Media Smarts
Don't Drink and Drive: Assessing the Effectiveness of Anti-Drinking Campaigns
Have your class explore alcohol awareness public service announcements. Provided are a detailed plan and a complete set of materials for doing just this. Learners are exposed to a series of approaches and advertisements and decide which...
Curated OER
“Pardon This Interruption-Columbus Has Landed!!!”
Students research, design, rehearse, record, and present a 60 second Public Service Announcement, based on Columbus' arrival in the America. The students, working in groups, utilize the design process in creating their PSA. This lesson...
Curated OER
Social Studies: Public Service to a Better Image
Students, in a program entitled "Strategies for Success," examine ways to change public perception of their school. In this project-based instructional activity, they explore local social and environmental issues, develop a conflict...
Curated OER
Popularity, Publicity, and Public Service
Students discuss the issue of celebritites who speak out for certain diseases. After reading an article, they consider a doctor's perspective on the use of celebrities. In groups, they research a common disease and design a public...
Curated OER
Too Hot to Handle
Students read an online article and research the ten most active volcanoes in the world. They devise an independent public service announcement for evacuating people living near a volcano.
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Leadership & Public Service
Students read and discuss quotes from well-known public servants to generate a list of leadership qualities they value. They then view short video clips from prominent public and private sector leaders.
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Children of War
Students discuss children's rights during wartime and watch public service announcements. After reading excerpts from children's diaries of war, they work in groups to create a storyboard for their own PSA on children's rights during...
Los Angeles Unified School District
Data at Our Service
You may have many ideas, but asking the public what they want is probably the best approach. Learners act as the student council president and conduct a survey to determine the needs of the school. They then analyze the data using...
Curated OER
Public Officials, DUI And Role Models
Students research on Internet and in any available law books to find drunk driving laws in their state, including ramifications of refusing breathalyzer or other tests, identify rights of someone arrested and charged with DUI-related...
Curated OER
Does My hair Disrupt Your Learning?
Students use the internet to research ways to save and earn money. They interview bankers and financial counselors to discover different types of investments. Students create public service announcements to inform their classmates of...
Curated OER
Technology and Teen Abuse
Students research dating abuse, particularly as it affects teens in general and specifically when technology like cells phones and the Internet is involved. They develop and use a survey on dating abuse in thier school and use the...
Curated OER
The League
Students explore the concept of civic virtue in a democratic state. In this democracy lesson, students listen to John F. Kennedy's inaugural speech, read selections on democracy, and discuss the importance of civic rights and...
Skyscraper Museum
Designing a Skyscraper
Besides serving as awe-inspiring monuments of human achievement, skyscrapers are built to perform a wide range of functions in urban communities. The second lesson in this series begins by exploring the history of the Empire State...
Teaching Tolerance
Advertising on the Internet
Believe it or not, everyone plays a role in Internet advertising. Scholars explore the topic with a podcast about Internet advertising and personal identity. Next, partners plan and produce their own public service announcements to...
Curated OER
Truth in Advertising: When to Ask Questions
Students view different commercials and ad campaigns that present opposing notions of "truth." Students use these commercials to evaluate what makes an effective public service announcement (PSA) or advertisement, then choose a national...
Curated OER
Using Public Transportation
Learners investigate the types of public transportation in a their area and how much it costs to use that transportation. Also, they determine why having access to public transportation can be so important in maintaining a job. They call...
Curated OER
Public Companies: Power of the People
Pupils examine the differences between publicly and privately owned companies. They determine the relationship between publicly traded companies and their shareholders. They determine what it means to be a shareholder and what...
Curated OER
Helping People Who Are Hungry
Students discuss the concept of hunger. In this hunger lesson, students discuss the book, The Story of Stone Soup. Student then brainstorm a possible service project ideas and create plans to carry out their service project.
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Growing Into Public Service: William Howard Taft's Boyhood Home
High schoolers research the role that education, family values, and respect for civic duty played in forming the leadership skills of the Taft family. They list and examine jobs held by William Howard Taft before he became president.
Curated OER
Gazing Into the Faces of AIDS
Students consider whether or not there are generalizations that can be made about people who are infected with H.I.V. or who have the AIDS virus. They create public service ad campaigns to educate the public and consider other ways to...
Curated OER
Summer Bummers
Brainstorm popular summer activities and their risks after having your class read an article. They will discover the risks of sun overexposure and in groups develop public service announcements for young people. They also propose a media...
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Disease and Epidemics
Students explore how the study of diseases, epidemics and disease management offers opportunities for exploration of biological evolution, immune systems, interaction between humans and their environment, and interaction among organisms....
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Drug Awareness: A Public Service Announcement
Middle schoolers discuss whether they can make a difference in the fight against drugs.
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A Grand Showing
Students promote philanthropy. In this service learning lesson, students create video documentaries based on service learning projects they completed and then share the video with their peers and community.