Unit 5 WebQuest Project

Getting Down to Business

Introduction | Task | Process | Guidance | Resources | Conclusion

Introduction
How would you like to run your own business? On this adventure, you'll be creating your own company. Along the way you'll come up with a company name, slogan, and product to sell to your peers at school. You'll research the cost of materials, create advertisements, and calculate potential profits from the sales of your product. You'll also survey your peers to find out what they would be willing to pay for your product, analyze the data, and adjust your projected profit model. It's going to require hard work and your algebra tool kit to make this company work, so let's get down to business!

Business Challenge 1
First, research, define, and be able to use some specific business terminology.

Business Challenge 2
Next, work cooperatively within a small group to create a company that can produce a good or service that students at your school would be interested in buying.

Business Challenge 3
Last, analyze and properly display the data you gathered about your company and create a presentation you can share with your peers.

Business Challenge 1

Search the Internet and find a definition for each of the following business terms:

• goods,
• services,
• fixed costs,
• variable costs,
• opportunity cost,
• Law of Supply and Demand,
• profit equation, and
• cost equation.

Then, use each word in a sentence.

Business Challenge 2

Once you have familiarized yourself with the vocabulary listed in the first activity, get in groups of 3-4 students. You are to create a company that will sell either a good or a service to your fellow peers at your school.

1. Brainstorm about 5 to 8 different ideas. Then narrow your list down to your number one choice.
   
   
2. Decide on a name for your company and a catchy slogan. You will create different advertisements for your company, so be sure your slogan is something that your peers will remember!
   
   
3. Use the Internet to estimate the cost of your good or service. For example, if your company chose to make pennants that bear your school’s mascot and name, you will need to look up materials on the Internet that are needed to assemble and decorate these pennants.
   
   
4. Create a table that includes all of the materials and the cost per unit of each item.
   
   
5. Create different advertisements to represent your product. You are allowed to spend $10 on your advertisements. Below are the prices of the different forms of advertisements you may use in your school:
   • paper flier, $0.50 per sheet;
   • intercom announcement, $3 per announcement per day; or
   • school news show commercial, $5 per 1 minute commercial;
     
     
6. Write your cost and profit equations. Remember to take into account the cost of the materials, advertisements, and labor when creating your cost equation. Your profit equation includes the price you are going to charge per item minus the cost per item.

Business Challenge 3

Now that you have analyzed the costs of your company, it is time to analyze the possibilities of the different profits your company could gain.

1. First, create a survey to be passed out to peers in your school. This survey must ask students about your proposed product and the amount they would be willing to spend on your product. Include a minimum of three questions on your survey.
   
   
2. Conduct the survey and tabulate the results.
   
   
3. Using these results, create a scatter plot that shows the different prices your peers would be willing to spend on your product.
   
4. Analyze your cost and profit equations so that you can answer the following questions:
   
   • If you want your profit to be greater than $100, how many items would you have to sell?
   • If you want your cost to be less than $10, how much would you have to charge for your product?
   • Is your profit equation linear or nonlinear? Is your cost equation linear or nonlinear? Explain.
     
     
5. Create a presentation for your company that includes the following:
   • your company’s title and slogan;
   • a description of the good or service your company is producing;
   • the table that includes each item bought and the price per unit;
   • a table that includes all the names of all of your costs, the price per each item, and a column that labels them Fixed or Variable costs;
   • your cost and profit equations;
   • a description of the results of your survey;
   • examples of the different types of advertisements that your company purchased,
   • your company’s scatter plot; and
   • the answers to the three questions in part d above.
     
     

Business Challenge 1

When searching for the vocabulary words on the Internet, look at different definitions on different Web sites to get a wider glimpse of the meaning of the word. This will help you better use the word in a sentence.

Business Challenge 2

1. There are many different companies you could start at your school. For instance, a sweet shop that sells ice cream, cookies, and candy might be something students at your school would be interested in. Think about things you like to eat, do, or participate in. Think about different sports, clubs, and extra-curricular activities that go on at your school.
   
   
2. When creating your profit and cost equations, refer to Lesson 10-2 in your text.

Business Challenge 3

1. Below are some questions you could ask when creating your survey:
   • How much would you pay for ______________?
   • What is the most you would pay for _______________?
   • If we sold _____________ for _________ dollars, would you purchase it?
   • Why or why not would you purchase _____________ if it was sold at our school?
     
     
2. To review how to construct a scatter plot, refer to Lesson 11-6 in your text.
   
   
3. When answering the three assigned questions, refer to Lessons 10-5, 10-6, 10-7, and 12-1 in your text.
   

Resources
Listed below, you can find some helpful Web sites. Remember, you are not limited to these Web sites.
Ask Jeeves
Google
Yahoo
Yahooligans

Conclusion
Congratulations on completing your quest! Was you company profitable? Do you think it would actually be profitable in real-life? Who knows, maybe you'll really start your own business one day. Now that you have some of the math tools needed to make such a venture a success, we are sure your business will be booming!