WebQuest

Eating Disorders:
A Teenage Health Crisis in New York

Mr. Salcedo

Mott Hall School

Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation gives new meaning to the old saying, “You are what you eat.” Since the dawn of the fast food industry in the 1950’s patriotic Americans have been scarfing down Happy Meals, Big Macs, Double Pounders with Cheese, Supersize Fries, and Big Gulp Pepsi Colas. As a result, we’ve become a proud nation of toxic, lethargic, overstuffed cows.

On the other hand, many young people today have developed serious eating disorders that are NOT directly related to eating fast foods. These include such condition as Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Compulsive Overeating, among others. These conditions can cause life threatening illness and long term disabilities.

You have been assigned to a taskforce to raise public awareness at Mott Hall School and in the community about the myriad health risks of eating disorders. You will us your rhetorical expertise and research skills not only to persuade target audiences of the existence of this health crisis but to propose feasible and effective policies to improve the overall health of young people in the city.

Task:

A Public Awareness Campaign (PAC)—your team will produce a multimedia Public Awareness Campaign to raise awareness at the Mott Hall School and within the community of the health risks of eating disorders and propose and effective solutions to alleviate the problem. Your PAC will include a brochure that can be distributed to the community and to students in school.

Process:

Meeting in groups of five persons, you will gather data from the Websites listed below. You will review the data provided by the charts, tables and statistical data to describe the current conditions in Upper West Side as well as projections for future problems. You will also review the articles listed below and attempt to judge their accuracy and usefulness for the panel’s tasks of developing effective recommendations for the community to consider. Your group’s focus should also be directed toward the role of the media in both causing the problem and playing a role in its solution.

Your teacher shall select people to fill each of the following roles:

§ Group Leader- Who will organize the group and coordinate the group’s effort. The leader also assists all other members in completing their tasks

§ Recorder and Secretary- Writes the results of researchers in a format that can be presented. The Recorder keeps all research materials for the
group’s use

§ Researchers- These two will look at the websites and present the data for the groups as a whole to analyze

§ Presenter- The Presenter will describe the group’s findings to the class as a whole. The Presenter may also work with the whole group in developing a format for the presentation, which may be a chart, poster,
PowerPoint, etc.

Your group will read the information explaining each component of the PPA so that you will understand each part of what you need to do.

Use the Public Policy Analyst to assist you in researching for your presentation.

1. Define the problem

2. Gather evidence

3. Identify causes

4. Evaluate a policy

5. Develop solutions

Select the best solution (s) and Worksheet #6

NOTE: Steps 1,2,3 and 4 of the PPA worksheets will require extensive and varied research, and should not be limited to internet research; steps 5, and 6 require original and collaborative thinking on the part of all team members. Again, all team members are responsible for the quality of the research and the responses for these worksheets—this is a collaborative project!

3. You will use the information from the PPA worksheets from to produce the components of your PAC brochure. Your final product should:

-address a specific audience

-appeal to your audience’s, values, interests, and emotions

-establish a credible ethos appropriate to your subject and audience

-support claims with logical arguments and convincing evidence

-be thoroughly edited, proofread, and entirely free of spelling errors

4. PACs will be assessed using the rubric below.

5. Final PACs will be presented and distributed to target audiences at Mott Hall School and selected locations in the community.

Resources:

Some Search Engines

www.google.com

www.yahoo.com

www.ask.com

Some Websites

Symptoms of an Eating Disorders | Eating Disorder Symptoms ...

Eating Disorder Referral and Information Center

Medline plus- from the National Institutes of Health

Academy for Eating Disorders

www.fatcalories.com

www.mcdonalds.com

. Evaluation (see rubric)

CATEGORY	Excellent	Good	Fair	Poor	Score
Attractiveness & Organization	The brochure has exceptionally attractive formatting and well-organized information.	The brochure has attractive formatting and well-organized information.	The brochure has well-organized information.	The brochure's formatting and organization of material are confusing to the reader.
Content - Accuracy	All facts in the brochure are accurate.	99-90% of the facts in the brochure are accurate.	89-80% of the facts in the brochure are accurate.	Fewer than 80% of the facts in the brochure are accurate.
Sources	Careful and accurate records are kept to document the source of 95-100% of the facts and graphics in the brochure.	Careful and accurate records are kept to document the source of 94-85% of the facts and graphics in the brochure.	Careful and accurate records are kept to document the source of 84-75% of the facts and graphics in the brochure.	Sources are not documented accurately or are not kept on many facts and graphics.
Writing - Organization	Each section in the brochure has a clear beginning, middle, and end.	Almost all sections of the brochure have a clear beginning, middle and end.	Most sections of the brochure have a clear beginning, middle and end.	Less than half of the sections of the brochure have a clear beginning, middle and end.
Writing - Grammar	There are no grammatical mistakes in the brochure.	There are no grammatical mistakes in the brochure after feedback from an adult.	There are 1-2 grammatical mistakes in the brochure even after feedback from an adult.	There are several grammatical mistakes in the brochure even after feedback from an adult.
Spelling & Proofreading	No spelling errors remain after one person other than the typist reads and corrects the brochure.	No more than 1 spelling error remains after one person other than the typist reads and corrects the brochure.	No more than 3 spelling errors remain after one person other than the typist reads and corrects the brochure.	Several spelling errors in the brochure.
Knowledge Gained	All students in the group can accurately answer all questions related to facts in the brochure and to technical processes used to create the brochure.	All students in the group can accurately answer most questions related to facts in the brochure and to technical processes used to create the brochure.	Most students in the group can accurately answer most questions related to facts in the brochure and to technical processes used to create the brochure.	Several students in the group appear to have little knowledge about the facts or technical processes used in the brochure.
Group Work	The group cooperated and worked well together. Everyone knew their role and carried out their assignment.	Group cooperation was satisfactory. The group was able achieve their tasks most of the time.	The group was able to complete its tasks with assistance. Not everyone cooperated or was involved in the process	The group porcess had major flaws. Not everyone was involved in the process; work was done by a few members. Or the group failed to produce a joint product.
	Total Score:

Excellent =A Good=B Fair=C Poor=F

Conclusion:

Upon completing this project you and your teammates will have examined a national (and increasingly global) social problem and how it affects young people right here in New York City. You will have exercised your higher level thinking skills by exploring the causes of this problem and developing feasible and effective solutions for the good of our community. Moreover, you will have practiced your rhetorical skills by producing an engaging in a persuasive Public Awareness Campaign that will encourage young people in the City live healthier, if not happier, lives. Thank you!

Standards:

English Language Arts Standards

E1c Reads and comprehends information materials.

E2a Produce a report of information.

E3b Participate in group meetings.

E6a Critique public documents with an eye to strategies common in public discourse.

E6b Produce public documents.

E7a Critique functional documents with an eye to strategies common to effective functional documents.

E7b Produce functional documents appropriate to audience and purpose.

Problem Solving

a

Design a Product, Service, or System: Identify needs that could be met by new products, services, or systems and create solutions for meeting them.

b

Improve a System: Develop an understanding of the way systems of people, machines, and processes work;
troubleshoot problems in their operation and devise strategies for improving their effectiveness.

Communication Tools and Techniques

a	Prepare a formal written proposal or report to an organization beyond the school.
c	Develop a multi-media presentation.

Information Tools and Techniques

a	Gather information to assist in completing project work.
b	Use on-line sources to exchange information for specific purposes.
c	Use word-processing software to produce a multi-page document.

Social Studies Standards

•Students will be able to take, defend, and evaluate positions about attitudes that facilitate thoughtful and effective participation in public affairs

Students will evaluate, take, and defend positions on what the fundamental values and principles of American political life are and their importance to the maintenance of constitutional democracy (Adapted from The National Standards for Civics and Government, 1994)