In this activity you are going to look at a selection of web sites that give different information about a similar topic. The task is to compare the information you find on a variety of sites and evaluate the validity of the information provided. The information that you find can then be used draw your own conclusions about the topic.

Introduction: Have you heard of Guarana?  It is one of the main ingredients in energy drinks, which are very popular among young people today. If you were to read about energy drinks on the web site of the manufacturer you would think that you are drinking something that is very healthy and would not be harmful. However, some organizations claim that energy drinks are not so healthy and that they are addictive and are in fact harmful.

Activity: Validating information found on the Internet.

Activity Worksheet: Word, pdf, rtf

Scenario: The scenario that you will see in this activity is one that you could be faced with in your school or community.

A committee of which you are a member has been given the task of deciding what drinks should be sold in the school canteen. You are asked to investigate energy drinks and make a recommendation to the committee whether to have them available in your school canteen.

Step 1: Use the Internet to find web sites about guarana and energy drinks.

Hint:  You can find sites that have information about energy drinks and guarana by doing an internet search with terms such as guarana, "energy drinks", the name of a specific drink, or the name of a producer such as Pepsi or Coca-Cola. 

Step 2: Look at the information you have collected and summarize the information that you have collected

Step 3: Write a recommendation to the committee whether or not to have energy drinks for sale. In your recommendation, give your reasons for the choice. Remember: you can use the information from your summary to support your recommendation.

Guarana Sites

CBC Marketplace:  Marketplace recently tested drinks that had guarana in it. The results will surprise you. More info from CBC - Guarana

News Story: This gives a brief description of guarana and what it is. It also lists some interesting questions that you might like to comment on the discussion board with your classmates.

Guarana Home Page

Street Cents: See what they say about energy drinks on Street Cents - good or bad?

Product Sites:

BevNet:  Here you can find product review of almost any energy drink that you want information on.

Pepsi Coca-Cola:  Major drink producers. Look at their product descriptions and see how much caffeine there is in their energy drinks.

Red Bull: CBC review of Red Bull

Sobe ,  Bawls  A couple of product web sites. Search for the name of an energy drink. Note how the web site is designed to attract customers - especially teens.