Your Body Your
Choice...Consumer
Awareness
By Lexi Rifaat and Ashley Clackson
Students will…
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Develop a broader understanding of the influences in their
community.
Learn the benefits and consequences of healthy and unhealthy
decisions.
Apply mathematical concepts to a calorie and fitness worksheet to
give them a better understanding of healthy choices.
Become more critical thinkers through analyzing media
Apply their knowledge when answering questions based on their
observations
Learn to work with peers to have meaningful discussions about the
topic at hand.
Incorporate all of the skills obtained through the three lessons which
will then be applied to a final project
DAY 1
Nutrition and Consumer
Awareness
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Students will be presented with a variety of
video clips which advertise different foods
After the short excerpt, the teacher will
provide students with three questions in which
the they will be asked to discuss with a partner
Based on the video clips would you say that the products advertised are
healthy choices
Give examples of how commercials advertise their product; what makes
the product so appealing to the consumer
Estimate how many fast food restaurants there are in the Hartford area
(urban) and compare that to the West Hartford area (suburban)
After children answer the questions above with
their partner they will be asked to further
discuss their findings with the class
DAY 2:
What happens when I exercise?
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The teacher will provide the students with a brief introduction on
what calories are and why exercise is necessary
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Teachers will weigh students
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Students will be given a chart with different fitness activities. This
chart will allow students to see how many calories they can burn
through various exercises in one minute
Students will calculate how many calories they would burn in one
hour (using worksheet)
Students will put a “X” by the boxes (fitness activities) that would
enable them to burn off 100% or more of one serving size of their
favorite snack (which they were asked to bring into the lesson)
• Teacher begins by asking
students to think about questions
pertaining to alcohol and
cigarettes
•Why do you think some
kids choose to drink and
smoke?
•Do you think that drinking
and smoking are bad for
your health? Why?
•Teacher will explain that the
major alcohol and cigarette
companies also use persuasive
methods (like food companies)
that target young buyers to
purchase their product
•Worksheet will be handed out
explaining some of the methods
that the corporations use.
•Students will be shown
several examples of
advertisements and asked to
look for some of the things
mentioned on the worksheet.
Advertisement Example #1
Bud Light is trying to give you
the idea that:
To have a good time you should drink
beer
Bud light is for young people and will
make you more attractive if you drink it
You’re cool if you drink (and you’ll
attract that cute guy/girl whose also
drinking a bud light)
 “Everyone is doing it”
Bright colors used to attract your
attention
Advertisement Example #2
This Camel ad promotes the ideas that:
 It is a “pleasure” to smoke a Camel
(use of the catchy phrase)
The ideal person smokes (physically fit,
young, and attractive models)
Smoking is a sign of independence
Smoking a Camel is a good way to
relax/take a break from your busy day
Bright colors to attract your attention
Some other examples…
Lesson Continued…
•After they view several
advertisements they will be asked
to break into partners to discuss
the advertisements (using the list
as a guide or their own
observations)
•They will also be asked to write
down their answers to the
following questions:
•Do these advertisements portray the real
health hazards associated with alcohol and
cigarette smoking?
•Who are the ads geared towards?
•What message is it sending to consumers?
•Is the advertisement successful in making
you want to buy the product? How?
•For homework students will be asked
to draw an ad for a product that
portrays false advertising using some
of the techniques addressed in class
(using catchy phrases, colors, images
of the cool person, etc…) and write a
paragraph explaining why it is false
advertisement.
Final Project : Evaluation
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Students will be asked to make a
poster presentation
They will be required to collect four
advertisements for either food,
cigarettes, or alcohol
We will provide a variety of
magazines
On the poster the students will
post:
– The four advertisements
– A description next to each of what
the company is portraying/what
techniques they are using to get
you to buy the product
– A description of the real health
hazards/benefits of the product
being advertised (by doing
research)
• They will be given a week to
finish their final project
• To incorporate the community,
parents/family/friends will be
invited to view their oral
presentations where they will
explain their findings