Sports Personalities in Advertising
In this lesson students explore the relationship between athletes and advertising through a number of different activities.
Looking At Food Advertising - Lesson
This lesson introduces students to the ways in which advertising can affect their food choices.
Marketing to Teens: Gotta Have It!
In this lesson students identify how we associate social status with brand name products, and how we believe others perceive us by what we wear. Students will also explore the notion of “brand identity” and how companies use social networks, and advertising strategies to create parasocial relationships with their consumers. To assess their learning, students then independently analyze the identity of a brand of their choice and create a mock ad that more openly communicates its implicit appeal.
Girls and Boys on Television
In this lesson, students discuss television programming aimed at children and how girls and boys are portrayed in it. Students illustrate what they dislike about portrayals of girls or boys and then create their own TV character who will counter the illustrated negative portrayals.
Gender Stereotypes and Body Image - Lesson
These lessons are an adaptation of Grade 8 lessons from the Curriculum Healthy Relationships, by Men For Change, Halifax, Nova Scotia, a 53-activity, three-year curriculum designed for teens.
Looks Good Enough to Eat
This lesson looks at food photography and the different techniques used by food stylists to make foods look appealing in advertisements.
Buy Nothing Day
In this lesson Buy Nothing Day is used as a jumping-off point to look at the role of consumerism in our lives and culture.
Image Gap - Lesson
This lesson helps students understand how self-image can influence lifestyle choices.
Comic Book Characters
In this lesson, students learn how shapes are used in character design in comics and animation and look at how male and female characters are depicted in comic books. Using a Comic Book Analysis sheet, students will record the attributes of male and female comic book characters. As a class, students will record common patterns and discuss what messages about men and women are communicated. Students then design a comic book character that uses shapes to communicate what they think a real hero is.
What do Halloween costumes say?
This activity, adaptable across grades, is designed to help students look critically at the Halloween costumes marketed to them.