Activity 1: The Wonderful World of Herbs

1. Distribute The Wonderful World of Herbs. Students will read the text and answer the related questions. Allow the students 5-10 minutes to complete the fill-in-the-blank portion of the activity.
2. Review answers and facilitate a related discussion.
3. If necessary, demonstrate how to find coordinates on a map. As a class, identify the x-axis (the equator) and the y-axis (the prime meridian). Review the points of a compass and their related quadrants. Students will integrate the information from the text with the latitude and longitude coordinates to plot and label each location on the map. Allow 10-20 minutes to complete the activity.
4. Have the students share the name of each country plotted on the map, popcorn-style. Remind the students that the use of plants as herbs has been important to all cultures since before history was recorded. 
5. Collect the handouts and assess for completeness and accuracy.

Activity 2: Herb Observation

1. To prepare for this activity, place a small sample of each dried herb and each fresh herb in six separate tasting cups. Label the fresh herbs with their common names. Label the dry herbs A (for cilantro), B (for oregano), and C (for basil). Prepare a set for each student (or pair of students).
2. Explain to the students that they will use their senses to gather information about herbs. Describe how when you taste something, approximately 10,000 taste buds respond to the food stimuli by sending messages to the brain. In addition, our olfactory system (our sense of smell) sends messages to the brain. These messages integrate to create our perception of flavor. Our taste experiences inform our behavior and are often stored as memories.
3. Guide students to compare the fragrances of fresh and dried herbs. Instruct the students to match each fresh herb to the herb's dried version, using only their sense of smell. For example, instruct the students to smell fresh basil. Then, smell all three dried herbs and attempt to identify which is dried basil. Repeat this process for cilantro and oregano. Reveal the identity of the herbs (A: cilantro, B: oregano, C: basil). Direct the students to label their previously unknown samples correctly.
4. Distribute the Herb Observation Rubric. Review the rubric with the class, and emphasize the importance of providing detailed and descriptive observations. They will taste each sample individually and record their observations in the appropriate cell. Have the students complete their rubric.
5. After completing their observations, discuss:
   • Favorite or least favorite herbs of the six samples.
   • Similarities and differences between dry and fresh herbs.
   • Similarities and differences between different herbs.
   • Strength of flavor in dry and fresh herbs.

Variations

• Lead the students through the process of drying their own herbs. After cutting fresh herbs from the garden, make small bunches with string. Hang the bunches up to dry, leaves downward, covered loosely with thin paper bags. Allow seven to ten days to dry, depending on the size of the bunches and humidity.
• Use an online mapping tool to plot coordinates for the map activity.