How to teach rationing in World War II

Why this matters

A student can read that total war pulled in a whole country and still picture it as something that happened to soldiers. Asked why Britain rationed food, that student can answer "there wasn't enough" and stop. The answer leaves out the ships, the U-boats and the soldiers who ate first, and the teacher has to wait for the unit test to find out.

WW2 rationing in Britain

In Britain, WW2 rationing began in January 1940, and bacon, butter and sugar were among the first foods rationed (The National Archives). When the war broke out in 1939, the UK was importing over 20 million tonnes of food a year, and Germany set out to cut the sea routes that brought it in (IWM). Every person got a ration book with coupons for their allowance. Fruit and vegetables were never rationed, and bread stayed off the ration for the whole war (IWM). Clothes went on the ration in June 1941, and food rationing did not end completely until 1954 (IWM). Rationing is how total war reached every family's kitchen.

In the Flint activity, students plan a week of meals on the weekly ration Britain's Ministry of Food set on 15 September 1941, and find out which rationed food runs out first. A student who says Britain simply ran out of food is sent back to the planner to compare what was rationed with what wasn't. Once the student traces the rationed foods to ships, Sparky asks why soldiers got more than families and shows a chart of how much of Britain's economy went to the war.

Andre's chat: eat for a week on a 1941 ration

Andre is a high schooler who plays soccer and is starving after every practice. He knows Britain fought Germany in World War II. He thinks rationing means the country was running out of food.

The whole class gets the same activity: the same ration planner, with the weekly amounts Britain's Ministry of Food set on 15 September 1941, and the same questions. Each student's chat is their own. Sparky opens with what it remembers about the student, and its next question depends on what the student just said.

Sparky uses what it remembers about the studentSparky sends the student back to something they already triedA right answer gets a harder question

A

Andre

Interest: Plays soccerStarting point: Thinks Britain ran out of food

Sparky

It's 15 September 1941. You're a civilian in Britain, and this is your food ration for the whole week. Fill in your meals for Monday through Sunday. When something runs out, tell me: what was the first rationed food you used up?

Andre

bacon ran out first. i had 2 rashers monday breakfast and 2 tuesday breakfast and thats all 4 oz gone. cheese is almost gone too and its only tuesday

Sparky

You play soccer, so you know what it's like to need fuel after a hard match. Imagine finishing a game and your whole week's bacon is already gone by Tuesday morning. Why do you think the government rationed these foods?

Andre

because britain was running out of food during the war so there wasnt enough for everyone

Sparky

That's a reasonable instinct. Go back to the planner for a second. Which foods could you eat without any limit? And where do you think the rationed foods, like bacon, butter and sugar, came from before the war?

Andre

ok so bread potatoes carrots cabbage apples and oats were unlimited and you can grow all of those on farms in britain. bacon cheese butter sugar and tea must have come from other countries. like tea from india. so on ships?

Understanding check

Exactly right. Before the war, Britain imported 91% of its butter and 81% of its sugar, all by ship, and German U-boats were sinking those ships throughout 1941. That same week, a soldier in Britain got 9 oz of bacon and 14 oz of sugar. A civilian got 4 oz of bacon and 8 oz of sugar. Clothes and petrol were rationed too. Why did the government feed soldiers more than families?

Andre

because the soldiers are the ones actually fighting and they need the energy more. if the army is weak britain loses. so the food goes to the war first and families get whats left

Sparky

That's the core of it. This chart shows how much of Britain's whole economy went to military spending. By 1943, over half of everything Britain produced went to the war. What does that tell you about how the war reached people at home?

Andre

from 1941 on more than half of everything britain made went to the war. so it wasnt just soldiers fighting it, families were part of it too. they ate less and gave up stuff so the money and ships and factories could go to the army

Sparky

That's what historians call total war. The whole economy, and every family in it, was turned toward the fight. You connected rationing to imports and U-boats, and then to where the whole country's food, money and factories went.

Traced the rationed foods to ships and U-boats, then explained total war from his own plate

When Andre said Britain ran out of food, Sparky didn't correct him. It sent him back to the planner to look at what he could eat without limit, and he worked out that the rationed foods came by ship. Only then did Sparky ask why soldiers got more bacon and sugar than he did, and show him the chart.

Andre is an example student, and Sparky's replies are shortened.

What Flint did for Andre

• Sparky remembered that Andre plays soccer and tied the empty bacon bar to the fuel he needs after a match.
• The activity came with a ration planner Sparky built: the real 1941 weekly amounts, a bar for each rationed food, and bread and potatoes with no limit.
• When Andre said Britain ran out of food, Sparky sent him back to the planner to compare what was rationed with what wasn't, instead of telling him the answer.
• After he named the ships, Sparky asked a harder question about soldiers' rations, then made a chart of Britain's war spending for him to read.

A teacher can't do this by hand for 30 students, and Sparky does it in every student's chat.

Who thought Britain ran out of food, and who traced it to the war

When students finish, Sparky grades each chat against the activity's rubric: whether the student ties rationing to food that came by ship, and whether they explain how total war sent food, materials and money to the war effort. The activity page shows who needs help right now, what the class does well, and what to practice next.

Set up the activity for free

The ration activity is in Flint's public library, with the planner, Sparky's guidelines, greeting and a rubric already written. Open it, select Use activity to copy it into a free Flint account, and move it to a class. In the activity's Preview tab, select Try session myself to test the activity as a student before you assign it.

For more social studies activities, see Flint for social studies.