Inquiry Questions
How does rice grow?
Where in India is rice grown?

Objectives
Students will . . .

Standards
Standard 1: How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective.
Standard 3: Analyzing the spatial organization of people, places, and environments in a spatial context.

Themes
Place, Human-Environment Interaction, Movement, Region

Multiple Intelligences
Verbal-Linguistic, Visual-Spatial, Logical-Mathematical, Interpersonal-Social, Naturalist

Materials
Book, Everybody Cooks Rice by Norah Dooley
Note cards for each country name, family name, country map, and recipe mentioned in Everybody Cooks Rice
Large wall map of the world
Classroom set of atlases
Everybody Cooks Rice Comparison Grid
Spray can of room deodorizer
Computers with internet access
Ask Asia - Rice: The Global Crop web site: http://www.askasia.org/for_educators/fe_frame.htm
World Globe
Blank state map of India
Rice production in India statistics: http://www.economywatch.com/database/areaproductionyieldrice.html
Colored pencils

Time
3-4 class periods

1. Write the phrase "Cultural Diffusion" on the board. Tell the students that you are going to do a demonstration to show the meaning of the word diffusion. Hold up the spray can of room deodorizer. Say "I am going to spray a little of this room deodorizer from this corner of the room. Please raise you hand as soon as you can smell the special aroma". (Hands should be raised in a pattern from close to far away.) Ask the students to describe a pattern in the movement of the aroma. As you put the can aside, tell the students that this was an example of diffusion, when the aroma spread out from one location to other locations.
2. Pass out the Everybody Cooks Rice note cards, one per student. Students may need to pair up or double up, depending on class size.
3. Handout copies of the Everybody Cooks Rice Comparison Grid.
4. Explain that you will be reading a book that shows how traditions about rice can be diffused from one country to another as people move around the world. As students listen, they should jot down notes on their grids. At this point, they should not worry about correct spelling. In addition, they should be aware of what they have on their own note card. Later, they will be searching for the rest of their group. For example, if they have the Indian curry recipe, they will search for the Indian family name, the word, India, and the map of India.
5. Read Everybody Cooks Rice aloud. Pause as needed for good note taking.
6. Have students circulate the room searching for their 'group'. Groups should compare their grids and add to them, if necessary. Discuss: What recipes sounded good? Less tasty? Have you ever eaten any of these dishes?
7. Explain that many of the families mentioned in the story may have grown their own rice in their native countries. Ask if any of the students know how rice is grown. Explain that rice is a grain and that most of the people who grow it plant it by hand.
8. Have groups divide themselves into dyads. Dyads will share a computer and look up rice growing facts at the Ask Asia web site, Rice: The Global Crop, http//www.askasia.org/for_educators/fe_frame.htm. Although the photographs on the page make reference to rice grown in Indonesia and California, the facts will remain the same.
9. Allow dyads the remainder of the class period to explore the web site. Allow for five minutes at the end for groups to share what they have learned.
10. Begin the next class period with a brief review of the previous day.
11. Have students return to their dyad groups. Distribute a world atlas to each group. Have the students open to the rainfall map of the world. Is there a correlation with rainfall and the countries mentioned in the book? (Most of these countries receive high amounts of rain, above 40 inches per year.)
12. Have the students look at the Growing Seasons map and use the legend to read the length of the growing season in some of the countries from the book. (Most of the countries have a long growing season of 8 to 12 months.)
13. Make the generalization with the students that rice requires a warm climate with heavy rainfall or a constant supply of water. Ask "Could you grow rice in a garden in Iowa? Do we have the resources and climate conditions to grow rice here in Iowa?" Have the students use the rainfall and growing season maps of Iowa to investigate this question. (Iowa's average yearly rainfall is 34-35 inches with early frost).
14. Tell the students that rice is the main food for over half the people of the world. In some countries, rice is eaten at every meal. Point out that the families in the story may have brought their rice recipes with them because, in their native country, rice was their most important food and it satisfied their need for food. Have students share some favorite rice dishes that are prepared and served in their homes.
15. Pass out the copies of the Indian state maps and the Rice Production Data. Explain that we will be creating a choropleth map to show where in India rice is produced.
16. Allow students to use an atlas and colored pencils to complete their maps. All completed maps must have a title, key, scale, color, and compass.
17. Discuss: What do these maps tell us about climate conditions in India? Compare your map to rainfall, biome, population, and growing season maps from an atlas. What do you notice?

Assessment
Participation, Everybody Cooks Rice Comparison Grid, Rice in India Choropleth Map

Enrichment Ideas
Create population pyramids
Select a location from Everybody Cooks Rice and look up its five themes of geography. Display findings on a poster.
Research farming in India

Interdisciplinary Connections
Science: Biomes of world rice producing areas, biology of a rice plant
Life Skills: Prepare recipes from India, eat an Indian meal, share with staff and/or students
Math: Book, One Grain of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale by Demi,
            use to make calculations and predictions and look for cultural cues
Language Arts: Concept maps of stories read, create a classroom book of cherished family recipes

Web Resources
Ask Asia, Rice: The Global Crop        http://www.askasia.org/for_educators/fe_frame.htm
Economy Watch        http://www.economywatch.com/database/areaproductionyieldrice.html