Objectives

1.  Knows that living things are different but share similar structures

2. Understands how organisms compete for food, water and shelter

3. Identify structural  or behavioral adaptations which help living things survive

Vocabulary

cocoa, cacao pod, pulp,  cultivated, Forastero, Criollo, Trinitario, midge, pollinate,

Materials

 Student Worksheets

Activities:

1.  Students will do a K-W-L on everything they know about chocolate.

2.  The teacher will read background information on the cocoa plant or can read a book to the class.

3. Discuss the parts of a plant and what a plant needs to survive.

4.  Discuss how in a habitat all the plants and animals are dependent on each other for survival.

Activities (cont.)

5.  Handout Student Worksheet. Students will visit  sites to learn how the cacao plant grows and how the seeds are harvested.

6.  Students will create the anatomy of the cacao plant.  This will be a labeled drawing of the tree and all its parts.  It can be done using pictures from a website or it can be an actual  drawing.

7. Students will visit Field Museum and other sites to  learn about the habitat of the cacao tree. 

Activities (con.t)

8. They will write an expository to explain the interdependence between the plants and animals in this ecosystem and illustrate a food chain that includes the cacao plant.

9.  Students will locate cacao farms around the world and locate their country on a map.

10.  The students will complete a quiz on the Cacao Plant. 

Homework

Student will research the midge fly.

    a. draw a midge and label

    b. describe its habitat

    c. write a summary on the information
        found

Assessment

1.  Scientific drawing of the cacao plant

2. Expository explaining interdependence of plants and animals

3. Food Chain

4. Research paper on the midge fly

5. Quiz

6. Comparison of two fruits

Rubrics

Extension

1. Handout the compare and contrast worksheet.

2. Students will use the pictures and compare and contrast a cacao pod with a papaya.