Coffee, Tea, or Chocolate
World History lesson uses case studies of coffee, tea, and cocoa to explore culture, historical cultural diffusion, and colonial exploitation across world zones.
This lesson is designed for high school World History or Humanities classes, or social studies electives like Sociology. It engages students with historical and cultural case studies of coffee, tea, and chocolate. This extended lesson can be integrated into a World History unit on global convergences and connections between 1400 and 1800 (although the content covers time before and after this era), or it can be used as a case study to explore examples of cultural diffusion and exploitation connected to colonialism. Alternatively, the lesson can be adapted for a sociology class and used to explore culture and cultural diffusion. The lesson is estimated to take 4-5 standard class periods, but can be condensed or extended as needed.
