Creator: U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission | visit site
Grade Range: 8 - 11
Students can learn responsible consumerism by becoming active evaluators and reporters of defective products using this site. Unsafe products reported on this site go onto the Product Safety Commission’s publicly available Consumer Product Safety Information Database, after the reported products are evaluated and the reviews are screened by professionals. Along with the founders of the site, students active in reading the database and reporting dangerous products participate in protecting the public from harm, injuries, and possible death. A business portal allows private companies to register and participate in the formation of the database, as well.
In the Classroom
Use this site as the starting point for individual or group projects. Have the students write mock-up reports of defective products they have had experience with. Then they can compare their write-ups with the entries in the database. Students can also learn data base searching while looking for objects of particular interest to them. Have students create online posters on paper or do it together as a class using a tool such as Web Poster Wizard (<a href="/single.cfm?id=7332">reviewed here</a>) or PicLits (<a href="/single.cfm?id=8177">reviewed here</a>.
At Home
When you purchase a defective product, search this site to see if it has been reported to the CPSC already. Try submitting a report with your family members if it has not.
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Subjects
Current Events, Economics, Health, Social Studies, Social Studies,