Glencoe Secondary Introduction to Business Student Site

Idea Factory

Unit 1 The Economy and You, p. 3
Unit 2 Owning and Operating a Business, p. 67
Unit 3 Groups Affecting Business, p. 145
Unit 4 Marketing to the Consumer, p. 195
Unit 5 The Human Resources Advantage, p. 231
Unit 6 Managing Financial and Technological Resources, p. 267
Unit 7 Career Planning in a Global Economy, p. 317
Unit 8 Buying Goods and Services, p. 353
Unit 9 Credit, p. 403
Unit 10 Money Management, p. 453
Unit 11 Risk Management, p. 531

Unit 1 The Economy and You

Chocolate Industry. Pick your favorite type of chocolate bar, such as Hershey's, Cadbury, or Toblerone. Look up the chocolate company on the Internet. Who owns the company—an individual, a corporation? In what country is the company based—the United States, England, Switzerland? Which countries produce the most chocolate? Which countries consume the most chocolate? Research the information on the Internet. Use your findings to create a bar graph for each category.

Unit 2 Owning and Operating a Business

Hybrid Cars. The U.S. government announced plans recently to develop a hydrogen-powered car. Look up the hydrogen car on the Internet and write a brief report about it. How does it work? How long will it take to produce, and how much will it cost to produce? How much will it cut down on fuel emissions? What kind of mileage will it get?

Unit 3 Groups Affecting Business

U.S. Exports to Costa Rica. When Christopher Columbus "discovered" North America, he was actually looking for a shortcut to India. For centuries, the great powers have sought out, carved out, and fought over trade routes. Research a historical trade route, such as the Khyber Pass, the Silk Road, or the Amber Road. You can use an online encyclopedia, such as Encarta, or key in the search words "trade route." Write a brief history of the trade route and print out or draw a map of it. What articles does the U.S export to Costa Rica? Draw a simple map showing the areas where the articles originate.

Unit 4 Marketing to the Consumer

Marketing and Advertising. Create a poster display showing how cyber ads are laid out. Go to a favorite news or entertainment Web site. Print out the home page and any ads that appear. Cut, arrange, and paste up the different parts of the page on the poster. Label what each of the ads is for, what type of ad it is, such as a screen or banner ad, and how it tries to get your attention. Be sure to include any pop-up ads that appear.

Unit 5 The Human Resources Advantage

Business Cultures. Get together with a group of other students in your class. Use the Internet to research the business customs of another country, such as Japan, India, or Mexico. In class perform a couple of skits with the students in your group, illustrating the do's and don'ts of conducting business internationally.

Unit 6 Managing Financial and Technological Resources

Technology's Influence. Imagine you work in the accounting department of a big Hollywood studio. Pick a recent big-budget movie with lots of special effects. Research the Internet for the production costs of the movie. How much did the movie cost to make? How much of the budget was spent on special effects? What percentage of the budget was this? How much money did the movie make in its first month? How many months would it take at this rate to cover the costs of the special effects? How many months would it take for the movie to start making a profit? Put together a report outlining this information.

Unit 7 Career Planning in a Global Economy

Jobs and Careers. Find the strangest or most unusual jobs you can. Print them out and paste them together to make your own odd job listing.

Unit 8 Buying Goods and Services

Conservation. Pick a commonly recycled product, such as glass bottles or newspapers, and research the product on the Internet. Create a poster display showing the process the product goes through to recycle it, and what other products the recycled material is used to make. In class, identify any products in your home or school that might be made out of the recycled product.

Unit 9 Credit

Credit Cards. Songs about being broke, or in debt, have long been a staple of popular music. Download the music and/or lyrics to a song such as Pop Goes the Weasel, Sixteen Tons by Merle Travis, Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? by Harburg and Gorney, or Busted by Ray Charles. You can also find a song about debt on your own. Share the song with the class and discuss the lyrics and the social context of it.

Unit 10 Money Management

Trading Stocks. Research the tulip frenzy in Holland in the 1630s. Use search words like tulip frenzy, tulip craze, or tulip mania. Write a brief account of the tulip craze and create a timeline from the first appearance of the first tulip in Holland to the crash of the tulip market.

Unit 11 Risk Management

Insurance Industry. What's the name of an insurance company your family uses? Enter the company's name as a key word in a search engine. The company site probably has a frequently asked questions (FAQ) section. If it doesn't, choose another insurance company. Go to the FAQ section, choose three interesting questions and write a summary of the answers.

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