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A call for articles has come in! Teen Consumer Magazine is looking for new articles. In this Elaborate activity, Part of Your Complete Breakfast, you are invited to submit one. To write your article, you will need to use everything you have learned in this chapter. You will have to test different brands of the product you are writing about. You will also have to think about the criteria and constraints for the product. You will then rank the brands according to the evidence you find. In the Evaluate activity, Teen Consumer Magazine, you will write your article. Materials
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Read Call for Articles to learn more about what you will be doing in this activity and the next one.
Call for Articles
Articles needed! We are looking for new articles for the latest issue of Teen Consumer Magazine. It goes to press in 3 days. We need one more article. We want to include an article on breakfast cereals for our nutrition column. Please research this idea. You will need to test breakfast cereals and rank them from most appealing to least appealing for the average teen consumer.
After completing your research and tests, write an article explaining your process. Be sure to tell readers what criteria you considered. Describe the constraints the manufacturer may have had and explain to readers how those constraints may have affected the design of the cereal. Be sure to include a ratings table to help readers find evidence about the cereal. You may include two additional pictures or diagrams if you need to.
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Draw a three-column table in your technology notebook. In the first column, list the criteria you feel are important for judging cereals. Work as a team. As you work, practice the teamwork skill of seeing other people’s points of view. Hint
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With your team, list the constraints that might affect the design of the cereal. Put the constraints in the second column of your table. Hint
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Decide what the definitions of your team’s criteria will be, and how you will test each criterion. Put notes in the table’s third column about how you will test the criteria. Hint
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Carry out the tests based on your team’s definitions. Be sure to record the results of the tests. Rank the cereals for each criterion.
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Create a ratings table similar to the one shown in figure 1-4 for the cereals your team tested.
Activity Overview
In this Elaborate activity, Part of Your Complete Breakfast, students will start a project that they will complete in the Evaluate activity. They will read a call for articles for Teen Consumer Magazine, and then test breakfast cereals to prepare for writing an article.
Before You Teach
Background Information
Teen Consumer Magazine is a fictitious magazine for teenagers that is similar to Consumer Reports. If you have access to Consumer Reports, you may wish to have a few articles for students to peruse to see how the articles are written.
Materials
For each class of 30 students, teams of 3:
- 10 measuring spoons
- small cups
- cereal samples, at least 3 to 5 different brands of cereals
- water
- 10 trays
- 10 medicine droppers
- 30 craft sticks or plastic spoons
- any other materials you think students might need to complete tests on cereals
- a few articles from Consumer Reports magazine (optional)
Advance Preparation
This activity involves students testing different types of cereal in preparation for writing a magazine article. You have different options for obtaining cereal. One option is to have students bring in boxes of cereal in advance. As long as you do not give students the choice of tasting the cereal, then opened boxes are fine. Ask about a week before the investigation and keep a running list of the brands that students bring in. That way they can bring in other brands. You may need to draft a letter to parents explaining how you will use the cereal. Another option is to buy cereals in advance. You will need 3 to 5 different brands of cereal. Students will be testing three different criteria, but they should only need a small sample to do their tests. Single-serve variety packs provide the most diversity and least waste. A third option is to check with your school cafeteria. If it serves breakfast, it may be willing to donate some cereal in bulk for the investigation. You will need to copy the cereal labels so that students can look at the nutritional information.
The materials list has “other materials” as an option. Some students may wish to use milk to see which cereal becomes soggy first. You might ask the cafeteria if it can donate milk for the activity. You might also provide condiment cups for students to use in their tests. Use your discretion in thinking of other materials that students might want for testing the criteria.
It is suggested that you not allow students to use taste as one of the criteria. If the cereal does not taste good, then people will not buy it. However, taste is subjective, and what one person deems as the best taste might be different for another person. Preventing students from tasting will help you save on cereal, since they can use opened boxes. In addition, it is likely that students will use less cereal for their tests and will prevent you from taking extra safety precautions.
Cautions
Wipe up any spills immediately. You should keep students from tasting the cereal. Make sure that all materials are disposed of properly. Although students should not taste the cereal, be aware of any food allergies that may affect students. Depending on the severity of their allergies, small particles from the cereal could cause an allergic reaction.
As You Teach
Outcomes and Indicators of Success
By the end of this activity, students will
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determine the criteria and the constraints for a product.
They will show their ability by listing several criteria and constraints for breakfast cereals.
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conduct a scientific test.
They will demonstrate their ability by
- developing definitions for the criteria
- deciding on variables to control in the tests
- ranking breakfast cereals based on tested properties
- analyzing test results
- summarizing test results in a ratings table.
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practice the teamwork skill of seeing other people’s points of view.
They will demonstrate their skill by
- actively practicing the skill during certain steps of the procedure
- reflecting on and providing an example of how they practiced the skill.
Strategies
Getting Started
Have students look at the chapter organizer and determine what they have learned thus far in the chapter. Students may need a few class periods to complete the investigation about the cereal, since they will be testing three criteria. Explain that they have done several activities with paper towels and now they will move on to a new product to see how the criteria, constraints, and testing compare.
Process and Procedure
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Have students read Call for Articles in Step 1. Make sure they understand what they have read, as it is the basis for this activity and the next one.
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Have students continue working in the same 3-person teams. They should create a three-column table in Step 2 and begin filling out the “criteria” column. This step has students practicing the teamwork skill of seeing other people’s points of view. You may need to remind them that this means to listen respectfully to their teammates and consider others’ ideas. Make sure students read the hints behind the links for the next few steps. If you think students might be having problems with criteria and constraints, use this step and the next as formative assessments.
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Students should continue working as a team to come up with the constraints for the design of cereals. Encourage them to think of as many reasonable constraints as they can. Remind them to continue practicing the teamwork skill, as mentioned in the hint.
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Next, have students decide how they will test each criterion. Tell them that taste should not be a criterion. Taste is a subjective criterion, and what tastes good to one person may not taste good to another. They should make notes about their tests in the third column of their tables. Some students will have more than three criteria. These students should choose their top three choices to test, as described in the hint. Other students may not have three criteria. Have them continue brainstorming until they think of at least three criteria. Remind them that they are writing this article to help consumers decide the type of cereal they would like to buy. Students should have several criteria so that consumers can decide which properties are most important to them.
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Allow students plenty of time to complete Step 5. It will likely take more than one class period to carry out tests for all three criteria.
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Make sure students create a ratings table similar to the one for the paper towels. They can use figure 1-4 as an example, but remind them that some things on the table will change, since they are testing a different product. Steps 1–6 should help students be well prepared for writing their articles in the next activity.