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Year 5

How can I be a critical consumer?

I can identify advertising and what the advertiser wants me to think.

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New
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Year 5

How can I be a critical consumer?

I can identify advertising and what the advertiser wants me to think.

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Share activities with pupils
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These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Advertising is designed to convince us to buy things.
  2. Persuasive language can be used to convince people to buy things.
  3. Advertisers try to convince us that we need things we want.

Keywords

  • Advertising - Advertising draws attention to a product.

  • Convince - To convince means make someone believe or think something.

  • Critical consumer - A critical consumer is someone who considers price, quality and ethics when buying a product.

  • Persuasive - Persuasive means good at making someone do or believe something. An advert might persuade you to buy a product.

Common misconception

Advertisers have to tell the truth about their products.

Advertisers have one aim: to sell their product. They use a whole array of strategies to do this incuding exaggeration and manipulating our desires, attitudes and wants.


To help you plan your year 5 financial education lesson on: How can I be a critical consumer?, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Start by talking to the children about adverts they've seen. Which ones do they like? Has one ever made them want to buy the product? Explain that this is the purpose of advertising. Huge amounts of money is spent on adverts in order to sell more products and make money!
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Equipment

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Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
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Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

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Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match the words with their meanings.
Correct Answer:Confluence means,the place where two or more rivers meet.
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the place where two or more rivers meet.

Correct Answer:Affluence means,the state of having lots of wealth.
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the state of having lots of wealth.

Correct Answer:Influence means,having the ability to change the behaviour of someone.
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having the ability to change the behaviour of someone.

Q2.
What does borrow mean?
Hide money underground.
Give money to somebody else.
Correct answer: Take money from somebody which needs to be paid back.
Take money from somebody else without asking first.
Q3.
Sofia borrows £2 from Jacob. She is given £5 spending money. What should she do?
Jacob can wait! She should buy a £5 toy
Correct answer: Pay Jacob back first
Buy Jacob a £2 present and give him that instead
Buy a £5 present for her mum
Q4.
Jacob has some money to spend. What should he do with it?
Listen to his uncle and buy a book.
Listen to his dad and save it.
Listen to his mum and buy some socks.
Correct answer: Make his own choice.
Q5.
Whose advice should Sofia listen to? Put them in order, starting with the person who might give the best advice on what Sofia should do with £10
1 - A sensible friend who knows Sofia really well.
2 - Her dad who is always telling her to save her money.
3 - A close friend who is very good at spending money but terrible at saving it.
4 - Somebody in her class who loves cuddly toys.
Q6.
Match up the beginning and end of each piece of good advice.
Correct Answer:Only borrow from,someone who can afford it.
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someone who can afford it.

Correct Answer:Only lend to,someone who might need it.
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someone who might need it.

Correct Answer:Do not lend to,someone who does not pay their debts.
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someone who does not pay their debts.

Correct Answer:Do not borrow from,someone you do not trust.
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someone you do not trust.

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Complete the sentence. Convince means to __________.
find someone guilty of a crime.
Correct answer: make someone believe something.
join things together.
change one thing into another.
Q2.
What does a critical consumer think about before spending their money?
price
quality
ethics
Correct answer: price, quality and ethics
Q3.
Which of these is a rhetorical question?
New look, new feel, new you.
Correct answer: Are you ready to party?
Make the right choice.
The most relaxed you'll ever feel.
Q4.
Alex is trying to be an ethical shopper. Which of these will he need to think about?
Whether something is expensive.
Correct answer: Whether something is Fairtrade.
Correct answer: Whether something is sustainably sourced.
What colour something is.
Q5.
What does, 'Buy Cheap, Buy Twice' mean?
You save money buying cheaper products.
You can buy two of everything because things are less expensive.
Correct answer: Less expensive products may not last as long and need to be replaced.
Sometimes bank cards don't work as well when you do not spend as much
Q6.
Alex and his family go shoe shopping. Match their names to the most important consideration that they have when choosing shoes.
Correct Answer:Alex's little sister,shoes with stars on.
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shoes with stars on.

Correct Answer:Alex's mum, a keen walker,hard-wearing, comfortable shoes.
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hard-wearing, comfortable shoes.

Correct Answer:Alex's big sister, an ethical shopper,sustainably made shoes.
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sustainably made shoes.

Correct Answer:Alex's grandmother,warm shoes.
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warm shoes.

Additional material

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