Home > Lesson Planning Channel > Lesson Planning Archives > History > Lesson Planning Article

Subjects

• History
• Health
• Mathematics

Grade

• Pre-K - 12

Brief Description

Students prepare foods, including hardtack, that were among the staples of a Civil War soldier's diet.

Objectives

Keywords

Civil War, food, recipe

Materials Needed

Lesson Plan

One of the staples of a Civil War soldier's diet was hardtack, a hard biscuit- or cracker-like bread. Students follow simple recipes to make hardtack and other foods that were common during Civil War times.

The recipe for hardtack is as follows:

• Mix together 2 cups of flour, ¾ cup of water, and six pinches of salt.
• Flatten dough to a uniform thickness of about ½ inch.
• Cut the dough into 3- or 4-inch squares.
• Poke four rows of four holes (16 holes in all) in each dough square.
• Bake on a baking sheet for 30 minutes at 400 degrees F.
• Turn dough over and bake for another 30 minutes.
• Turn off the oven, but leave hardtack in the oven until it cools.
• Enjoy!

For additional Civil War recipes, see the following Web sites:

• Civil War Recipes
• Recipes of the Civil War Era
• Mason-Dixon Line's Civil War Recipes

Assessment

Observe students as they follow recipe directions.

Lesson Plan Source

Education World

National Standards

Social Sciences:
NSS-USH.K-4.1
NSS-USH.5-12.5

Math:
NM.K-4.10
NM.5-8.13

Click here to return to this week's article.