Online Lesson

The Little Red Hen

Introduction:

Have you ever worked hard on a project and found that no one would help you? Then when you got it all done, suddenly everyone wanted to participate, or use your creation? You have something in common with a little Red Hen. Read the story and see if it’s like an experience you might have had, perhaps putting together a skate board ramp, building a fort, growing a pumpkin or carefully setting up your action figures.

Task:

In this lesson you will examine through the use of a story how the Little Red Hen uses the productive resources of natural resources, human resources, capital and entrepreneurs to produce bread. You will then match specific items identified in the story with their category of productive resource and then predict what incentives might influence the characters in the future because of the experiences in the story.

Process:

Read with a fellow student or your teacher the The Little Red Hen (story). Keep in mind there will be several elements to identify in the story:

• production – what are the steps in producing a loaf of bread
• resources – what natural, human and capital resources are needed in the production process.

Once you have read the story, go through the following activities:

1. Production is carried out in a “sequence” or “steps.” What steps were involved with the production of the loaf of bread? Review the story by completing the  Drag and Drop Activity
2. Go to the recipe read the recipe and make a list of the ingredients.
3. Just for fun – try the Oven Baked Bread -word find
4. The use of a recipe typically involves fractions and other measurements. Here is an opportunity to apply a bit of math review, click and print: Knead Math? Student Version Doubling fractions activity .
5. Have you ever seen bread being mixed? Watch Making Easy Bread with Fin to see a video clip of how to make a loaf of bread.
6. There are still some mills around, take a look at a working mill in Canada, Dover Flour Mill .
7. Go to the Beginners Kitchen . As you page through the site you will find a great explanation of what is “dough.”
8. Go to the Baking Ingredients site and look for the natural resources used in producing a loaf of bread.
9. Go to the Baking Equipment site and look for all of the capital resources used in producing a loaf of bread - Tools (Capital) for Making Bread
10. Go to Making Bread and identify the steps in producing a loaf of bread and see what procedures are required to get the perfect loaf (production process).

Conclusion:

Most children do not have the opportunity to see or feel where an every day loaf of bread comes from or how it is made. Some children may never get the opportunity to make or even eat bread. Think about how it makes you feel to have this luxury. How do you think Meow, Bark, and Squeak might behave in the future. What incentive do they have to change there ways.

Assessment Activity:

Using pictures or words create cards of the ingredients, tools and individuals involved in making bread. You should prepare at least 15-30 in total. Sort these into productive resources - human, natural, capital or entrepreneurial. You may use the word search in help in identifying many of the terms used in this lesson.

You also might create matching sets of cards to play concentration such that you have a picture of a mixing bowl and the word capital in order to create a match.

Extension Activity:

You might choose to look at what yeast is and the science behind the "rising" of bread.

Visit "Why does bread rise?" site to learn about what makes bread rise and to try a simple experiment.