In part 4 of Super Size Me we learn that the advertising budget for fast food restaurants is H U G E…whereas the advertising budget for the government to get us to eat healthy food is tiny.  Companies like McDonalds spend millions on billboards, TV commercials, and websites to get you excited to buy their food.  To learn about how advertising works, play the game below.  After you’re done, write in your blog about 3 things you learned.

Now, using XtraNormal, IMovie, or Photoshop create an advertisement for a healthy food.  Please use at least 2 of the strategies listed in the chart below.  Post your advertisement on your blog along with the advertisement techniques you used.

Click BELOW for examples:

Click HERE to watch Part 4 of Super Size Me

1. In your blog make a list of 10 foods you believe would make up a healthy meal (include some pictures please).

1.   Click HERE to watch Part 3 of Super Size Me

2. Click HERE to go to McDonald’s Bag a McMeal page.  Order enough food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Now, answer the following questions in your blog:

1) How many calories did your McDonald’s meals add up to? How much fat?

2) Look at the chart below.  Did your McDonald’s meal add up to more calories and fat than is recommended for your age?  If so, how much more?

3) Did the results surprise you? Why or why not?

We’ve learned that bottled water is usually just tap water with a fancy label on it.  But people still buy it. Why?  The answer is advertising.  Bottled water companies spend millions every year trying to make you feel like bottled water makes you healthier, smarter, and happier.

1. Click on the video below to learn more about this:

2.  Now, find out more about advertising by playing the game below:

3.  Now, create an advertisement for TAP WATER using Photoshop, Imovie, or XtraNormal.  Your advertisement must use at least 2 of the techniques below.  Post your advertisement on your blog along with the advertisement techniques you used.

Oh, and Class 8C made a list of the pros and cons of Bottled Water.  You might want to think about them when you’re making your advertisement.  Click below to check it out:

Click Below for Examples:

Watch Part 2 of Super Size Me by clicking HERE (ask for password).  Now, answer the following questions in your blog:

1. Do you think consumers (people who buy things) have the right to sue McDonalds for selling unhealthy food? Why or why not?

2. McDonalds is the largest owner of private playgrounds in the world. What other ways  does McDonalds use to market their food to children?

3.  How many calories do you think a healthy kid should eat in a day (click here for a clue)?  According to the movie, how many calories are in a Super Size fries?  How about a Double Gulp soda?

Last month we watched a cool animation about how bottled water harms the environment, tastes the same as tap water (because it’s made from tap water), and isn’t even cleaner then tap (maybe even dirtier!).  But that was an animation.  Now, lets meet some real people who are going up against the bottled water companies.  See, these bottled water companies come into communities and pump out their tap water (called “municipal water”) without even paying for it.  Then, they sell it for 1900 times the amount of tap!  Do they care if the community is going through a drought (water shortage)?  No!  They keep on pumping out the water.  Check out the video below:

Now, create a comic using Comic Life that re-tells the story you just watched.  Here’s how:

1.  Watch the tutorial below:

2. Go to the flickr page below to get some images.  Feel free to use your own.

3.  Create your comic and post it on your blog.  Click HERE for an example by GCalcano.

Watch part 1 of Supersize Me by clicking HERE (ask me for password).  Please answer these questions in your blog:

1. How many times a week do you eat at McDonalds or other fast food restaurants? Do you ever think about whether what you are eating is healthy? Why or why not?

2. What do you predict will happen to Morgan’s health at the end of the month? Do you think he will remain in perfect health?

3. In one scene there is a shot of a McDonalds inside of a hospital. What do you think about that? Do you find it normal, funny, strange, or sad?

*B O N U S*

What does “organic” mean?  What does “vegan” mean (use your own words)?

1.  Watch The Meatrix 2 1/2 by clicking HERE

2.  Write a blog post beginning with the following sentence:

“The top 5 nasty secrets I learned about the meat and dairy industry…”

You can use ANY of the 3 Meatrix videos to inspire you.

3. Record yourself in IMovie saying the 5 Secrets and post the video in your blog.

1.  Watch the video below about online profiles:

En español haga clic aquí

2.  Now, interview a classmate using the following questions and post their answers on your blog:

-What information and images are OK to post? What’s not OK to post?

-Have you ever posted something online that embarrassed you or got you into trouble?

-Is there any way to guarantee complete privacy when you post things online?

-How might things you post online affect your future?

It’s pretty crazy how much we (you the student and me the teacher) argue about listening to music.  You want to listen to music while you work.  I want you to wait until you are done with your work.  You claim you can work even better while listening to music– it helps you concentrate!  I claim that it actually distracts you.  In this assignment we’ll try and sort this all out.

1.  Begin by watch the movie below:

2. Next, take the Techbrarian Distraction Test by clicking below:

3.  Now, take the quiz below to see how much the music distracted you.

4. Finally, answer the following questions in your blog:

a) Are you someone who normally listens to music while studying?  Why or why not?

b) How was your score on the quiz?  Did the number surprise you? Why or why not?

c) During the Techbrarian Distraction Test was there any type of music that distracted you more than others?  If so, explain why.

d) How do you think you would have done on the test if there were math problems instead of a story?   

*** EXTRA CREDIT (10 POINTS!) :  Explain at least three ways you could change the Techbrarian Distraction Test to make it more like real life.  Describe how each change might effect the results.  For example, what would have happened if I added an instant messaging window on the side of the test?

Watch The Meatrix 2 and answer the following questions in your blog:

1. How are dairy farms different from dairy factories?
2. What is RBGH and what does it do?
3. What is the milk replacer fed to calves (baby cows) made out of? Why is this bad (besides just being gross)?
4. Can you do anything to make a difference as a consumer (someone who buys things)?

1) Is bottled water cleaner and tastier than tap? Explain.

2)  How is bottled water made?  Where does it go after you throw the bottle away?

3) What can you do to help solve the bottled water problem?

–> Extra Credit (20 Points):   Use what you’ve just written in your blog to create an Anti-Bottled Water poster using Photoshop

We just learned about how technology has taken the place of people in fighting wars.  Now, we will see how technology has changed the way humans are trained to fight.  Watch the movie below:

In your blog answer the following questions:

1. What are 3 advantages of having war simulations?

2.  What do you think this technology will look like in 10 years?

Click HERE to watch the The Meatrix and answer the following questions in your blog:

1. How do factory farms treat animals differently than family farms?

2. Why are animals fed antibiotics in factory farms and why is this dangerous?

3. What happens to animal excrement (poop) in factory farms?

What must it be like, for your job, to watch and sometimes kill people through a video screen for hours on end? To make choices that effect people 7,000 miles away from you while you sit in a trailer in the desert? And then, at the end of the day, to return home to your family?*  Digital Technology has made this a reality.  Every day, Predator Drones are sent out by the U.S. to countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq to to kill enemy targets.  Watch the video below to learn more about what it’s like to be a drone operator.

Now, answer the following questions in your blog:

1. How is fighting an enemy with predator drones different from fighting hand-to-hand combat?  How is it similar?

2. Is fair to fight with predator drones when your enemy doesn’t have that technology?

3.  Would you be interested in flying predator drones for the military? Why or why not?

* Paraphrased from Caitlin McNally

DHill and SColon made a cool little documentary on piercings.  Click below to watch it and then answer some questions about it in your blog:

1.  What were the most interesting parts in this documentary?

2.  Name at least three reasons why people get pierces.

3. Do different pierces say different things about people?  For example, does having your ears pierced say something different then having an eyebrow ring?

4.  Is there such a thing as too many pierces?

Let’s look at another example of a Gaming Addict by clicking below.

Next, watch a professor talk about why people get addicted to gaming.

Now, in your blog answer the following questions:

1. Why do you think someone becomes addicted to gaming?

2. Make up a list called  “5 ways to tell that you’re addicted to Gaming”.

–> Click HERE for NRodriguez’s Example

For the next few assignments we’re going to be thinking about how digital technology has changed our lives for the better and, possibly, for the worse.  Click HERE to watch a video about gaming addiction in South Korea.  Next, answer the following questions in your blog:

1. Do you think it’s possible to be addicted to gaming?  Why or why not?

2. What happens in treatment centers for gaming addiction in South Korea?

3. What were some differences you noticed between American culture and south Korean culture?

–> Check out TCedeno’s example by clicking HERE

1.  Watch this video about dirty water:

2.  Check out this slideshow about where drinking water comes from:

3. Finally, go to XtraNormal.com and create a movie about two friends.  One of the friends is a “water waster” and the other friend is there to tell him why he should feel lucky to have clean water.  The more your XtraNormal movie shows what you’ve learned about water, the more points you will get.  You can start the movie with a kid taking a 30 minute shower or leaving the water running in the sink.

Click HERE to see BTan’s animation and HERE for SCorrea’s.

Now that you’ve played WaterLife and learned about the importance of estuaries, it’s time to jump deeper into the idea of dirty water.  We are so lucky in New York City to have plenty of clean and cheap water.  In some cities in the United States water is either dirty or expensive.  Worse yet, in most 3rd world countries, water is in short supply and dangerous to drink.  Imagine what life would be like without clean and cheap water.

1)   Watch the 3 movies below:

2.  Now click HERE to read about some inventions that help clean dirty water.

3. Answer the following questions in your blog:

a)  Name one way water sources become contaminated (dirty) in 3rd world countries?

b) What are the dangers of water contamination?

c) Describe (in your own words) an invention that can save people from drinking contaminated water?

d) Why do you think everyone in 3rd world countries do not have these inventions?