Where Does Chocolate Come From?
Season 3 Episode 7
Themes: Patience
Prominent Characters
Bing
The yellow StoryBot, Bing has a tendency to get excited and sometimes make risky decisions. In this episode, he gets excited about chocolate and gets into a dangerous situation in the vending machine, then becomes impatient at the chocolate factory leading to a bumpy journey through the chocolate machines.
Plot Highlights
- The StoryBots receive a question from a young boy, where does chocolate come from? After discussing the kinds of chocolate they love, the head to the outside world to find the answer.
- Bang, the blue StoryBot brings the group to a laundromat, and they’re confused about how the location relates to their question. Bang shows them a vending machine at the laundromat with chocolate bars in it, and the yellow StoryBot Bing gets excited and jumps into the machine to climb up to the chocolate. The others follow Bing into the vending machine and beg him to climb down because it isn’t safe to be up so high.
- A person approaches the vending machine and purchases the chocolate bar that Bing is perched on. He tumbles to the floor of the machine along with the chocolate bar. As the person reaches in and grabs his chocolate bar, the red StoryBot, Bang, grabs the other side and tries to pull it from him. The person wins the fight and takes the chocolate bar, leaving Bang with a torn piece of the wrapper which the StoryBots identify as a picture of Ecuador. Thinking that the answer to their question might be there, they head to Ecuador.
- In the rainforest of Ecuador, they meet a mysterious frog and ask him their question about chocolate. He shows them the cacao fruit and the cacao beans inside, but they’re still confused about how these turn into chocolate.
- The StoryBots shrink down and meet the yeast on the surface of a cacao bean, who tell them about the process of fermentation that happens on the surface of the beans.
- Next, the beans get dried and loaded onto a truck to go to their next destination. The frog doesn’t have an answer when the StoryBots ask where the beans are headed, so they get on the truck too and travel with the beans.
- The StoryBots arrive at a chocolate factory, where the chocolatier, played by guest-star Alyssa Milano, tells them that many steps are required before the chocolate is ready. The yellow Story-Bot Bing appears impatient stating that he doesn’t have time for a lot of steps, and he wanders off in search of the completed chocolate.
- The chocolatier shows the StoryBots each of the steps taking the cacao beans to the finished chocolate product, from crushing and removing the shells to liquifying the cacao nibs and adding sugar. Bing had tumbled into a machine with the cacao beans, and through each step of the chocolate-making process we see him getting tossed around in the machines as the chocolate gets made.
- The chocolate finally gets molded into the shape of chocolate bars, and the StoryBots see Bing stuck in one of the bars that comes along on the conveyor belt. They carry him away as they thank the chocolatier for her help.
- The StoryBots return to their boss and explain how chocolate is made. The episode closes with a final song about the chocolate-making process.
Discussion Questions
After this episode, we encourage you to ask your child what they learned about chocolate-making, and to discuss other themes in the episode such as patience. Consider some of the following questions to get you started.
- What did the StoryBots learn about making chocolate in this episode? Did anything surprise you about how chocolate is made? What did you think was the most interesting part?
- Are you curious about how any other foods are made? If your child is wondering about any other foods, we encourage you to explore internet or library resources together to find answers.
- How did the yellow StoryBot, Bing, act in this episode? Why do you think he jumped into the vending machine and then wandered off in the chocolate factory? What do you think would have happened if he had been more patient in the chocolate factory?
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