Bottled+Water

Many Americans today drink bottled water. Commonly cited reasons include concern for the safety of municipal water supplies and convenience. Personally, I drink from a reusable water bottle that is hopefully completely BPA-free. Bisphenol A is a common component of many plastics. Some studies have shown that BPA can cause reproductive disorders. (See references about BPA, below under "links".) Also, the bottles are not always recycled, and, even when they are, cause a lot of waste and force municipalities to take care of the added water bottles. The goal of this workshop is to help the children cultivate health and media literacy to see through companies' health claims and look at how nature is portrayed in the advertisements.


 * Ideas:**
 * [|Story of Bottled Water] (10 minutes long, rewatch for more ideas)
 * Discussion about why people drink bottled water (may include asking the children if their families use bottled water, and, if so, why)
 * Slideshow about privatization of water and environmental effects of bottled water, with discussion to follow (20 minutes total)
 * Talk about health effects of bottled water
 * Treadmills (pollution from water bottle companies, water is worse, so people feel like they have to drink bottled water)
 * Ads about water, talk about what's in them (promote media literacy)


 * Links:**
 * []
 * []
 * [|"However, [BPA has been found not to degrade or to degrade only slowly under conditions of low or no oxygen." ]]


 * Workshop:**

A fifteen minute discussion about bottled water would asses what the children already know. Why do people drink bottled water? Do the students' families drink bottled water? If so, why? What other reasons exist for people to drink bottled water, like unsafe (proven or suspected) water supplies or lack of time? Why might bottled water be harmful?

Next, we would watch //A Story of Bottled Water.// This is a short video about ten minutes long and should bring up lots of questions and good discussions about bottled water, advertisements, and nature. Ten more minutes would be set aside for discussion, which would be as student-led as possible. We would also discuss BPA and the dangers of it, as well as where it is found. Then, we would watch several short water bottle companies' ads.

Ad 1: Beyonce` [] How would using a famous singer help the water bottle company sell water? Also, notice the plain background and what Beyonce` is wearing--doesn't it make the water seem pure? Plus, she is gently sprinkling water around, making it seem as if water is plentiful.

Ad 2: Evian, from the Heart of the Alps [] How does this ad try to show how pure and scientific its water must be? How does it use "nature" to sell its product? How does this use of nature in an advertisement show how nature is thought of in our society?

Ad 3: Parody ad about "Bottled Air" [] What does this ad show about bottled water ads? Why might people have created this parody?

Ad 4: Evian ad with precocious babies [] Besides being entertaining, what does this ad accomplish? What sort of message are the advertisers trying to get across?