the activities
Liquid Assets Description: Students will learn how a social behavior was created with the mass marketing of ice. Go directly to:
Students will develop a sense of business regarding the trading of an abundant commodity. Students will gain an understanding of geography in the connection of other states and countries in relation to your hometown. Students will have opportunities to observe the risk involved in Tudor's plans as well as compare their own thoughts about his practices to their lives. Students will extend their knowledge of business to the visionary practices that change our everyday lives and enrich our futures. Is water really an everyday commodity? Daniel Gross comments in an article entitled Liquid Assets (the June 2003 edition of Attaché Magazine) that water is everywhere. He says that this resource is such a commodity that entrepreneurs with desire to make money - do, and have. Think about bottled water. isn't water free? If it is, then why do Americans spend millions of dollars each year on a product simply because of a potential difference in taste? Almost two centuries ago, a man named Frederic Tudor sought out to make the shipment of ice into a big business. It seems silly, considering that today - most of us have our own ice 'factory' right in our refrigerators. Still, imagine what it would have been like in Tudor's time to not have this luxury. Do you think you would pay to have ice? Do you think that you could take the risk to venture in a business such as this? To be certain, water is a resource taken for granted. It's difficult to see the problem of water scarcity, especially in the United States, because it appears that water is everywhere. "Most people believe what they see. They can see that the ground is parched, or they can see that there is water standing in puddles or something of that nature. They are not aware of how important what's going on under the surface level is, where the water that we're drawing a lot of our water supplies come from." Dr. Lou Buttino, writer/director of the UNCW educational documentary "Troubled Waters: The Illusion of Abundance" Take ice as an example. The next time you drink soda, think of how good it tastes cold. It's refreshing. And it's something that some people don't have the luxury of. In the hot, arid climate of the Middle East, having ice to cool your beverage or to refresh you from a long day would be heavenly...but remember, it's a luxury. Frederic Tudor sought to see the luxury of ice spread to others and those who benefited paid a great deal of money in return for such a luxury. It is understood that ice is made from water. Do you think you could have ice if there was a great shortage on water? Could you choose between using water to take a bath, or provide water for a pet rather than to cool a beverage? It's harder to choose when it is a matter of personal luxury; yet, this choice illustrates the problem with our thoughts on water resources. We think water is everywhere. 1. Read "Liquid Assets" article from June 2003 Attaché Magazine. Click here to open the PDF file, "Liquid Assets." This PDF requires Adobe Acrobat - click here to download the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Alternatively, you can read the article online at www.attachemag.com/archives/06-03/brief/brief.htm. 2. Create a chart of the countries mentioned in the article:
For younger grades, have students use colored pencils to draw and track traveled areas. For a sense of how far away these places are, have students matrix the distance in miles from each location to your hometown. Use How Far Is It? to help you do this. 3. Learn more about Frederic Tudor. To be done in groups. Each group presents a poster, skit, etc. to the class demonstrating what they have found from the information given. Using the jigsaw method, groups decide the most relevant information that should be distributed to the entire class for successful completion of the activity.
In a 2-3 page essay, answer the following questions: A. Do you think Tudor's scheme worked? D. In the 20th century, how many other ways did marketing affect social
behavior (i.e. fitness, smoking, etc.)?
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