In the “Celebrating Culture through Food” project Students created a cookbook with other classmates with recipes that were derived from their own culture. Each recipe showed the correct proportions in order to feed a crowd. Students connected with the history and culture of the food, studying its nutritional values and its physical and mental effects on the body.
Essential Question: How does food foster relationships and promote cultural awareness?
Final Product: 320-page published cookbook
Key Academic Skills and Content: fractions, decimals, ratios (math); narrative and informative writing (english); world cultures and historical influences (history); cells and human bodily functions (biology)
Suggested Duration: 3 weeks
Created with the support of the California Department of Education California Career Pathways Trust

The students produced a 320-page cookbook containing recipes that represented various elements of their families’ cultures.
Planning and calendaring a project, can be a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be! Using tools like the Funnel Method, project descriptions and Post-Its, can make the planning process much more effective, efficient and yes, even enjoyable!
Launching a project can and should be an exciting part of the project process.
In this video are some tips for ensuring a effective project launch, based on my experience in this project!
Use authentic assessments within the project to help keep the skills students are learning meaningful and relevant. No need to make up problems, when we have real ones we have to solve right in front of us!
More Interdisciplinary PBL Essentials:
- Bias-Busting Obstacles
- Project ME
- Shark Tank: The Four Industrial Revolutions
- Stars In The Parks
- The “1619 Project” Project
- The Game Board Project
- The Modernized Media Maker Space
- The Pull Toy Project
- The Story of You and Your Crew
- The Winter Crafts Store
- Ultimate Transformation
- Water Woes
- Why Does Water Matter?