(A brainstorming activity from the New Jersey School-to-Work
Coordinators Meeting)
Social
Studies and Entrepreneurship
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Students set up a Small Town USA program in
which they determine what types of business are needed.
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Unit on the “Workplace
Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow”; bring in pictures and describe, talk to
parents and/or grandparents.
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Expand on the “Workplace
Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow”, and note changes in Technology,
Communications, Transportation, and skills needed.
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Illustrate cost of products in
1900 versus cost of products in the year 2000.
Explain how wages are also part of the price.
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Discuss the setting up of a
business that reflects products from time past which can still be sold and how
to market such products.
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Map out a voyage, the ship is
destroyed by a storm, and all survive on an island. What are the needs and possible results?
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Set up a government on the
island and put together a plan for obtaining food, clothing etc.
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Decide who will be in charge of
the various jobs on the island.
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Hold elections.
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Field trip to see a recent new
movie and discuss the reasons it has been a market success.
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Envision an early American dry
goods store in the West. In groups have
students decide on marketing, goods available, location etc.
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Make a mini-store in class and
students make products to sell.
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Discuss development of a
business plan.
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Write resumes for yourself as
an adult.
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Offer job applications for
students to apply for a job as a cashier, a marketer, an accountant, a
manufacturer, etc.
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Have students videotape a
children’s show to demonstrate appropriate or inappropriate social awareness.
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Set a reward or incentive
program for students to use appropriate behavior.
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Show examples of appropriate or
inappropriate behavior and consequences of both.
Science and Entrepreneurship
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Food science/product
development: Study the effect of heat/temperature on yeast products. Dissolve yeast for bread in three different
temperatures. Make the bread and
describe the results.
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Ecology: Students research an
ecology problem in their school environment. They invite the ecology
coordinator from their town/county to visit.
They develop an ecology plan to deal with that problem.
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Study nutrition: Choose an
important nutritional concept. Develop
an advertising plan to sell the idea.
Develop a product line of nutritional snacks and decide how to sell.
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Establish and name a company
that will market the nutritional snacks.
Organize company. Identify positions
and careers possible.
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Nutrition: Students locate food
ads in a magazine, mount them on index cards, and evaluate their nutritional
content. Make a bulletin board
display. Discuss the role of advertising
in promoting nutrition.
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Do bacterial tests around
school. Collect data and generate a
report. Sell anti-bacterial soap or
wipes for students to use before lunch, etc.
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Take a trip to a supermarket to
study nutrition. Analyze food
labels. Discuss how to make good choices
for nutritional well-being.
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Set up a weather station in
which students take weather readings and market results in some form.
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Study crystal formation by
making rock candy.
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Communicate with local labs on
the Internet.
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Experiment with emulsions. Make salad dressing with and without
emulsifier. Describe results, taste,
etc. Research on what emulsifiers are
and how they are used in products.
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Link with NASA to identify a
science activity being conducted on Mears space station. What will research conducted yield in terms
of a business. What businesses might
emerge?
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Collect flowers and plants to
study. Press them and make bookmarks to
be sold at schoolbook fair.
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Discuss starting a business
that offers a system for environmental protection.
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Plan a student-run service of
water sampling.
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Students collect, sort, weigh
materials collected from school trash for one day (paper, glass, metal
etc.). Record results. Collect for a week. Describe amounts that would be accumulated
over time, problems of disposal, types of businesses disposing of materials,
and costs associated with trash.
Describe problems of accumulation.
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Start a recycling project. Collect cans, sell to a local recycle
center. Analyze costs and income per
pound.
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Structure a business format for
the recycle project. Identify roles of
individual class members.
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Invite business people to speak
to students on science-related businesses.
Arts/Performing
Arts and Entrepreneurship
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Identify entrepreneurial skills
for individuals who choose the arts, such as musicians, writers, artists etc.
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Have students work with
established playwright in a class workshop.
Follow up that workshop by having students attend the playwright’s
performance.
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Create a business
selling/marketing “Practice Partners” for students proficient in some musical
instrument that will serve as practice partners, giving guidance and assistance
for students who are preparing for music lessons.
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Students create a jingle for a
product for use in a TV or radio advertisement.
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Create attractive flyers,
posters or web pages for musical event.
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Use the computer art class to
develop an ad that is attractively arranged.
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Develop a logo that would be
interesting, attractive etc.
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Develop a logo for the school
baseball team to promote this season’s games.
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Develop Web Page designs for
fellow students who are trying to set up their own page, incorporate logo,
music sound wave, etc.
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Create school post cards -
students photograph various school scenes/activities, and market within school
and community.
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Create a display of art designs
and sell to students.
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Start a Birthday Party
entertainers unit - Students will develop entertainment activities to sell to
busy mothers for children’s birthday parties.
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Market the idea on the Internet
by designing an interesting web page on birthday party ideas.
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Create a series of posters
representing each department elective, to be used in recruitment. Think of how businesses recruit, and apply
the techniques.
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Develop a package design and
marketing materials for a product to sell.
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Use the Visual Design class to
create a web page for your school, business, etc.
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Develop a TV commercial for
your product.
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Music classes work with history
and art classes to promote a product.
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Create and sell jacket
broaches/pins.
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Advertise the product through
displays and flyers in school.
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Create a new logo for your
school, and run a contest through the school newspaper.
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Create a TV or radio ad for
your business using role-playing, audio and videotaping.
Math
and Entrepreneurship
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Analyze pros and cons of a
business location, charting/graphing traffic flow and interpreting it.
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Develop a survey of the market
to sell a product.
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Use spread sheets (Excel) to
project operating costs of a business.
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Examine business space
requirements according to equipment and inventory needs, and draw up a plan.
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Use the Internet to find the
percentage of workers who have 401K plans.
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Calculate cost per square foot
of a given business plan.
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Reconcile a checking account
balance.
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Analyze recurrent expenditures
and forecast annual costs.
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Discuss how competition may
affect the price of goods.
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Calculate costs of taking
business into global markets.
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Project future profits given
expansion data.
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Track stock market for 6
months. Project profits over next 2
months. (Percent plus dollar amounts)
Language
Arts and Entrepreneurship
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Selling and marketing of a
given book.
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What should be included in the
book to make it marketable?
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Analyze the effects of supply,
demand, profit, and competition on small business.
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Visit local bookstores to
observe and analyze their marketing techniques.
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Develop a plan to sell a book.
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Write want ads that promote.
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Sell stock in the book
publishing companies and follow the growth.
Chart it for several months.
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Have students volunteer to come
up with marketing plans.
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Describe the process of
starting a small business.
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Visit your local
bookstore. Observe marketing techniques,
have manager describe how they run that particular bookstore.
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Write a business plan.
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Create a marketing plan based
on reading a book on media, marketing strategies.
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Have students survey the
student body on topics of interest (survey on hobbies/interests). Then open a book club, selling books of the
most interest.
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Develop a PowerPoint
presentation to sell your business to potential stockholders.
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Develop a business plan and
compare with other students ideas using the Internet.
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Have each student write a
career plan with values and goals. How
does that plan lead to being an entrepreneur?
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Discuss how to sell an ad for
the school newspaper.
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Develop ideas for careers
associated with marketing. Ask a
business owner to discuss his/her career.
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Have students research a
business or industry and write informational news release for the school
newspaper. Use the research for a term
paper.
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Create and design a logo for a
business. Research the potential
clients. Present findings, both orally
and in writing.
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Read the Dave Thomas books, (Dave’s Way, or Well Done). Discuss it and
also people they know who are successful entrepreneurs.
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Interview some entrepreneurs in
the community and share results of research in an essay, such as “Common Traits
of Entrepreneurs”.
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Plan a small business
assistance group in the school. Develop
details of services and programs to be provided.
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Have a career day where you
invite 3 entrepreneurs to discuss their business story. Have students write up key questions to ask
them.
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Have students study current ads
and jingles to determine why they are successful.
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Write to the local newspaper
asking that the person responsible for their ads come to the class and discuss
how to write an ad.
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Develop a bulletin board
display to show the various ads that have been developed.
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Discuss the ads that catch you
attention and decide why they do.
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Have a mock radio program and
write the commercials for it.
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Develop a marketing plan to
sell an item. Invent a marketable
product or service. Learn fund-raising techniques to start your business idea.
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Have students fill in blanks of
promotions they are familiar with. Then
let them write a jingle or catchy phrase that would help people remember a
product.
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Create selling strategy for a
book report.
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Research business opportunities
in community.
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Write resume of abilities.
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Research the career
opportunities in the media industries (newspapers, magazines, radio, TV, etc.)
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Students could work together on
illustrations to include in a book or report.
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Write short term and long-term
goals for your business idea.
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Develop a concept paper, a
brief description of your business idea.
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Write out a business plan.
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Have students choose roles to
develop the business plan, i.e. record keeper, manager, pr person.
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Research local small business
activities and report on it.
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Research labor laws.
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Select a local business and
determine what language skills are needed by the owner.
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List qualities necessary to be
an entrepreneur.
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Develop a marketing plan for a
local small business.
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Students prepare oral
presentations on famous entrepreneurs and successful businesses.
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Explore biographical background
of an entrepreneur that relates to your business goals, ideas.
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Interview and job shadow a
local entrepreneur in your field of interest.
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Contact an employer who has set
up his/her own business and interview the person. Report results to the class.
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Read Dave Thomas’s book and
write a report on qualities, steps, etc. to success.
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Research a business idea in
magazines or books.
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Give a written and oral
presentation on research on businesses.
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Research, via the Internet,
locations that would be good to set up a certain kind of business.
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Write an employee handbook.
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Develop a resume, which would
persuade an entrepreneur to hire you.
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Complete job applications or
compose them for a particular business.
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Research the effectiveness of a
commercial, logo, and business name.
Revise it based on results of market study.
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Have entrepreneurs talk to
class about mistakes made because of poor preparation in school.
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Explore customer relations and
problem solving as they relate to particular industries or areas of student
interest.
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Ask an entrepreneur to share
successes and failures. Then have
students and speaker explore ways of building on the success and avoiding or
remedying the failures.
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Form groups that will help to
write a curriculum for younger students to gain skills in creating a
business. Older students will identify
what is essential and serve as mentors to the younger students.