1. Children’s television programming is rife with stereotypes about ethnicity, gender, and morality. Watch an hour of children’s TV, especially on a Saturday morning, and describe the content of both the programs and the commercials. Draw some conclusions about stereotyping in the material you watched, citing specific evidence (rather than merely reporting your impressions).

2. Gender indicators often go unnoticed. Go to a public place (park, restaurant, busy street) and spend at least 10 minutes recording examples of gender differentiation, such as articles of clothing, mannerisms, interaction patterns, and activities. Quantify what you see, such as baseball hats on eight males and two females. Or (better, but more difficult) describe four male–female conversations, indicating gender differences in length and frequency of talking, interruptions, vocabulary, and so on.

3. Ask three parents how they were punished as a child, for what misdeeds, and by whom. Then ask them what punishments they use with their own children. Ask them how they feel the way they were punished as children has affected the way they punish their children.

>>ONLINE CONNECTIONS

To accompany your textbook, you have access to a number of online resources, including LearningCurve, which is an adaptive quizzing program; critical thinking questions; and case studies. For access to any of these links, go to www.worthpublishers.com/launchpad/bergerinvitels2ecanadian. In addition to these resources, you’ll find links to video clips, personalized study advice, and an e-Book. Among the videos and activities available online is the following:

• Children at Play. Watch video clips of children at play, identify the types of play you see, and review how each type contributes to children’s development.