Lesson Plan “Real Bugs” Identifying Stereotypes Overview Students collectively analyze a TV commercial for a toy called “Real Bugs” (plastic bugs that can be filled with goo and then used to scare people). Using the process of “deconstruction” or decoding of the commercial message, the students will discuss gender stereotypes, what it means to be “cool” according to popular media, and ways in which school and science are portrayed as “not cool.” Students will also analyze the production techniques used in TV commercials to convey direct and implied messages. Curriculum Areas • Science • English/Language Arts

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Communications Social Studies Media Studies

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Health Gender Studies

Grade Levels • Middle Elementary School through College • The depth of the discussion and analysis of the techniques used to reinforce the messages can be much more sophisticated with groups of older students Suggested Frameworks (Curriculum Context) • Stereotyping • Media Production Techniques • Messages about Science • Advertising • Messages about School • Gender Learning Objectives • Identify gender stereotypes often found in advertisements, especially related to appearance and activities of different groups of boys • Identify stereotypical messages about science, school and being smart • Practice detailed observation and providing evidence-based answers • Practice decoding audiovisual media messages • Build awareness of persuasive techniques often used in advertising • Develop understanding of and appreciation for different production techniques used in audiovisual messages (characters, voiceovers, music, lighting, setting, pace, camera angles, etc.) • Understand and appreciate importance of “target audience” • Foster large group discussion and analysis • Reflect on stereotypes and assumptions about specific groups, including boys, girls, ethnic groups (African-American, AsianAmerican), “nerds” or “geeks,” scientists, “cool” boys, “bad” boys, fathers

Vocabulary target audience, stereotype, voiceover, entomology Preparation and Prerequisites • This can work with any size class, but is especially effective with a group of 15-30 students. • If teachers are not already familiar with the practice of leading a group decoding, they should read “Tips for Decoding Media Messages” prior to leading the class through the decoding • The class could have already discussed stereotypes, but this also works well as an introduction to a longer discussion about stereotypes, since these are so obvious and are reinforced by so many elements of the commercial (the characters’ appearance, clothing, facial expressions and actions; settings; music; narrative). Time Needed • 10-20 minutes, depending on the depth of the analysis and follow-up discussion Materials • TV Commercial for “Real Bugs” on YouTube or DVD • LCD Projector and Screen (or large TV set with DVD player) Step-by-Step Procedures 1. Explain to the students that they will be seeing a TV commercial, and you want them to watch for the messages about different groups of people. Optional: Divide the class into several groups, and ask each group to look for a different aspect of the messages shown in the commercial. What are the messages about boys? (This should be the largest group.) …about girls? …about science? Voiceover …about what it means These boys are into entomology, the study of bugs. to be “cool”? These boys are into real squish bugs, repulsive beasts …about fathers? that spew r-v goo. …about violence? These bugs are being preserved.

2. Show the 30-second commercial.

These are being injected with disgusting blood and guts. [Scream] These boys have insects that they mount. These have bugs they can shoot. Real sticky bugs [scream] that crawl like mad. Even scare dad. Real bugs - if they’re not real, they’re fake. Each sold separately.

3. Follow immediately with a question for the whole group (or one of the smaller groups). What messages did you see? What different groups of people did you see? What were the messages about boys?

Follow up with probes, depending on the initial response. You may want to deal first with the messages about girls and/or about adults (fathers), before really getting into the messages about boys. Eventually guide the discussion to a consideration of the two groups of boys portrayed in the commercial. How many different groups of boys were there? [Two] How would you describe the two groups? [Decide on a name to identify each group, which is likely to be something like “nerds” and “cool boys.” Go with what the group decides, but try to avoid labels that emphasize a narrower focus (like “violent boys”) for the initial discussion.]

4. Discuss all of the ways that the two groups of boys were portrayed differently. This can be done by asking the whole group with answers volunteered by different students, or by going around the room asking each person to give one way in which the two groups of boys are portrayed differently. If students give multiple ways in their answer, stop them and stick with just the first thing they said (to allow other students to respond). Observations are likely to include some or all of the following: Clothing: “Nerds” – bowtie, sweater vest, plaid or button-down shirt “Cool Boys” – T-shirts, sweatshirts, jeans, baseball caps Glasses: “Nerds” – all of them have glasses “Cool Boys” – none of them have glasses Setting: “Nerds” – indoors, probably in a science lab or classroom “Cool Boys” – outdoors, at home Music: “Nerds” – slower paced, classical “Cool Boys” – fast paced, rock guitar Voiceover: “Nerds” – male, precise, almost British accent “Cool Boys” – male, younger, fast paced, frenetic Pace & Editing: “Nerds” – slow pace, single camera angle, single shot “Cool Boys” – fast paced, several shots per scene, range of camera angles Actions: “Nerds” – studying bugs, nodding, don’t actually touch bugs “Cool Boys” – shooting, squishing, stomping, scaring girls and dad

Facial Expressions: “Nerds” – passive, interested, eyes wide, looking at bugs only “Cool Boys” – excited, mouths open, looking directly at the camera or at each other Weight: “Nerds” – one boy is slightly overweight “Cool Boys” – none of the boys are overweight Relationship to Girls: “Nerds” – none “Cool Boys” – scare them, shoot at them

Note: In doing this type of document decoding, it is very important for the teacher to lead the discussion almost entirely by asking questions, rather than telling or pointing out information in the commercial themselves. Students are guided to notice different aspects of the commercial through questions and probes. By using this approach, students may raise issues or identify messages that the teacher hasn’t noticed or thought about before. It also unpacks (for both the teacher and the students) different perspectives, biases and points of view that people bring to any viewing situation. If students get stuck and can’t think of other ways they different, or if no students have mentioned an aspect that you feel would be important to include in the discussion (e.g., race/ethnicity of the characters, messages about science), use specific probes: What did you notice about the music? How about the voiceover that described the boys and the bugs? What was it like? Was it different for the two groups? In what way? Were there any differences in race or ethnicity between the groups? What were the messages about science?

Probe for evidence from the commercial to back up their observations, especially in cases where the observation is unusual or involves an interpretation of something seen or heard in the commercial. 5. Show the commercial a second time, asking students to notice the issues that came up in the discussion that they might not have noticed the first time, and to see if they notice anything else that hasn’t already been discussed. 6. If it didn’t come up already in the discussion, ask specifically about the messages about science (and school in general). Older or more sophisticated students may even get into the messages about ethical issues around treatment of animals and insects, or the messages about scientific evidence and exploration.

7. Summarize the messages about boys that were shown in the commercial, especially emphasizing what boys should be like (or do) in order to be “cool” (e.g., not like school, be violent, scare girls). For older students, lead that discussion into a broader consideration of how prevalent these messages are in other media (film, television, video games, etc.) and popular culture. 8. Discuss why commercials in particular so often use stereotypes (e.g., because they have so little time to convey their messages, because of the people who are creating the commercials and their own biases). Discuss who might benefit from – and who might be harmed by – the portrayal of stereotypes such as these. Notes on Pedagogy •

Teachers will need to be sensitive in handling the discussion regarding stereotyping of groups that are represented in the class (e.g., boys with glasses, smart boys, African-American or Asian-American boys). Depending on the age of the students and the level of the comfort in the class, teachers might want to invite those students to express their feelings about the tendency of the media to portray these kinds of stereotypes.

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Other stereotypes and observations may come up during the discussion, and depending on the class and amount of time available, teachers may want to follow up on those observations with a longer discussion. Again, it’s important to probe the students for evidence in the commercial to back up their observations, as well as reflection on why they might have made the interpretation they did. For example, in one college class we were teaching a student said he thought there were messages about social class (i.e., that the “nerds” were upper middle class, and the “cool” boys were lower middle class). After probing, he said he based his conclusion on their clothing (the “cool” boys looked like they had dressed themselves, while the “nerds” looked like their mothers dressed them) and their actions (the “cool” boys were violent, so more likely to be from a lower social class). This obviously reflected many assumptions about social class and parenting, which would really be useful to unpack in a longer discussion among the students and the teacher.