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World Zone Café

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Did you know? You can access an editable version of this activity: Google Doc or Word Doc
WORLD HISTORY PROJECT1200 / LESSON3.5 ACTIVITYWORLD ZONE CAFÉUnless otherwise noted, this work is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Credit: “World Zone Cafe”, OER Project, https://www.oerproject.com/1PurposeIn this activity, you have an opportunity to be creative while considering the biological impact of the Columbian Exchange. By creating menus related to what was available on each side of the world, and by considering how this availability grew once the world zones connected, you will have a more concrete sense of how an everyday activity like eating was so drastically changed by globalization.Process1.Imagine that you are restaurant owners getting ready to open the World Zone Café. This café will not only serve delicious food, but will teach people about the origins of flora and fauna (plants and animals), and how the movement of these plants and animals changed people’s lives. To do this, you’re going to create a small café menu with two appetizers, two entrées (main dishes), and two desserts. Two of the menu items must be made ONLY from plants and animals available in the Americas; two items must be made ONLY from plants and animals available in Afro-Eurasia; and two items must include ingredients from BOTH world zones. On the next page, create a menu using these guidelines. If you want to use your own menu design, you can create this on a separate piece of paper.You can use this infographic from the article “The Columbian Exchange” to remind yourself of which plants and animals originated from which area.
WORLD HISTORY PROJECT 1200 / LESSON3.5 ACTIVITYWORLD ZONE CAFÉ2Remember: Two of the menu items must be made ONLY from plants and animals available in the Americas; two items must be made ONLY from plants and animals available in Afro-Eurasia; and two items must include ingredients from BOTH world zones.World Zone Café MenuAppetizers1.2.Entrées 1.2.Desserts 1.2.
WORLD HISTORY PROJECT 1200 / LESSON3.5 ACTIVITYWORLD ZONE CAFÉ32.Now, reflect on this menu-creating activity by answering the following questions:•Do the things you enjoy eating most originate in the Americas or Afro-Eurasia, or do they mostly come from both places? •How might your meals (and traditions associated with them) be different today if the world zones had not connected in this way? •Keeping in mind the negative impacts of Columbus’s explorations, do you think connecting the world zones was worth it?