolate. Chocolate bars do not grow on trees.
Bananas grow on large plants in warm places. Their stems are not woody trunks. Coffee seeds grow inside berries on coffee plants. Some coffee grows in tree shade, and some grows in sunlight. Brazil nuts grow inside hard, woody fruits on tall Amazon rainforest trees.
Looking at a snack does not tell you where its plant grew. A food label or grower may help. A plant linked to forests can also grow on a farm.
Cacao seeds help make chocolate. Familiar foods can connect us with forest plants, but many food plants grow on farms too.
Lesson, questions and flashcards written for this dataset.
Linked video lesson by Shantel George for TED-Ed. Flashcards written for this dataset.
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