Buy Nothing Day

Help your pupils become wise consumers and avoid becoming targets for consumer scams and fraud. Here you'll find a PowerPoint presentation, instructional guidelines, worksheets, and suggested activities for developing shopper strategies...

The availability of personal financial information is of greater importance now than ever before. Your pupils will discuss how public and private records are accessed by various organizations, particularly considering direct mail, credit...

If you knew that you were likely to develop Alzheimer's disease in your future, how would it affect your life in the meantime? This and other similar thought-provoking questions are discussed in a lesson plan about the availability of...

High schoolers deconstruct advertising messages by analyzing parody ads and exploring the purpose of satire. Then they create their own parodies based on real ads discussed in class. A creative activity to extend any study of media,...

Good consumer practices such as price comparison can make or break a budget. Youngsters research five different cell phone carriers and the plans they offer. They compile their data and determine which plan offers the best value. They...

Simply understanding consumer rights may not help people solve their problems. Understanding who to turn to becomes key in many different scenarios. Teach the value of various organizations that fight for consumer rights through...

Looking at art is the first step to analyzing it. And, if you can analyze art, you can analyze anything. Kids examine several pop art pieces that represent consumerism in modern culture. They discuss multiple facets of each piece and...

Though Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle shocked the American public into a thorough examination of the meat-packing industry, the author was disappointed that his book's main argument—the exploitation of American immigrants—was not...

In this consumer awareness worksheet, learners look at a shopping list and write what is a fair price for each item and how much is the maximum they would be willing to pay. Students discuss their lists and may visit stores to see if...

The topic of consumerism seems easy to those who participate actively in the US economy, but pupils who are new to economics may see the idea as foreign. Help them understand their rights as consumers and what to expect when interacting...