Museum Lending Boxes

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These experiences offer schools and organizations a flavorsome view of historical and cultural milieus through museum lending boxes.

Each box contains:

  - Touchable artifacts

 -  Lesson plans and materials

Get oriented to the past world by exploring cooking with historical tools 

• Systems of values are noticeably in tools we use
• Historians use artifacts to  interpret and construct an  understanding of the past
• New methods and machines for farming and food production has changed our our food source and supply

Explore regions that possess a variety of geographic features that promote systems for food production

• Regions are organized by the way community members use their geography
• Climate influences the way land is used
• Use of ingredients prior to pre-contact with Europeans
• An exploration of food and stories within regions have similarities and differences 

 Experience the history of the Aztecs in the ever-changing region.

• Customs and traditions are passed from generation to generation
• From drinks to sauces to treats - the multiple uses of cacao
• Cultures inspire each other through food preparation and ingredients

Identify how early America's adaptations involved its food source available

• Learning how to use the unfamiliar land
• No group of people is solely self-sufficient
• Wants are always greater than available resources
• A display of social status can be demonstrated with food ingredients
• Similar causes in history tend to produce similar results

Get oriented with Africa's regional ingredients and cooking techniques, and their extension beyond the continent.

• Customs and traditions are passed from generation to generation
• Agriculture is a traditional way of life 
• Climate influences the way land is used
• Local and imported food influences coexist
• Food identity and colonization {upper grade focus}

Determine the geographic and cultural factors that influenced the development of various regions in NJ

• Native American contributions to NJ's food identity
• Colonial contributors of the past helped shape the food identity of the present
• Crop innovators of NJ have helped to changed the business world

Explore the globalization of food surpluses and the complexities of economic systems.

• Some wants are met by people far away
• The global systems will tell stories of people and their land
• Wants are usually greater than what's available
• Geographic factors impact the relationship between producers and consumers
• Corporate interests are a key factor in economic decisions about importing food products 

Establish the connection between the principal crops for the USA region: dairy products, fruits, vegetables, grains, and cattle, and their route to our plates.

• Many workers work together to supply us with our needs and wants
• Economic changes led to consumers having limited access to the source of their food
• Civil rights and our farmers 
• Decline in farm workers