Course Profile   Introduction to Business, Grade 9 or 10 open, Public

 

Unit 1

 

Course Profiles are professional development materials designed to help teachers implement the new Grade 9 secondary school curriculum. These materials were created by writing partnerships of school boards and subject associations. The development of these resources was funded by the Ontario Ministry of Education and Training. This document reflects the views of the developers and not necessarily those of the Ministry. Permission is given to reproduce these materials for any purpose except profit. Teachers are also encouraged to amend, revise, edit, cut, paste, and otherwise adapt this material for educational purposes.

 

Any references in this document to particular commercial resources, learning materials, equipment, or technology reflect only the opinions of the writers of this sample Course Profile, and do not reflect any official endorsement by the Ministry of Education and Training or by the Partnership of School Boards that supported the production of the document.

 

©Queen's Printer for Ontario

 

Acknowledgments

 

Writing Partnership Lead Board:            Toronto District School Board

 

Course Profile Writing Team

 

Lori Cranson, Lead Writer, Toronto District School Board

Doug Ritchie, Toronto District School Board

Tom Truesdale, Toronto District School Board

Terry Murphy, Retired, formerly Frontenac County Board

Michael Liepner, Retired, formerly York Region District School Board

 

Project Manager:           Madeline Dennis, Toronto District School Board

Internal Reviewer:         Jane Phillips, Toronto District School Board (ESL and Special Ed)

 

Unit #1: Personal Finance

 

Activity 1 | Activity 2 | Activity 3 | Activity 4 | Activity 5 | Activity 6

 

Time:  35.5 hours

 

Development Date: March 1, 1999

 

Unit Description

Students will explore the dimensions of personal finance including income sources, budgeting, financial planning and the use of credit. Through this exploration, students will identify educational requirements to achieve the level of income desired; examine work and employability skills to ensure personal growth and development; and examine financial goals and the strategies to achieve them.

 

Strand and Expectations

 

Strand:      Personal Finance and The Role and Impact of Business

 

Overall Expectations

Students will:

•     RBV.01X   demonstrate an understanding of how businesses respond to needs, wants, and demand;

•     PFV.09X    distinguish the various ways in which individuals and households acquire income and other benefits;

•     PFV.10X    develop skills in managing personal income effectively, such as budgeting, planning, saving, and investing;

•     PFV.11X    analyze the role and importance of consumer credit.

 

Specific Expectations

Needs, Wants, and Demand

Students will:

•     RB2.01X    describe the concept of demand and the conditions that give rise to demand;

•     RB2.02X    explain how needs, wants, and demand create opportunities for business;

•     RB2.03X    compare the ways in which different companies address similar consumer needs and wants.

Income and Benefits

Students will:

•     PF2.28X     summarize the various ways in which individuals and households acquire income (e.g., employment, saving, investing, social programs);

•     PF2.29X     describe the major factors that can influence a job’s income level (e.g., experience, education, personal performance, uniqueness of abilities, success of the business);

•     PF2.30X     describe other benefits of a job in addition to income (e.g., skill development, self fulfilment, pension, health insurance).

Personal Financial Skills

Students will:

•     PF2.31X     distinguish the various ways of using income (e.g., spending, saving, investing, donating);

•     PF2.32X     identify the types of expenses, including taxes, that individuals and households typically incur;

•     PF2.33X     identify the criteria required for making effective purchasing decisions (e.g., cost, quality, guarantees, service, money available, product information);

•     PF2.34X     evaluate the products and services offered by major Canadian financial institutions;

•     PF2.35X     explain how fluctuations in interest rates affect saving, investing, and spending decisions;

•     PF2.36X     identify various types of investment alternatives (e.g., GICs, stocks, bonds, mutual funds);

•     PF2.37X     compare the benefits of saving and investing;

•     PF2.38X     demonstrate an understanding of the factors that will affect the value of money over time (e.g., compounding interest, rate of inflation, saving, investment decisions);

•     PF2.39X     develop personal budgeting and financial planning skills through the use of appropriate software.

•     CC2.21X    identify key employability skills.

 

Consumer Credit

Students will:

•     PF2.40X     discuss the advantages and disadvantages of consumer credit;

•     PF2.41X     describe the process of establishing a personal credit rating and applying for and obtaining credit;

•     PF2.42X     calculate the total cost of credit on a variety of loans.

 

Activity Titles, Time and Sequence

 

Activity #1

Understanding Needs, Wants, and Demand

7.0 hours

Activity #2

Earning and Spending

3.5 hours

Activity #3

Investing

9.5 hours

Activity #4

Credit: What’s It All About?

6.0 hours

Activity #5

The Cost of Borrowing 

2.5 hours

Activity #6

Putting It All Together

7.0 hours

 

Prior Knowledge Required

 

•     Mind mapping

•     Construction of a Timeline

•     Use of a spreadsheet

•     Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division

•     Use of a calculator

 

Unit Planning Notes

 

Review the Planning Notes for each activity and  prepare a checklist of guest speakers, suggested resource materials, and handouts before starting the unit. Since several of the Teaching/Learning Strategies listed are described in the Course Notes, read the course notes to familiarize yourself with these activities.

 

Teaching/Learning Strategies

 

Activity Based

Discuss

Concentration Game

Interview

Oral presentation

 

Thinking Skills

Treasure Chest

Brainstorm

Mind mapping

Dictionary of Key Words

Response journals

Independent Learning

Note Making Guide

Timeline

Research

 

Cooperative Learning

Small Group Discussion

Combined Groups

 

Direct Instruction

Demonstration

Guest Speaker

Spreadsheets

Focused questioning

Worksheets

 

 

Assessment/Evaluation

Refer to the course overview for the purposes of evaluation. The methods used in this unit are:

1.   Formative assessment of collage and presentation, Appendix B 1.1

2.   Summative assessment of unit terminology

3.   Formative assessment of group interaction

4.   Anecdotal feedback from teacher and class on mind maps and product research

5.   Formative assessment of contributions to the dictionary of key words

6.   Formative assessment of student response journals

7.   Assessment of timeline for evidence of cause-and-effect relationships between changes in the student's life and choices from the Treasure Chest

8.   Summative test on unit

9.   Summative assessment of budget using handout B 1.4

10. Peer evaluation of cooperative group work

11. Formative observation by the teacher of group interaction

12. Interview completed

13. Summative quiz to review terminology

14. Summative rubric for peer evaluation of group presentations (see Appendix B 1.3)

 

Resources

1.   The World of Business

2.   The World of Business video series

3.   Exploring Business

4.   Demystifying Thinking

5.   Marketing: A Global Perspective

6.   www.rc.gc.ca

7.   Money and Youth

8.   Choices & Decisions

9.   Stock Market Place Education Program

10. Daily newspaper

11. www.tse.com

12. A Financial Guide for Students, Money 101, Ontario Association of Credit Counselling Services

      http://www.creditcanada.com, 1-800-267-2272

13. Your Money, Your Life, Your Way!, Ontario Women’s Directorate

14. Managing Money, Canadian Bankers Association, 1-800-263-0231, www.cba.ca

15. Statistics Canada, www.statcan.ca

 

Activity #1: Understanding Needs, Wants and Demand

 

Time: 420 minutes

 

Description

Students will distinguish among the terms needs, wants and demand. They will describe the concept of demand and the conditions that give rise to it. Throughout this unit, team building will be emphasized.

 

Strand and Expectations

 

Strand:      The Role and Impact of Business

 

      Overall Expectation

      Students will:

•     RBV.01X   demonstrate an understanding of how businesses respond to needs, wants and demand.<

 

      Specific Expectations

      Students will:

•     RB2.01X    describe the concept of demand and the conditions that give rise to demand;

•     RB2.01X    explain how needs, wants and demand create opportunities for business;<

•     RB2.01X    compare the ways in which different companies address similar consumer needs and wants.<

 

Planning Notes

•     Ensure students start collecting items for the collage in advance of when they are required.

•     Be prepared to supplement the supply of media resources by having a large supply of magazines and newspapers available in the classroom. Request assistance gathering these periodical resources from other staff including the teacher librarian.

•     Prepare the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs material.

 

Prior Knowledge Required

•     Construction of an electronic spreadsheet.

 

Teaching/Learning Strategies

1.   The teacher will lead a discussion to bring out the distinctions between needs and wants and how both relate to demand which in turn, creates opportunities for business.  (Appendix A 1.1)

2.   The teacher will demonstrate the problem of multiple word meanings by using such related words as: needs, wants, demand.

3.   The students will look up the meanings of these words in several sources, including a standard dictionary, an encyclopedia and a classroom text.

4.   The teacher will provide students with a supply of index cards to create a Dictionary of Key Words. The teacher will demonstrate the entry format for the definition of the key words from #1, giving the subject-specific meaning only.  Drawings and diagrams may also be used. The students will complete their analysis of the key words, record subject-specific definitions on their cards and alphabetize the cards.

5.   In small groups, the students will compare their key word searches and exchange entries. The teacher will remind students to keep their cards in a safe place as they will refer to them throughout the course. (see Course Notes)

6.   To facilitate students getting to know each other and working as a team, the teacher will use an icebreaker activity such as People Bingo. This strategy will also introduce students to the distinction between needs and wants.

 

People Bingo (see Appendix A 1.2)

1.   Hand each player a grid sheet and pencil.

2.   Students must go around the room and find other students who fit the description on each square of the grid. The other student then signs that square. Students may sign each person’s paper only once.

3.   The game is over when a student has all squares signed.

7.   The students will brainstorm their needs and wants. This may also be done in a Think-Pair-Share exercise.

8.   The teacher will introduce Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. The students will classify the needs identified in #7 using this theory and construct an electronic spreadsheet to record this strategy. The students will create and label a pie graph or bar graph to visually represent the findings.

9.   The students will create a collage to illustrate needs, wants and demand using the media resources collected earlier. The students will include the computer graph generated for Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs into the collage. Prior to starting this activity, the teacher will introduce the Rubric Assessment tool, Appendix B 1.1. Using the Presentation Rubric, the students will identify the key criterion to be assessed in this activity.

 

Assessment/Evaluation Techniques

1.   Formative assessment of collage and presentation, Appendix B 1.1 (RBV.01X, RB2.03X))

2.   Summative assessment of unit terminology, Appendix B 1.2  (RB2.02X)

 

Resources

1.   The World of Business, pages 15–27

2.   The World of Business video series, Unit 1, Program 1

3.   Exploring Business, pages 6–9; pages 143–152

4.   Demystifying Thinking, pages 150–151

5.   Marketing: A Global Perspective, pages 64–66

 

Accommodations

1.   Assist students with the interaction required in People Bingo.

2.   Prepare a note outline for students to follow the discussion on needs, wants, and demand.

3.   Provide the opportunity for students to use computer facilities in the school. This may also include providing one-on-one assistance. Students familiar with spreadsheets should be encouraged to provide peer coaching.

4.   Pair written instructions with verbal instructions to create a Dictionary of Key Words.

5.   Use key visuals to illustrate definitions and encourage use of first language/English dictionary for developing the students’ dictionary of key words.

 

 

Activity #2: Earning and Spending Personal Income

 

Time: 210 minutes

 

Description

Students will learn how individuals and households acquire income and analyze the factors that affect a job’s income level and other benefits. Students will investigate expenditures that individuals and households incur and learn how to make informed purchasing decisions.

 

Strand and Expectations

 

Strand:      Personal Finance

 

Overall Expectations

Students will:

•     PFV.09X    distinguish the various ways in which individuals and households can acquire income and other benefits.

 

Specific Expectations

Students will:

•     PF2.28X     summarize the various ways in which individuals and households acquire income (e.g., employment, saving, investing, social programs);

•     PF2.29X     describe the major factors that can influence a job’s income level (e.g., experience, education, personal performance, uniqueness of abilities, success of the business);

•     PF2.30X     describe other benefits of a job in addition to income (e.g., skill development, self-fulfillment, pension, health insurance);

•     PF2.31X     distinguish the various ways of using income (e.g., spending, saving, investing, donating);<

•     PF2.32X     identify the types of expenses, including taxes, that individuals and households typically incur;<

•     PF2.33X     identify the criteria required for making effective purchasing decisions (e.g., cost, quality, guarantees, service, money available, product information).<

 

Planning Notes

•     Obtain a T1 General tax form and make copies of page two for students.

•     Invite a guest speaker and brief your guest on the topic you wish to be presented.

•     Obtain a supply of newsprint or flip chart paper.

 

Prior Knowledge Required

•     Mind mapping

 

Teaching/Learning Strategies

1.   The teacher will organize the class into small groups. The teacher will distribute copies of page two of T1 General tax form to each student and discuss and explain each category of income on the form. Working in groups, the students will categorize sources of income as employment income, self- employment income, investment income and government transfers. The teacher will place a transparency of the T1 form on the overhead and reach a consensus as a class on the categories of income. The teacher will ask the class if there are any sources of income that have been missed and list these.

2.   The teacher will invite a human resources person/business owner to visit the class and make a presentation on the factors that can influence a job's income level and to describe the benefits of a job other than income. Request the speaker to put the presentation into context by first describing the culture of the organization. The teacher will distribute the Note Making Guide to students.

3.   The teacher will use the Note Making Guide to debrief the students on what they have learned from this speaker and what questions remain.

4.   The teacher will describe to the class the four ways of using income as spending, saving, investing and donating.  The teacher will organize the class into groups and have each group prepare a mind map that identifies the types of expenses (e.g., spending) incurred by individuals and households. The groups will post their results and present their work to the class.

5.   The students will identify items, such as a car, that would represent major purchases for an individual or household. The students will brainstorm the criteria for making effective purchasing decisions and discuss ways that a person could research a major purchase. Each group will choose a product to research and identify a different source of research to be used by each group member. Students will research the product and the group will present its findings using newsprint or flip charts. 

 

Assessment/Evaluation Techniques

1.   Formative assessment of group interaction (PF2.31X)

2.   Anecdotal feedback from teacher and class on mind maps and product research (PF2.32X, 33)