Economics and Business

The PBS presentation gave me valuable knowledge of useful resources available for teachers and students on the web. This weekend I explored some of them and found some that I really enjoyed for my content area.

In particular Lemonade for Sale allowed students to explore proft and not-for-proft businesses. When I was in the 5th grade all 100 students had to form small groups, create a business and product to sell to their fellow classmates and balance a checkbook which had a starting balance of $500 (fake - obviously). With that money you could buy products from fellow classmates (my business was friendship bracelets, some people sold their artwork, etc.). Not only was this a fun event every Friday, but our teachers incorporated math, economics and business lessons into this activity. It was one of the highlights of 5th grade. I think that combining my own experience with this project as a student and the suggestions from Lemonade for Sale, this could be an excellent experience for my future students.

Within the Lemonade for Sale lesson plan, they suggest using Just For Clicks Business Game. I think parts of this game could be beneficial for students; however, students will need guidance, perhaps some modeling and as a teacher you would need to be explicit about what part of the game you would like them to utilize. It's also great for them to explore other children's ideas and brainstorm their own.

I think from this lesson plan alone, a unit plan could be created which could incorporate the website and show bizkids. There is so much information regarding money, economics and business on this site. You really have to take time, explore and find out what will work for the specific objectives your lesson plan or unit plan has. On a positive note, I don't think there would be any trouble finding quality supplemental material pertaining to economics on this site. It's very usable. Check it out!