The production line

Economic and management sciences

Grade 6

From tree to tin can

Module 4

The production line

It is the end of the month. Mum’s big shopping expedition is at hand. She has to draw up a shopping list of all the groceries she has to purchase.

Assignment 1

1. Have a brainstorming session with your mother and list at least 20 different items that need to be bought regularly for your household.
2. Which of the above items are purchased daily?

1. Which of the above items are purchased weekly?

1. Which of the above items are purchased monthly?

Why are some products purchased daily or weekly, while others are purchased monthly? (Write down as many explanations as possible.

[LO 1.1]

1. If you think about the production processes that each of the items on the shopping list undergoes, you will get some idea of how different they are.

Assignment 2

Sort out your shopping list to place the items under the following headings as indicated in the supermarkets:

[LO 1.1]

All products are of animal, plant or mineral origin. They are derived from NATURAL RESOURCES, i.e. they come from raw materials provided by nature.

Vegetable foods

If we look at products such as fruit and vegetables, we know that they are not only obtainable in a fresh state at a supermarket or a café. Fresh fruit or vegetables provide better nutrients, but people nowadays do not always have the time to process fresh products immediately. Fortunately we can also buy the products in a processed state. It is true that this is more expensive and that some of the nutritive value is lost, but it can be preserved for a longer time in the processed form and Mum has to spend less time going to the shop to get fresh fruit and vegetables. She is also able to prepare food faster.

Assignment 3

Make a list of as many forms of processed fruit and vegetables as possible:

[LO 2.1]

From where do you get your food?

Assignment 4

• Go to the food cupboard at home. Look at the labels of the canned (preserved) vegetables and fruit. Get your mother’s permission to remove one of the labels and paste them to a loose sheet of A4 paper or two (and attach).
• Now answer the following questions:
  • What is in the tin?
  • Who is the producer of the contents?
  • How are the contents graded?
  • What are the ingredients that make up the contents?

• How can the unused contents be preserved once the tin has

been opened?

• What is the mass of the contents

• with the liquid?
• without the liquid?
• Was the product produced locally or overseas? Motivate your

answer:

• What is the energy value of the product per 100 g?
• Information such as "Best before April 2007" should also appear on the tin.

What does this mean?

[LO 2.1]

Assignment 5

1. Take another look at the labels on tins containing vegetable foods (foods from plants). Write down the names of 10 different kinds of food and indicate their origin.

[LO 2.1]

Assignment 6

a) Study a map of South Africa and indicate at least five different places at which foods are produced. Refer to an atlas to find the towns / cities. Indicate the location with a red circle and print the name alongside it. Design your own key, e.g. apples to indicate the kind of food that is processed at the relevant town / city.

1. Why is the particular vegetable or fruit canning factory at the particular town or city?

Memorandum

Assignment 1

• Learners can complete the assignment at home. For interest’s sake the teacher can get feedback in class and in this way he can determine which products appear on the learners’ lists. Through the feedback it will also be possible to determine whether all the learners’ answers in b, c, d and e are basically the same.

Assignment 2

• After each learner has sorted his/her items, the teacher can discuss the purpose of sorting items in supermarkets.

Assignment 3

• After a general class discussion the questionnaire can be completed.

Assignment 4

• This assignment can be done as a homework assignment.

Assignment 5

• This assignment can also be done at home.

Assignment 6

• Assignment 6 can be done with reference to Assignment 5’s answers, and with the use of an atlas.

Assessment