Cereal Taste Test: Generic vs. Name Brand
Science, Math, Language Arts, Social Studies

Objectives:

    1. Students will evaluate and compare generic and name brand cereals based on taste, smell, and appearance.
    2. Based on their evaluation, the students will determine which cereals are generic and which are name brand.
    3. Students will hypothesize several reasons why name brand cereals cost more than generic cereals.
Focus/Set Induction: Show students a box of name brand cereal and a box of generic cereal. Do they think that if the cereals were not in the boxes they could tell the difference? Rationale: Making informed shopping choices is something students must do later in life. This activity helps them to see that other than the packaging, most generic cereals are just as good as their name brand counterparts. Materials:

                    Name brand cereal (Froot Loops, Cheerios, etc.)
                    Equivalent generic cereal
                    Plastic baggies or other small container (2 per pair)
                    Evaluation Sheets
                    Rulers
                    Index cards (or other marker for graph)

Activities:

Instructional Input:

    1. Discuss what a generic product is. Have students come up with their own definitions.
    2. Ask students: Do they cost the same as name brand? Do you think that they look and taste the same?
Guided Practice:

                    1) Explain procedures for experiment:

    1. There are two baggies marked A and B. One contains the name brand cereal, the other contains the generic.
    2. The students will fill in the observation sheet based on their observations of color, size, shape, texture, smell, and taste.
    3. They will then answer the questions at the bottom of the page.
2) Put a sample Evaluation Sheet on the overhead and show the students how to fill in the table. Independent Practice: Have the students work in groups of 2 or 3 and perform the experiment.

Challenge:

Have students go to the supermarket and compare the prices of several name brand and store brand cereals. Are the prices really different? Do they notice anything about the placement of products on the shelves?

For those that need help:

If students have trouble writing their descriptions, have them describe the cereals orally or even draw pictures to represent their observations.

Evaluation: Students will be evaluated on participation and following directions during the experiment. They will also be evaluated individually on the reasonableness of their answers to the questions on the Evaluation Sheet. Closure:

Make a chart on the board with two columns, A and B. Give each student an index card. They may then place their card in the column of the cereal       that they thought was the name brand cereal. Have several students share why they chose that cereal as the name brand. (There should not be a consensus, but if there is, that is okay as long as the students all had valid reasons for their choices.) Finally, reveal the correct answer to the class and compare this to the class findings. Ask for student opinions on why they think name brand cereals cost more than generic cereals.

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