Search for Resources

Consumer Choices & the Natural World (Chapter 3)

An Educator's Guide to Exploring Consumer Issues and the Environment

Secondary, Middle

Description

In this comprehensive, interdisciplinary guide, middle school students learn how their consumer choices affect the environment and how they can make a difference by buying differently. This 300-page toolkit, presented in a 3-ring binder, includes an Educator's Guide with background information for educators on exploring consumer patterns, impacts on the natural world, and opportunities and innovations; fourteen hands-on activities that range from analyzing pop song lyrics for perspectives on needs versus wants to acting out product life cycles and calculating ecological footprints; an annotated list of resources for more information; and more. The toolkit also includes a Community Action Guide, with 25 consumer-related project ideas and some step-by-step advice on organizing group projects to make a difference in the community, and a colorful 2-sided Your Stuff, Your Planet poster.

Activity 1: Buy-O-Diversity.  Students solve mysteries, take a quiz that connects consumerism to biodiversity and go on a simulated shopping hunt.

Activity 2: Notable Quotables.  Students read and write quotes that reflect attitudes and values about consumer habits.

Activity 3: Back in the Day.  Students analyze graphs and conduct community interviews to assess how consumer patterns have changed over time.

Activity 4: Money Matters. Students survey people's beliefs and behaviours concerning consumer habits and then make a personal commitment about their own consumer behaviours.

Activity 5: A Material World.  Students analyze the lyrics to popular songs and then create a song or poem that describes the needs and wants of young people.

Activity 6: Analyze an Ad.  Students create a formula to calculate our daily exposure to advertising, consider the nature of those ads and then create their own ads that link consumer choices to biodiversity.

Activity 7: Measuring Your Footprint.  Students calculate and compare ecological footprints and consider ways to reduce one's footprint.

Activity 8: Saving Planet X.  Students explore the relationship between resources and consumption by completing a simulated forum on an imaginary planet.

Activity 9: Investigating Green Claims.  Students read a fictional story about green claims and then examine claims in their own local stores.

Activity 10: Aisle Hopping.  Students play a simulation game to consider how consumer's purchasing decisions change through education.

Activity 11: A Day in the Life.  Students complete a skit and then further examine aspects of the lifecycle of conventionally and alternatively produced cotton.

Activity 12: Trash to Treasure.  Students audit and sort classroom trash.

Activity 13: Car Quest.  Students assess the environmental impacts of a fleet of cars and research greener transportation choices.

Activity 14: Polar Bears and Petroleum.  Students complete posters that examine the relationship between energy consumption and biodiversity. 

General Assessment

What skills does this resource explicitly teach?

  • Analyzing one's footprint
  • Completing a survey
  • Examining poetry

Strengths

The resource:

  • is interesting and includes a wide-range of activities.
  • is up-to-date.
  • includes many fun activities that encourage students to use their imagination.
  • is clearly presented.
  • offers a selection of assessment strategies.

Weaknesses

  • No out-of-doors experiences.
  • No case studies.
  • No guest speakers or fieldtrips to local merchants.
  • Lack of emphasis on presenting all points of view (such as from the local business community) and encouraging critical-thinking skills.

Relevant Curriculum Units

The following tool will allow you to explore the relevant curriculum matches for this resource. To start, select a province listed below.

  • Step 1Select a province
  • Alberta
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 6
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Physical Education & Health
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Financial Literacy: Informed financial decision making contributes to the well-being of individuals, groups, and communities.
    • Grade 9
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Environmental Science
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Environment and Outdoor Education: Commitment to Action
        • Environment and Outdoor Education: Environmental Investigations
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Issues for Canadians: Economic Systems in Canada and the United
  • British Columbia
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 6
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Global Issues and Governance: Complex global problems require international cooperation to make difficult choices for the future.
    • Grade 8
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Physical Education & Health
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Physical and Health Education: Healthy choices influence our physical, emotional, and mental well-being.
    • Grade 9
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Physical Education & Health
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Physical and Health Education: Healthy choices influence our physical, emotional, and mental well-being
  • New Brunswick
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 6
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • World Cultures: Some Elements of Culture
        • World Cultures: World Issues
    • Grade 7
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Empowerment: Economic Empowerment
    • Grade 8
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Atlantic Canada in the Global Community: Economics
    • Grade 9
  • Newfoundland & Labrador
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 8
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Health Education
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Health: Nutrition
      • Home Economics
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Home Economics Intermediate: Foods and Nutrition
        • Home Economics Intermediate: Money Management & Consumerism
    • Grade 9
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Home Economics
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Home Economics Intermediate: Foods and Nutrition Module
  • Northwest Territories
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 6
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Health Education
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Nutrition
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Global Issues and Governance: Complex global problems require international cooperation to make difficult choices for the future.
    • Grade 8
    • Grade 9
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Health Education
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Nutrition
      • Physical Education & Health
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Physical and Health Education: Healthy choices influence our physical, emotional, and mental well-being
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Issues for Canadians: Economic Systems in Canada and the United
        • The Growth of Canada: Canadian International Connections
  • Nova Scotia
  • Nunavut
  • Ontario
  • Prince Edward Island
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 6
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Health Education
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Life Learning Choices
        • Wellness Choices
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • World Issues
    • Grade 7
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Home Economics
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Intermediate Home Economics:Food
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Economic Empowerment
    • Grade 8
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Home Economics
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Intermediate Home Economics: Food
    • Grade 9
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Home Economics
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Intermediate Home Economics:Food
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Interdependence: Atlantic Canada in the Global Community: Trade in the Global Community
  • Quebec
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 7
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • History & Citizenship Education
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • A social phenomenon of the present
        • First experience of democracy
        • Industrialization: an economic and social revolution
        • Winning of Civil Rights & Freedoms
      • Physical Education & Health
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Physical Education and Health: Adopts a healthy, active lifestyle
    • Grade 8
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • History & Citizenship Education
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • A social phenomenon of the present
        • First experience of democracy
        • Industrialization: an economic and social revolution
        • Winning of Civil Rights & Freedoms
      • Physical Education & Health
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Physical Education and Health: Adopts a healthy, active lifestyle
    • Grade 9
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Physical Education & Health
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Physical Education and Health: Adopts a healthy, active lifestyle
      • Science & Technology
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Applied Science & Technology: The Living World
        • Science and Technology: The Living World
  • Saskatchewan
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 6
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Health Education
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Health Education 6: Decision Making
    • Grade 7
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Health Education
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Health Education 7: Understanding, Skills and Confidences
        • Health Education 7: Action Planning
        • Health Education 7: Decision Making
    • Grade 8
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Health Education
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Understanding, Skills & Confidence
        • Health Education 8: Action Planning
        • Health Education 8: Decision-Making
        • Helth Education 8
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • The Individual in Canadian Society: Resources & Wealth
    • Grade 9
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Health Education
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Health Education 9: Decision Making
  • Yukon Territory
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 6
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Global Issues and Governance: Complex global problems require international cooperation to make difficult choices for the future.
    • Grade 8
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Physical Education & Health
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Physical and Health Education: Healthy choices influence our physical, emotional, and mental well-being.
    • Grade 9
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Physical Education & Health
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Physical and Health Education: Healthy choices influence our physical, emotional, and mental well-being

Themes Addressed

  • Citizenship (4)

    • Ecological Footprint
    • General Guide to Taking Action
    • Media
    • Sustainable Consumption

  • Waste Management (1)

    • Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Sustainability Education Principles

Principle Rating Explanation
Consideration of Alternative Perspectives SatisfactoryThe resource is explicit in its intent to help students explore consumer habits in the hope that they will adopt sustainable consumer choices.  Emphasis is on overconsumption and how we can change it. Limited attention is given to the widely popular notion that a vibrant economy depends on rubust consumer behaviour.
Consideration of Alternative Perspectives:
  • Satisfactory: absence of bias towards any one point of view
  • Good: students consider different points of view regarding issues, problems discussed
  • Very good: based on the consideration of different views, students form opinions and  take an informed position
Multiple Dimensions of Problems & Solutions Good

The resource considers many aspects of consumer behaviour although it does not give attention to how to maintain a healthy economy or offer an alternative view of what a healthy economy might look like.

Multiple Dimensions of Problems & Solutions:

Effectively addresses the environmental, economic and social dimensions of the issue(s) being explored.

  • Satisfactory: resource supports the examination of  these dimensions
  • Good:  resource explicitly examines the interplay of these dimensions
  • Very Good:  a systems-thinking approach is encouraged to examine these three dimensions
Respects Complexity GoodThe resource considers many aspects of consumerism.  Students are encouraged to think critically about issues and the complex nature of the sustainability challenges that we face.
Respects Complexity:

The complexity of the problems/issues being discussed is respected.

Acting on Learning Satisfactory

Authentic opportunities to promote community change are generally presented as a supplement to the activities in the form of a Community Action Guide at the end of the resource but activities are not embedded within the fourteen lessons (with the exception of some extension activities).

Acting on Learning:

Learning moves from understanding  issues  to working towards positive change — in personal lifestyle, in school, in the community,  or for the planet

  • Satisfactory: action opportunities are included as extensions 
  • Good: action opportunities are core components of the resource
  • Very Good: action opportunities for students are well supported and intended to result in observable, positive change
Values Education Satisfactory
  • Students have some opportunities to draw their own conclusions through the activities but are generally steered toward changing their consumer habits. 
  • Connections are made for students between their consumer attitudes and behaviours and ecological sustainability.
Values Education:

Students are explicitly provided with opportunities to identify, clarify and express their own beliefs/values.

Empathy & Respect for Humans Satisfactory

Some attention is given to equity of resource use between nations/cultures.

Empathy & Respect for Humans: Empathy and respect are fostered for diverse groups of humans (including different genders, ethnic groups, sexual preferences, etc.).
Personal Affinity with Earth Poor/Not considered

There are no out-of-door activities that encourage an affinity with non-humans/earth.

Personal Affinity with Earth:

Encourages a personal affinity with -the natural world.  

  • Satisfactory: connection is made to the natural world
  • Good: fosters appreciation/concern for the natural world
  • Very Good: fosters stewardship though practical and respectful experiences out-of-doors 
Locally-Focused Learning GoodStudents explore their own and others' consumer habits and the impacts those behaviours have for individuals and ecosystems.
Locally-Focused Learning:

Includes learning experiences that take advantage of issues/elements within the local community. 

  • Satisfactory: learning is made relevant to the lives of the learners
  • Good: learning is made relevant and has a local focus
  • Very Good: learning is made relevant, local and takes place ‘outside’ , in the community 
Past, Present & Future Good

Students examine changes in past to present consumer habits and explore ways to encourage sustainable consumer behaviours for the future.

Past, Present & Future: Promotes an understanding of the past, a sense of the present, and a positive vision for the future.

Pedagogical Approaches

Principle Rating Explanation
Open-Ended Instruction SatisfactoryStudents are generally steered toward the notion that our consumer habits have become unsustainable and need to change.  The resource does not recognize that often there are no easy answers around consumption (for example, a decision to consume organic products often implies a willingness to purchase a product that is not produced locally).
Open-Ended Instruction :

Lessons are structured so that multiple/complex answers are possible; students are not steered toward one 'right' answer.

Integrated Learning Good
  • Activities include research, literature, surveys, ecological footprinting, reader's theatre, garbage audits, etc. 
  • Connections are made between multiple aspects of consumption.
Integrated Learning:

Learning brings together content and skills  from more than one  subject area

  • Satisfactory: content from a number of different  subject areas is readily identifiable
  • Good:  resource is appropriate for use in more than one subject area
  • Very Good:  the lines between subjects are blurred 
Inquiry Learning SatisfactoryActivities are generally scripted and highly structured. 
Inquiry Learning:

Learning is directed by questions, problems, or challenges that students work to address.   

  • Satisfactory: Students are provided with questions/problems to solve and some direction on how to arrive at solutions.
  • Good: students, assisted by the teacher clarify the question(s) to ask and the process to follow to arrive at solutions.  Sometimes referred to as Guided Inquiry
  • Very Good:  students generate the questions and assume much of the responsibility for how to solve them.  . Sometimes referred to as self-directed learning.

 

Differentiated Instruction GoodThere are a range of activities and approaches to instruction in the resource.
Differentiated Instruction:

Activities address a range of student learning styles, abilities and readiness.

  • Satisfactory:  includes a variety of instructional approaches
  • Good: addresses  the needs of visual, auditory &  kinesthetic learners
  • Very Good: also includes strategies for learners with difficulties
Experiential Learning Poor/Not consideredStudents complete  surveys and sort trash although specific activities do not direct them toward authentic action.
Experiential Learning:

Authentic learning experiences are provided

  • Satisfactory: learning takes place through ‘hands-on’ experience or simulation
  • Good: learning involves direct experience in a ‘real world context’
  • Very good: learning involves ‘real world experiences’ taking place’ beyond the school walls.
Cooperative Learning SatisfactoryStudents work in groups.  No direct group instruction is provided.
Cooperative Learning:

Group and cooperative learning strategies are a priority.

  • Satisfactory:  students work in groups
  • Good: cooperative learning skills are explicitly taught and practiced
  • Very Good: cooperative learning skills are explicitly taught, practiced and assessed
Assessment & Evaluation Satisfactory
  • Some assessment strategies are provided including personal reflection. 
  • Students maintain a portfolio.
  • A brief collection of criteria are provided for assessment of activities.
Assessment & Evaluation: Tools are provided that help students and teachers to capture formative and summative information about students' learning and performance. These tools may include reflection questions, checklists, rubrics, etc.
Peer Teaching Satisfactory

The supplementary Community Action Guide provides opportunities for students to teach others through community action projects.

Peer Teaching:

Provides opportunities for students to actively present their knowledge and skills to peers and/or act as teachers and mentors.

  • Satisfactory: incidental teaching that arises from cooperative learning, presentations, etc.
  • Good or Very Good: an opportunity is intentionally created to empower students to teach other students/community members. The audience is somehow reliant on the students' teaching (students are not simply ‘presenting')
Case Studies Poor/Not consideredNo case studies are provided.
Case Studies:

Relevant case studies are included.  Case studies are thorough descriptions of real events from real situations that students use to explore  concepts in an authentic context.

Locus of Control Poor/Not consideredVery few opportunities are provided for students to extend their learning.
Locus of Control: Meaningful opportunities are provided for students to choose elements of program content, the medium in which they wish to work, and/or to go deeper into a chosen issue.