Cereal Taste Test: Generic
vs. Name Brand
Science, Math, Language
Arts, Social Studies
Objectives:
-
Students will evaluate and compare generic
and name brand cereals based on taste, smell, and appearance.
-
Based on their evaluation, the students
will determine which cereals are generic and which are name brand.
-
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:
-
Discuss what a generic product is. Have
students come up with their own definitions.
-
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:
-
There are two baggies marked A and B.
One contains the name brand cereal, the other contains the generic.
-
The students will fill in the observation
sheet based on their observations of color, size, shape, texture, smell,
and taste.
-
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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1998 - Amanda Thompson amandakaye@yahoo.com
