Field Trip #50: Around the World in One Parking Lot

The anchor to this shopping center is the GrandMart supermarket which is a combination Asian, Latino and African market. It has a wide variety of items and I was amazed by the variety of live fish for the purchasing. This is interesting to me from the standpoint of a teacher because fish are one of those things we eat in which there is little understanding what the particular breed of fish looks like. We know it is fish but could you tell the difference between Tilapia and Groper? Here is a great opportunity for students to explore another aspect of our food chain by looking at all the products throughout the entire store and more specifically the fresh fish swimming in tanks.

It is hard to create an entire field trip based on visiting the seafood counter of a supermarket but the good thing here is that there are other options that will take you around the world. There is an African supermarket in which you find fufu, spices and a wide selection of dried and smoked meats (whole chickens and fish). Then you will also find a Panaderia Latina where you can buy empanadas, galletas and the soggy milk cake so famous in Mexico (tres leches). There is a Peruvian Rotisserie Chicken place that advertizes itself in Chinese and a Korean restaurant around the corner from a Vietnamese Pho shop. So how would you use all of these places in one trip?

Imagine putting a scavenger hunt together in which you have an unfamiliar item coupled with the Latitude and Longitude of the place where it is from. Students would then need to figure out what part of the world it is from, go to that place, find the item and then shoot a short video about what it is. (Example: 37N, 127E = Bulgoki) This would be a great way to use a corner like this in any neighborhood. You would want to prep the different establishments since they will be barraged with the same questions and also remind students to stick to the sidewalks as it is a working parking lot they will be criss-crossing.

Where to go?
6255 Little River Tpke,
Alexandria, VA 22312