HGA | Food Index

PURPOSE: In the lifetime of our students, they have seen the demise of the sugar and pineapple plantations. Many students in the rural areas of all the islands have been directly affected since their parents were once employees of the plantation and many of them assumed that they would one day work there as well. This lesson will investigate land use after the plantations closed and the impact on the displaced plantation worker.

OBJECTIVES: The student will be able to:

1. Locate and plot on a map, the location of former sugar and/or pineapple lands on each of the major islands.
2. Investigate how the land is currently being used and labor requirements for the land use.
3. Gather data from their own neighborhood regarding land use and employment opportunities.

GEOGRAPHY STANDARDS:

STANDARD 4: The physical and human characteristics of places

STANDARD 18: How to apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future.

GEOGRAPHIC SKILLS: The student will be able to:

1. Systematically locate and gather geographic information from a variety of primary and secondary sources.
2. Use statistics and other quantitative techniques to evaluate geographic information.

RESOURCES:

1. Web Sites:
   • www.hawaiiag.org
   • www.ars.usda.gov
   • www.hoover.com
   • www.garstseed.com
   • www.agrss.sherman.hawaii.edu/HIcrops/pasture.html
   • //starbulletin.com/specials/economy/14.html
   • www.hawaii.gov/dbedt/ert/biom_hi.html
   • www.cbrewerhomes.com
   • www.ceatech.com

2. Books on Plantation in Hawaii.

PROCEDURES:

1. Divide class into groups of 6: Each member of group responsible for one of the major islands: Maui, Kauai, Oahu, Hawaii, Lanai, Molokai
2. Explain objectives to group and requirements for project.

ACTIVITIES:

1. Draw maps of each island depicting plantation land past and present. Map must contain legend to explain currently land usage.
2. Depict labor statistics in graph form (past and present) of current land use.
3. Using your family as data base, prepare either a graph, table or chart to display agricultural products being grown or raised in your backyard or on your farm.
4. Interview at least 10 different people in your community who used to work on the plantation, what their jobs were, how much were they paid, etc. and compare the data to what they currently do. Illustrate your findings in a graph, table or chart. (Each group to interview different people if possible)
5. Each individual in group to prepare a written explanation of geographic relationships based on current land usage and predict the future of plantation land usage.

WHOLE CLASS CULMINATING ACTIVITY:

1. Using information gathered on families and in interviewers, organize data to draw a conclusion on displaced plantation workers.
2. Using only Hawaii grown products, prepare a menu for lunch.

ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION STRATEGIES:

1. Quality of student products: maps, charts, graphs.
2. Depthness of written conclusion.