permission to visit a local grocery with an adult supervision
art supplies for creating graphs and other displays
grocery store flyers
Lesson Plan
Arrange the class into five groups, and provide each group with one of the family profiles below. Explain to students that they are going to shop for food for their assigned family based on the family's specific needs and circumstances.
The families are:
The Green Family. The Greens are a family of four with
$100 a week to spend on groceries. The family is comprised of
a single mom and three small children -- a 4-year-old girl, a
3-year-old boy, and a 4-week-old nursing baby.
The Scarlet Family. The Scarlets are a family of four
with $175 a week to spend on groceries. Two members of the family
are teenaged boys who like having friends over. Mom and Dad enjoy
having their children's friends over throughout the week for supper,
lunch, or late night snacks. The younger son was recently diagnosed
with lactose intolerance. The family also has two cats.
The Mustard Family. The Mustards are a family of four;
a grandmother, father, mother, and 5-year-old daughter. They can
spend $110 a week on groceries. Grandma has high cholesterol and
is on a diet restricted to low-fat foods. Of course nobody wants
to make Grandma feel different, so their meals conform to her
diet.
The Plum Family. The Plums are a family of five comprised
of a mother, father, 13-year-old twins, and the mother's sister,
who is in her first year of college. The family can spend $120
a week on food. The twins' aunt chips in an additional $30 a week
for food.
The White Family. The Whites are a family of three. The
family includes a father and two teenaged sons. Dad's girlfriend
often visits for supper; she has convinced the family to follow
a vegetarian diet. This family has $100 a week to spend on groceries.
Explain to students that this project requires them to view the world from someone else's perspective, to be creative, to be an active listener, and to develop shopping skills. The extension activities below offer tasks to help students appreciate and understand the economic, environmental, and health-related responsibilities involved in providing a family with groceries for one week.
Extension Activities
Students
study their family's profile, name each family member, and decide
on the appearance and nationality of the family. They decide on
the content and style of the family portrait, and create a frame
for the portrait.
create a written introduction to their assigned family. The
introduction includes the information on the profile they received,
identifies family members by name, and includes a few of each
individual's dietary likes and dislikes.
figure out the dietary needs of each family member, especially
those with special needs. Find out what each person can or cannot
eat and account for any restrictions in the week's menu plan.
make a rough draft of what groceries are required for a week.
Students can assume the family already has some staples in their
cupboards -- such as spices, dry goods (for example, flour or
rice), and frozen foods. Shopping lists should be arranged into
the following categories:
--- fresh fruit and veggies
--- dry/boxed/canned foods
--- meats
--- dairy products
--- baked goods
--- snacks/extras
--- frozen foods
--- miscellaneous
Foods are displayed in a chart with the title "Shopping List for the
________ Family." All planned purchases are listed in the proper categories.
do the actual shopping needed to prepare the week's menu.
Students shop with an adult guide and write a thank you note
to the guide after the shopping day. They might purchase the
actual items or simply record prices as they walk the store
aisles.
keep track of the countries where the goods they purchased
were produced. Students then create a chart showing where the
goods were produced and a graph showing the percent of goods
produced in each country.
keep track of the amount of consumable waste produced as a
result of their purchases, and then write a short paragraph
describing the types of waste. They indicate whether the waste
from each item is biodegradable, landfill (non-biodegradable),
recyclable, or "no waste." Students might include any opinions
they have about the products' packaging.
write a journal-style report on the shopping experience. Each
student details where he or she shopped, what the store was
like, what his or her role in the group was, what was easy/fun,
what was difficult, what was boring, what was surprising… If
students gained a deeper appreciation for the grocery shopping
their parents do each week, they should write about that too.
sort the list of groceries purchased by food group, and create
an eye-appealing chart for display. Students create bar or pie
graphs to illustrate that breakdown.
make a chart, and give it a title. Each column should be headed
with a food group and foods should be listed beneath the appropriate
heading. Students then total the money spent for each food group.
What percent of the total cost is attributed to each food group?
calculate prices by unit (for example, per item in a package
of six, per pound of weight…)
Assessment
On a sheet of lined paper, students share what they learned
from the project. They also evaluate the project by answering
any or all of the following questions:
What part(s) of this project was most helpful to you as a responsible
consumer/shopper?
Should this project be repeated next year? Why or why not?
What parts of the Consumer Studies Project could have been done
better? How?
Submitted By
Submitted by Shirley Huinink, Laurentian Hills Christian School,
Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
Originally published 05/15/2003
Last updated 02/08/2008
