Ronald Rulz OK?

Social Studies Online

1. Their Place
   Provide students with either, online access or a printout of, the section of the article The McDonaldization of Syracuse: Why life looks a lot like a fast-food restaurant. Take a McTour.
   1. Students use the information in the article to create a McMap of Syracuse. This Mental Map is to be drawn from the descriptions of the Carousel Centre, the E-Zpass tollbooth, the Fuccillo Auto Mall, a Mobil gas station, the Wegmans superstore, and don't forget the non-McDonaldised places too.

   2. Identify and annotate examples of efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control on the map.

2. Our Place
   How many McDonaldised companies and organisations are there at your place? Who are they?
   Where are they?
   What are they?
   When were they set up?
   Why did they choose to set up here?

   If you live in an area without any McDonaldised companies or organisations nearby, either take a field trip to a nearby town or city that does, or take a virtual trip based on students' experiences. Call it a McTrip to That Place!

   1. In groups students create a large, at least A3 sized Mental Map of Our Place.

   2. Brainstorm all the McDonaldised companies and organisations in Our Place.

   3. Classify them into types, eg. fast food, services (movie theatres), retail shops, etc.

   4. Locate the companies and organisations on the Mental Map using appropriate symbols, colours, labels. Create a Key if necessary.

   5. Add in a selection of non McDonaldised places.

   6. Using the article The McDonaldisation of Syracuse: Why life looks a lot like a fast-food restaurant as your guide, write a McTour Guide to Our Place.

   7. Discuss, in small groups or as a class if that is appropriate, the impact that McDonaldisation has on the lives of people - whether they live in Syracuse, Our Place, That Place or wherever.