Chocolate Fun Facts

by

Gail Skroback Hennessey

Do you love chocolate? If you do, you may want to hide a few bars away for a future date. Seems that chocolate may be running out and, in the not so distant future. Researchers says that chocolate, which comes from cacao beans, may be a thing of the past in less than 40 years! The reason, the warming of our planet is making for less and less places for the bean to thrive. Additionally, the demand for chocolate is growing, especially in places such as China where people are developing a "sweet" tooth. More and more people are also especially sweet on dark chocolate, which requires more cocoa than other types of chocolate. Still another problem is that a fungus is attacking the cacao beans as they grow on the trees. Let's hope that we can solve the chocolate problem, so we can all continue to enjoy its yummy taste!

Chocolate Factoids:

1. Now THIS is a chocolate bar. Weighing 12,770 pounds when made, it earned the title of world's largest! A ton is 2000 pounds. Approximately, how many tons of chocolate was this bar? _______________

2. To make one pound of chocolate, you need about 400 cocoa beans.

3. Did you know that one of the things sold in Ben Franklin's printing shop was chocolate? Write TWO facts you know about Ben Franklin:_____________and___________

4. Do you like white chocolate? Actually, it doesn't have any cocoa and really isn't chocolate!

5. Montezuma, the Aztec emperor, is said to have had 50 cups of a chocolate drink every day. He drank out of a golden goblet.

6. Originally, hot cocoa was served without sugar and was a very bitter drink.

7. An amazing 23 million Hershey kisses candies are made every day.

8. Milton Hershey had tickets for the maiden voyage of the Titanic but cancelled due to a meeting. Do you know anything about the Titanic? _________________

9. At one time, people in Meso-America(Central America) used cacao beans as money. What might be two problems using cacao beans as money?____________ and ___________

10. "Chocolate" comes from the word, "xocolatl", a Mayan word for "bitter water".

11. If you have a cough, you may wish to try eating chocolate to get rid of a cough. Seems to work!

12. Chocolate is very dangerous for dogs and cats!

13. For a time in 2013, the country of Belgium made a stamp which had a chocolate flavor.

14. The candy M and Ms were developed as a treat for soldiers during World War 2. The hard shell kept the chocolate from melting too quickly.

15. The chocolate chip cookie was first baked by Ruth Wakefield. The year was 1930. In exchange for a lifetime of chocolate, she gave her recipe to the Nestle's Company.

16. Did you know that two countries in Africa produce half the world's chocolate? Those countries are Ghana and the Cote d'Ivoire.

17. On Columbus' fourth visit, he is credited with bringing backto Europe the first cocoa beans(1502-1504)

Your Turn:

1. What do you think this saying means? "Life is like a box of chocolates...you never know what you're gonna get."( From the movie, Forrest Gump.)

2. What is your favorite chocolate treat? Write a descriptive paragraph describing your favorite chocolate treat to a Martian who has never experienced the treat.

3. Illustrate one of the chocolate factoids.

4. Using a world map, locate the countries mentioned in this information.

5. Find 7 nouns. Find 7 verbs. Find 4 pronouns.

Teacher Page:

1. Before reviewing the facts on chocolate, ask the students to share any prior knowledge they may have on chocolate.
2. Have students review the factoids on chocolate and do the Your Turn section. Put the handout away and ask the students to write 5 facts they remember from the list.

3.Review the responses to the Your Turn section.

Check out these resources:

The first in my series, Everything Has a History, check out my History of Candy Internet activity. Why not show your students that even candy has a history with this fun/informative web quest! Learn facts including marshmallows date back to 2000 BC and King Tut's Tomb contained licorice. I also have included several additional resources and extension activities. Great for a Friday, a day before a vacation activity or just when you'd like to share with kids that...everything has a history!https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Candy-History-of-Candy-Webquest-516787

Candy and chocolate are very popular on Valentine's Day. Check out this resource. Valentine's Day is February 14th. The symbol of the holiday is a heart. What do you know about the human heart and the Valentine's Day holiday? Grab a red pencil and use this webquest to find out some very interesting facts about the human heart and the holiday of Valentine's Day!There are 9 web questions, a 20 All things Red Activity, lots of fun facts and 9 extension activities: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Valentines-Day-A-WebquestExtension-Activities-1659788

My website for teachers has lots of free materials in geography, career surveys, short reads, news, bell ringers and more. You may find it of interest: http://www.gailhennessey.com

Illustration from: wpclipart.com