Sugar, Spice and Everything Rice

Over half the world’s population depends on rice. In fact, archaeologists estimate that the history of cultivating rice dates back more than 9,000 years to ancient China!

Begin your exploration of this small-but-mighty seed by having a class discussion about how significant rice is in Asian history and to the Asian economy. Make sure to highlight how rice is grown, what dishes it’s used in and any important traditions it’s involved in.

After exploring rice’s impact in Asia, it’s time to jet across the world! Each week, focus on a different continent to highlight the way rice is grown there and some of the popular dishes from those countries. Some dishes to inspire your class are paella from Spain, jollof from West Africa or arroz chaufa from Peru.

You can also use this as a jumping off point to talk about how cuisine, agriculture and climate differ from region to region.

After your rice trip around the world, have your students go to their caregivers and discover a rice dish that’s important to their family or culture. To culminate this unit of study, have everyone prepare their dish and bring it into class for a giant rice potluck!

To support this unit, use the Giving Visual Art a Bit of Dimension Creativity Page.