Interdisciplinary Entrepreneurship Learning Ideas

Source:  Brainstorming activities from the New Jersey School-to-Work Coordinators’ Meeting

These activities may have correlations between 
•	Social Studies and Entrepreneurship, 
•	Science and Entrepreneurship, 
•	Arts/Performing Arts and Entrepreneurship, 
•	Math and Entrepreneurship, and 
•	Language Arts and Entrepreneurship. 

Entrepreneurship Education Content Performance indicators addressed will vary depending upon activities selected as well as the content area selected. Content standards in the academic areas will also vary based upon the activities. 
To view Entrepreneurship Content Standards/Performance Indicators go to. http://www.entre-ed.org/Standards_Toolkit/standards_detail.htm .

Social Studies and Entrepreneurship
•	Students set up a Small Town USA program in which they determine what types of business are needed.
•	Unit on “Workplace Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow”, bring in pictures and describe, talk to parents and/or grandparents.
•	Expand on “Workplace Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow” and note changes in Technology, Communications, Transportation, and skills needed.
•	Illustrate cost of products in 1900 versus cost of products in the year 2000.  Explain how wages are also part of the price.
•	Discuss the setting up of a business that reflects products from time past which are still able to be sold and how to market such products.
•	Map out a voyage, the ship is destroyed by a storm, and all survive on an island.  What are the needs and possible results?
•	Set up a government on the island and put together a plan for obtaining food, clothing etc.
•	Decide who will be in charge of the various jobs on the island
•	Hold elections
•	Field trip to see a recent new movie and discuss the reasons it has been a market success.
•	Envision an early American dry goods store in the West.  In groups have students decide on marketing, goods available, location etc.
•	Make a mini-store in class and students make products to sell.
•	Discuss development of a business plan.
•	Write resumes for yourself as an adult
•	Offer job applications for students to apply for a job as a cashier, a marketer, an accountant, a manufacturer, etc.
•	Have students videotape a children’s show to demonstrate appropriate or inappropriate social awareness.
•	Set a reward or incentive program for students to use appropriate behavior.
•	Show examples of appropriate or inappropriate behavior and consequences of both.

Science and Entrepreneurship
•	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.
•	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.
•	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.
•	Establish and name a company that will market the nutritional snacks.  Organize company.  Identify positions and careers possible.
•	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.
•	Do bacterial tests around school.  Collect data and generate a report.  Sell anti-bacterial soap or wipes for students to use before lunch, etc.
•	Take a trip to a supermarket to study nutrition.  Analyze food labels.  Discuss how to make good choices for nutritional well-being.  
•	Set up a weather station in which students take weather readings and market results in some form.
•	Study crystal formation by making rock candy
•	Communicate with local labs on the Internet
•	Experiment with emulsions.  Make salad dressing with and without emulsifier.  Describe results, taste, etc.  Research on what are emulsifiers and how they are used in products.
•	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?
•	Collect flowers and plants to study.  Press them and make book marks to be sold at school book fair.
•	Discuss starting a business that offers a system for environmental protection.
•	Plan a student-run service of water sampling.
•	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.
•	Start a recycling project.  Collect cans, sell to a local recycle center.  Analyze costs and income per pound.
•	Structure a business format for the recycle project.  Identify roles of individual class members.
•	Invite business people to speak to students on science-related businesses.

Arts/Performing Arts and Entrepreneurship
•	Identify entrepreneurial skills for individuals who choose the arts, such as musicians, writers, artists etc.
•	Have students work with established playwright in a class workshop.  Follow up that workshop by having students attend the playwright’s performance.
•	Create a business selling/marketing “Practice Partners” for students proficient in some musical instrument who will serve as practice partners, giving guidance and assistance for students who are preparing for music lessons.
•	Students create a “jingle” for a product for use in a TV or radio advertisement.
•	Create attractive flyers, posters or web pages for musical event.
•	Use the computer art class to develop an ad that is attractively arranged.
•	Develop a logo that would be interesting, attractive etc.
•	Develop a logo for the school baseball team to promote this season’s games.
•	Develop Web Page designs for fellow students who are trying to set up their own page, incorporate logo, music sound wave, etc.
•	Create school post cards - students photograph various school scenes/activities, and market within school and community.
•	Create a display of art designs and sell to students.
•	Start a “Birthday Party” entertainers unit - Students will develop entertainment activities to sell to busy mothers for children’s birthday parties.
•	Market the idea on the Internet by designing an interesting web page on birthday party ideas.
•	Create a series of posters representing each department elective, to be used in recruitment.  Think of how businesses recruit, and apply the techniques.
•	Develop a package design and marketing materials for a product to sell.
•	Use the Visual Design class to create a web page for your school, business, etc.
•	Develop a TV commercial for your product.
•	Music classes work with history and art classes to promote a product.
•	Create and sell jacket broaches/pins
•	Advertise the product through displays and flyers in school.
•	Create a new logo for your school, and run a contest through the school newspaper.
•	Create a TV or radio ad for your business using role playing, audio and videotaping. 

Math and Entrepreneurship
•	Analyze pros and cons of a business location, charting/graphing traffic flow and interpreting it.
•	Develop a survey of the market to sell a product.
•	Use spread sheets (Excel) to project operating costs of a business
•	Examine business space requirements according to equipment and inventory needs, and draw up a plan.
•	Use the Internet to find the percentage of workers who have 401K plans.
•	Calculate cost per square foot of a given business plan.
•	Reconcile a checking account balance.
•	Analyze recurrent expenditures and forecast annual costs
•	Discuss how competition may affect the price of goods.
•	Calculate costs of taking business into global markets.
•	Project future profits given expansion data.
•	Track stock market for 6 months.  Project profits over next 2 months. (Percent plus dollar amounts)

Language Arts and Entrepreneurship
•	Selling and marketing of a given book
•	What should be included in the book to make it marketable?
•	Analyze the effects of supply, demand, profit, and competition on small business.
•	Visit local book stores to observe and analyze their marketing techniques.
•	Develop a plan to sell a book.
•	Write want-ads that promote
•	Sell stock in the book publishing companies and follow the growth.  Chart it for several months.
•	Have students volunteer to come up with marketing plans
•	Describe the process of starting a small business.
•	Visit your local book store.  Observe marketing techniques, have manager describe how they run that particular book store.

•	Write a business plan
•	Create a marketing plan based on reading a book on media, marketing strategies.
•	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.
•	Develop a PowerPoint presentation to sell your business to potential stock holders.
•	Develop a business plan and compare with other students ideas using the Internet.
•	Have each student write a career plan with values and goals.  How does that plan lead to being an entrepreneur?
•	Discuss how to sell an ad for the school newspaper.
•	Develop ideas for careers associated with marketing.  Ask a business owner to discuss his/her career.
•	Have students research a business or industry and write informational news release for the school newspaper.  Use the research for a term paper.
•	Create and design a logo for a business.  Research the potential clients.  Present findings, both orally and in writing.
•	Read the Dave Thomas books, (Dave’s Way, or Well Done).  Discuss it and also people they know who are successful entrepreneurs.
•	Interview some entrepreneurs in the community and share results of research in an essay, such as “Common Traits of Entrepreneurs”.
•	Plan a small business assistance group in the school.  Develop details of services and programs to be provided.
•	Have a career day where you invite 3 entrepreneurs to discuss their business story.  Have students write up key questions to ask them.
•	Have students study current ads and jingles to determine why they are successful.
•	Write to the local newspaper asking that the person responsible for their ads come to the class and discuss how to write an ad.
•	Develop a bulletin board display to show the various ads that have been developed.
•	Discuss the ads that catch you attention and decide why they do.
•	Have a mock radio program and write the commercials for it.
•	Develop a marketing plan to sell an item.  Invent a marketable product or service. Learn fund-raising techniques to start your business idea.
•	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.
•	Create selling strategy for a book report.
•	Research business opportunities in community.
•	Write resume of abilities. 
•	Research the career opportunities in the media industries (newspapers, magazines, radio, TV, etc.)
•	Students could work together on illustrations to include in a book or report.
•	Write short term and long-term goals for your business idea.
•	Develop a concept paper, a brief description of your business idea.
•	Write out a business plan
•	Have students choose roles to develop the business plan, i.e. record keeper, manager, pr person.
•	Research local small business activities and report on it.
•	Research labor laws.
•	Select a local business and determine what language skills are needed by the owner.
•	List qualities necessary to be an entrepreneur.
•	Develop a marketing plan for a local small business.
•	Students prepare oral presentations on famous entrepreneurs and successful businesses.
•	Explore biographical background of an entrepreneur that relates to your business goals, ideas.
•	Interview and job shadow a local entrepreneur in your field of interest.
•	Contact an employer who has set up his/her own business and interview the person.  Report results to the class.
•	Read Dave Thomas’s book and write a report on qualities, steps, etc. to success.
•	Research a business idea in magazines or books.
•	Give a written and oral presentation on research on businesses.  
•	Research, via the Internet, locations that would be good to set up a certain kind of business.
•	Write an employee handbook.
•	Develop a resume which would persuade an entrepreneur to hire you
•	Complete job applications or compose them for a particular business.
•	Research the effectiveness of a commercial, logo, business name.  Revise it based on results of market study.
•	Have entrepreneurs talk to class about mistakes made because of poor preparation in school.
•	Explore customer relations and problem solving as they relate to particular industries or areas of student interest.
•	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.
•	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.