Consumer Smarts Unit

Name _____________ Hour______________ Family and Consumer Science (FACS)

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Consumer Smart Unit

Page 1 Consumer Smart: Your Consumer Profile __ 5 pointsPage 2 Money Matters __ 5 pointsPage 3 DecisionsPage 4 Decisions __10 pointsPage 5 Consumer ReportsPage 6 Consumer Reports __10 pointsPage 7 Environment Worksheet __12 pointsPage 8 Environment Page 9 Print Advertising: Magazine __ 8 pointsPage 10 Advertisement Assignment __15 pointsPage 11 Product Comparison __10 points

__/75 points

Consumer Smarts Unit

Date: _________________Learning Goal: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Two things I learned, liked or found interesting.1.______________________________________________________________________2.______________________________________________________________________

Date: _________________Learning Goal: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Two things I learned, liked or found interesting.1.______________________________________________________________________2.______________________________________________________________________

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Consumer Smarts UnitDate: _________________Learning Goal: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Two things I learned, liked or found interesting.1.______________________________________________________________________2.______________________________________________________________________

Date: _________________Learning Goal: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Two things I learned, liked or found interesting.1.______________________________________________________________________2.______________________________________________________________________

What Kind of Consumer Are You? Circle the letter that best applies to you. T= True F= False S= Sometimes

1. When I buy something it must give me emotional satisfaction. T F S2. I often buy out of habit rather than make a conscious decision. T F S3. I often buy on impulse with little or no thought or plan. T F S4. The thing I buy help me express who I am. T F S5. It’s a fun pastime for me to shop over the internet. T F S6. The things I buy can help me gain popularity. T F S7. The things people own represent how important they are. T F S8. What is in style strongly influence what I buy. T F S9. I am usually not a comparison shopper. T F S10. I have difficulty managing money. T F S11. I often buy things because I like the image of the product T F S12. Teenagers play an important part in our nation’s economy T F S13. I am aware of fads. T F S14. I like to look at advertisements and watch commercials. T F S15. I would call myself a responsible consumer. T F S16. I don’t think saving money is important. T F S

Look at your results. Write a minimum of three sentences explaining what kind of consumer you are and why.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Consumer Smart: Your Consumer Profile

Think about your own consumer profile. The following checklist helps to identify what you value and what is important to you.

1. How would you define a wise consumer? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2 How do I figure my annual income?To calculate your annual income, think about your weekly income from an allowance or a job. (babysitting, mowing lawn, etc.)

● If you earn money from a job/allowance weekly, multiply this figure by 52.● If you typically babysit 2 times per month, multiply an average evening earnings by 24.● If you did summer babysitting, there are about 12 weeks in the summer.

Do you have other seasonal jobs? Also, think about gifts from your birthday, holidays or other annual events for which you may obtain some money. Add up all of these sources of income. Does this figure surprise you?My annual income is:________________________

3. I buy these things regularly with my own money: (circle all that apply) cosmetics contributions fast food

clothes activity fees video gamesmagazines sports equipment DVD’smovies school supplies other:______________gifts books other:______________lunches snacks other:______________

4. After I make a purchase, I have experienced this feeling: (circle all that apply)

satisfied wise guiltyunsatisfied happy sorryfoolish disappointed confidentcheated relieved other:______________

5. Things that most influence my spending choices are: (circle all that apply)parents magazines sportsfriends advertising store displayspolitics movie stars newspapers people in the news movies famous athletes

6. What would you like to learn in this consumer education unit? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Money Matters Complete the statements about money management by filling in the blanks with the best answer from the word bank.

1. ___________________________________ is a resource often exchanged for other resources.

2. A _________________________________ is a written plan for spending your money wisely.

3. Your school lunches, dues to a club, and monthly saving are examples of ____________ expenses.

4. Snacks, gifts, clothing, and magazines are ___________________ expenses.

5. A _____________________________ account is a program that pays you interest. It is offered by financial institutions like banks, credit unions, and savings and loan associations.

6. A _______________________ account allows you to pay bills by writing checks on your account.

7. A ____________________________ allows you to charge goods and services or to borrow money.

8. ______________________________ machines are computers that allow you to make deposits, withdraw money, or transfer money from one account to another.

9. A _____________________________ is a person who buys goods and services.

10. _________________________ stores offer a wide variety of products and services under one roof.

11. _______________________ stores carry national brands at lower prices than department stores.

12. _______________________________ stores are operated by manufacturers- the companies who produce the products.

13. ______________________________ shopping means looking at several brands and models of a product in several stores.

14. ______________________________ shops sell only one type of product or services.

15. Your________________________ is the money you earn.

16. Your________________________ are the way you spend your money.

17. ____________________________ is an amount of money paid to you for the use of your money.

18. When you use ______________________________, you’re promising to pay at a later date.

19. An ______________________ is a paid public announcement about goods and services.

20. ________________________ buying is an unplanned or spur-of-the-moment purchases.

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Budget Impulse Factory Outlet Checking Money Fixed Expenses Flexible Credit Card DiscountSavings Automatic Teller Income Consumer

CreditSpecialty Advertisement Comparison Interest Department

D is for Decision

1. What are the four steps to consider when making a purchase?1.________________________________________________________________2.________________________________________________________________3.________________________________________________________________4.________________________________________________________________

2. What is the difference between a want and need?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. List three NEEDS:▪_________________________________________________________________▪_________________________________________________________________▪_________________________________________________________________

4. List three WANTS:

▪_________________________________________________________________▪_________________________________________________________________▪_________________________________________________________________

5. List four RESOURCES:

▪_________________________________________________________________▪_________________________________________________________________▪_________________________________________________________________▪_________________________________________________________________

6. Why is planning before you shop important?______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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7. List three factors to consider before purchasing an item.

▪_________________________________________________________________▪_________________________________________________________________▪_________________________________________________________________

8. What is impulse buying?______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9. Why is it important to keep your receipts?______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10. Name three ways you could evaluate your decision.

▪_________________________________________________________________▪_________________________________________________________________▪_________________________________________________________________

Decision Making- School Lunch Notes

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Consumer Reports Define the terms:

1. Biased_____________________________________________________

2. Unbiased___________________________________________________

3. Where could you find information about something you would like to buy? Do you consider these sources of information biased, unbiased, or both?

Source of information Biased (B), Unbiased (U) or Both

1. 1.

2. 2.

3. 3.

4. 4.

5. 5.

4. Sales people can be a valuable source of information. List some advantages and disadvantages about using sales people’s information

Advantage Disadvantage

1. 1.

2. 2.

3. 3.

5. Who publishes Consumer Reports magazine? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. Do you consider Consumer Reports magazine a biased or unbiased source of information? Why? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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1. Select a consumer item to research in an issue of Consumer Reports. Complete the following information about one article that is in your issue of Consumer Reports that you selected. (Choose an article with a chart).

Date of issue (located on the front of the magazine)_________________Name of article_______________________________________________Page numbers of article________________________________________

2. Find the rating chart. List the criteria the ratings are based on. What are they evaluating? (located on the top of the chart). ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Look at the ratings chart. Choose three brands. List one advantage and one disadvantage of each.

Brand Advantage Disadvantage

1. _____________________ 1.___________________ 1.________________2. _____________________ 2.___________________ 2.________________3. _____________________ 3.___________________ 3.________________

4. List three things that consumers should know about the product before purchasing the item.

▪▪▪

5. Decide from your findings which brand would you purchase and tell why. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Environment

After participating in discussions about the impact of consumer choices on the environment, answer the following questions. Use complete sentences for questions 1-3).

1. What is the single biggest polluting thing most Americans do every day? What can someone do to prevent this pollution from happening? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. What are some alternatives to driving a car? ________________________________

3. If a person were to buy a video game system, it would most likely be packaged in a cardboard box with styrofoam and plastic bags with wire twist ties. Explain what a person could do with these packaging items so they would not have a negative

impact on the environment. Be specific- give examples! ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. List 5 things you could do to protect the water supply.

● ●

●●●

5. List 3 things can you do to protect the air.

●●●

6. List 3 things can you do to protect the soil.●●●

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Environment

1. __________________ ____________________ are materials that are supplied by nature.

2. _________________________ is the changing of air, water, and land from clean and safe to dirty and unsafe.

3. Common sources of water pollution are human wastes, ________________________ and the chemicals used to kill insects or to fertilize crops.

4. The earth’s land is made up of ______________________, the loose material in which plants can grow.

5. When oil, _____________ ______________, and coal are used up, they cannot be replaced.

6. Practice ___________________________________, or the savings of resources.

7. List three ways to conserve water ___________________________________________________________________________

8. __________________________ are huge pits where waste is buried between layers of earth.

9. Waste buried in landfills is supposed to _______________________, or break down, so that it becomes part of the earth.

10. ___________________________ means disposing of waste by burning.

11. What can you do at home to help with resources? ___________________________________________________________________________

12. What can you do at school to help with resources? ___________________________________________________________________________

13. What can you do in the community to help with resources? ___________________________________________________________________________

14. Buy products that are ___________________________, or broken down and absorbed by the environment.

15. ____________________ is turning waste items into products that can be used.

16. In addition to protecting the environment, you need to be aware of your _____________________ _____________________.

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Pollution Natural Resources Recycling Soil Detergents BiodegradableConservation Incineration Soil Landfills Personal Safety

Print Advertising- Magazines

Select two magazine advertisements from the class collection and fill out an evaluation for each one. Please use complete sentences.

Advertisement #1

1. What is the product or company that is being advertised? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. What catches your attention in this advertisement? (colors, buzz words) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Who is the target audience? _________________________________________ Why?___________________________________________________________

4. What are two questions a person should ask before buying this product?

Question #1________________________________________________________

Question #2 _______________________________________________________

Advertisement #1

5. What is the product or company that is being advertised? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. What catches your attention in this advertisement? (colors, buzz words) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. Who is the target audience? _________________________________________ Why?___________________________________________________________

8. What are two questions a person should ask before buying this product?

Question #1______________________________________________________

Question #2 ______________________________________________________

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Advertisement AssignmentWe have spent the last few days talking about advertising and now it is your turn. Make an advertisement of an existing or new product. The advertisement could also be for a company.

Criteria:Plan your advertisement (Write your plan on this page in complete sentences). _____ 5 points

1. What is the name of your company/product? ________________________________________________________________________

2. What will the symbol, slogan, or jingle be? ________________________________________________________________________

3. What do you want the consumer to learn about your company/product? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. How will you get the consumer’s attention? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. What type of media would you use to convey your message? (newspaper/magazine advertisement, billboard, store display window) _______________________________________________________________________

6. When would you want to run this advertisement? _______________________________________________________________________

Why would you choose to run the ad at this time? _______________________________________________________________________

There are 2 advertising technique on your advertisement _____ 5 points

Circle the 2 technique(s) you are using buzz word, technique of involvement, emotional needs, appeal to fear, power of association (celebrity), or market segmentation (target audience), humor, bandwagon (look at your advertising notes).

Creative, original, colorful, interesting, neat, correct spelling _____ 5

points

Total Score _____ 15 points

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PRODUCT COMPARISION Kemps vs. Breyers Vanilla Ice Cream

Directions:1) Rate the different brands of ice creams using a scale from 1 to 5. (5 being high) 2) Write one comment for each category (taste, color, texture, ingredients and price per serving) on the right hand side of this worksheet.3) Add up the points and determine which ice cream you feel is the better buy.4) Answer the questions at the bottom of this worksheet.

Criteria Kemps Breyers Comments

Taste

Color

Texture

Ingredients:natural vs. artificial

Price Per Serving

Be thoughtful with your answers and use complete sentences.

1. Which brand of ice cream do you feel is a better buy? __________________________________________________________________

2. Why did you choose that brand? __________________________________________________________________

3. What are two advantages of comparison shopping?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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4. What are two disadvantages of comparison shopping? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Advertising Notes

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Buzz Words