It’s a hot day. You want the perfect summer snack . . . ice cream! Where did ice cream come from?
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The History of Ice Cream
What’s the scoop on this delicious treat?
By Meg Richardson
From the May/June 2024 Issue
Learn about the fascinating story of a delicious treat!
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Icy Desserts Long Ago
People have loved icy desserts for a long time. People in ancient Rome ate desserts made of snow, honey, and crushed fruit. That was about 2,000 years ago.
People in China also ate a dessert like ice cream long ago. It was made of frozen buffalo milk. That was about 1,400 years ago.
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The First Ice Cream
About 400 years ago, a cook in Italy made a new kind of icy dessert. It was the first ice cream!
He discovered how to churn cream while it freezes. To churn something means to move it around. If you churn cream as it freezes, it turns into ice cream.
A Special Treat
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Ice cream became popular in Europe and in the U.S. George Washington served ice cream at parties. He was the first president of the U.S.
Back then, ice cream was very pricey.People only ate ice cream at special times.
Plus, ice cream was difficult to store. There were no freezers! People had to store food underground to keep it cold.
People used ingredients they could grow in their gardens to flavor ice cream. They made plum ice cream, cranberry ice cream, and even cucumber ice cream!
Ice Cream Inventions
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Over time, ice cream became cheaper. People could enjoy it more often. Soon people invented ways to make ice cream even better. Inventors came up with the ice cream cone, the ice cream sundae, and the milkshake.
Later people thought of more ice cream inventions. They invented soft-serve ice cream and ice cream trucks! Will you invent the next ice cream invention?
Ice Cream Timeline
SSPL/Getty Images (Ice Cream Truck); Shutterstock (All Other Images)
400 years ago: The first ice cream
150 years ago: Ice cream cones
100 years ago: Ice cream trucks
Today: So many delicious kinds of ice cream!
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Activities
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Skills Activities
Answer Key
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More About the Article
Social Studies Focus
Time, continuity, and change
In-Person Lesson Plan
Implementation
- Small group; whole group; independent reading
Pairings and Text Connections
- From the Storyworks 2 archive:
“The Truth Behind Chocolate and Vanilla” (September 2020) Students can learn about these delicious flavors, which are used to make ice cream.
Before-Reading Resources
- Text Preview Bookmarks
(10 minutes) Kids can cut out the nonfiction bookmark and use it to preview the text.
- Play the Vocabulary Slideshow
(5 minutes) Help students become familiar with vocabulary words they will see in the article.
Suggested Reading Focus
Nonfiction text features (20 minutes)
- Point out the bar on the right side of the page. Do students know what this is? Hint: It says in the headline. (It’s a timeline.)
- Explain that a timeline shows the order in which things happened. You can see how long ago each thing happened on the arrow.
After-Reading Skills Practice
(15 minutes for each activity)
- Quiz: Comprehension check
- My Ice Cream Invention: Students can draw and write about their own ice cream inventions.
- Watch the video, "Inside an Ice Cream Factory": Students can see how ice cream is made today.
Text-to-Speech