This lesson introduces the concept of greenwashing, or "the process of conveying a false impression or providing misleading information about how a company's products are more environmentally sound." (investopedia.com)
Students learn about greenwashing, watch a series of videos, and write a paragraph arguing if an advertisement is greenwashing or not.
Step 1 - Inquire: Students watch and discuss ExxonMobil's advertisement called "What Carbon Capture Can Do."
Step 2 - Investigate: Students watch a video describing greenwashing and answer guiding questions.
Step 3 - Inspire: Students watch a series of videos from various companies. Students select one video and write a claim-evidence-reasoning paragraph arguing if the video is an example of greenwashing or not.
Accompanying Teaching Materials
Students watch "What Carbon Capture Can Do," an ExxonMobil advertisement.
Students watch Everything You Need to Know About Greenwashing.
Students watch a series of videos.
Positives
This lesson teaches students to critically examine digital media. As digital citizens, they must be aware of how to tell fact from fiction.
Additional Prerequisites
Differentiation
In their paragraphs, weaker students can focus on music, the tone of the narrator’s voice, or imagery in the videos.