Ray Kroc, builder of the McDonald's restaurant chain, was born in 1902.

Based on a franchising agreement with the owners of a small hamburger restaurant, Kroc opened his first McDonald’s restaurant in 1955. Since then, McDonald’s restaurants have appeared in over 80 countries, and the McDonald’s name has become one of the most recognized corporate trademarks ever. By paying attention to cultural and societal trends, and by strict adherence to high standards of cleanliness, quality and service, Kroc continued to create more restaurants. By 1960, a mere five years after he began, there were 228 McDonald’s restaurants, and Kroc was well on his way to creating the largest chain of restaurants in history. Today, there are more than 30,000 McDonald’s restaurants in over 100 countries around the world.

Xpeditions
Fast Food Around the World (6–8) helps students use the Internet or the library to research the cultures of four other countries. Research results are then compiled into a plan for a fast-food restaurant in each of the countries, tailoring the restaurant to the cultural tastes of people in those countries.

Illuminations
Ideas with Food (Pre-K–8) includes lessons that help students focus on organization, preparation and presentation of some simple foods as a way to apply various mathematical concepts. Problem solving techniques are central to almost all the activities, including one in which students prepare a commercial brownie mix and serve equal portions to all class members. In order to successfully complete the assignment, students must determine the minimum amounts of ingredients required.

Science NetLinks
Nutrition 1: Food and the Digestive System (3–5) is the first of a three-part series. This lesson helps students focus on what nutrients are needed to do particular tasks for the body. It works in conjunction with Nutrition 2: Good Food, Good Health (3–5), a lesson that teaches about the food groups and how vitamins and minerals help the body function properly and Nutrition 3: Got Broccoli? (3–5), a culminating lesson about nutrition.

EconEdLink
In The Big Mac Index (9–12), students use the jingle, "Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun," to explore how the Big Mac allows economists to make (admittedly unscientific) comparisons of exchange rates and relative prices in countries around the globe.

In US History: Inventors & Entrepreneurs (3–8), students learn the difference between inventors and entrepreneurs. Through discussion with adults, students learn some of the benefits inventors and entrepreneurs have provided for society in the last 40 years.

ReadWriteThink
Words like McDonald's that are already familiar to students can be a great starting point and confidence builder as students are learning to read. In Stop Signs, McDonald’s, and Cheerios: Writing With Environmental Print (K–2), students read words found on everyday objects and use them to identify individual letters. They then create captions for an electronic book with preselected logos and illustrations. Finally, they create an original book choosing their own logos and images.