Stock Mark Culminating Project
Stock Mark Culminating Project
Course(s)/Subject(s):Civics/Economics
Grade Level(s):8
Key Words:Social Studies,
Technology, Stock Market, Corporations, Stocks, Annual Reports
Developer(s) Name:Robert
Dunleavy
School:Washington Irving
Middle School
Approximate Time Frame:Two
Class periods in the Computer Lab and 2 days presenting in the
classroom
Materials/Equipment
Needed:Business Section of Major
City Newspaper, Computer for each student with Internet access and
PowerPoint,Demonstration Computer,
Large Monitor, Word Processing software (e.g.. ClarisWorks),
Printer
Description of Lesson (includes
context):In this lesson, students
use the Internet and PowerPoint to research and relate information on
American corporations to classmates. This is a culminating lesson in
Economics/Stock Market. It presumes that the students have been
exposed in previous classes to the corporate form of business
ownership in America, the free enterprise system and the stock
market. Students do a cursory examination of a large American
corporation and report their findings to their classmates. This can
be used as a jumping-off place to have students invest a certain
amount of money in the stock market and track their investments over
the year, using a spreadsheet program. If you choose to do so, please
contact the author, who has created a spreadsheet for this
purpose.
LESSON OUTLINE
- What is the objective of this lesson?
VA POS Standards:
8.3Students
will understand and explain the basic principles, structure, and
operation of the United States
economy as compared with other economies and
demonstrate informed economic
decision making.
|
|
|
8.5
|
Students will
conduct inquiries and research to demonstrate
knowledge and
|
|
|
understanding of
civics, economics, and geography.
|
|
|
|
|
8.6
|
Students will
apply knowledge of civics, economics, and geography
to make
|
|
|
decisions and
solve problems.
|
|
FCPS POS
Benchmarks:
8.3.1Students will demonstrate
an understanding of the United States economic
system.
Page 1 of 4
8.3.3Students will be able
to make effective economic decisions as informed
consumers, productive workers,
responsible savers and investors, and
accountable citizens.
8.5.1Students will be able
to acquire information from a variety of sources.
8.5.2Students will be able to
organize information in a variety of forms.
8.5.3Students will be able to
analyze information.
8.5.4Students will be able to
interpret information.
8.5.5Students will be able to
communicate in a variety of written forms.
8.5.6Students will be able to
communicate orally.
8.5.7Students will be able to
communicate using technologies.
8.6.1Students will be able to
make and evaluate decisions.
FCPS POS Indicators:
8.3.1.aExplain the concepts of
supply and demand, scarcity, choices, tradeoffs, private
ownership, incentives, consumer
sovereignty, markets, and competition.
|
8.3.3.a
|
Apply the knowledge needed
to make informed economic decisions and to
|
|
|
manage personal economic
choices.
|
8.5.1.aGather information from
written, oral, and visual sources.
8.5.1.bUse search strategies
to access and retrieve electronic information.
|
8.5.2.a
|
Classify information
according to specific criteria such as sequence, relative
|
|
|
location, order of
importance, comparison, and cause and effect
relationships.
|
|
8.5.2.b
|
Arrange information using
different methods such as notes, timeliness, maps,
|
|
|
charts, tables, graphs,
graphic organizers, databases, and spreadsheets.
|
8.5.3.bDistinguish between
relevant and irrelevant information.
8.5.3.eSummarize information
from multiple sources.
8.5.4.cDistinguish between
fact (reporting) and opinion (editorializing).
|
8.5.5.c
|
Communicate through
products such as letters, visuals, maps, newspaper
|
|
|
articles, research papers,
learning logs, and reaction papers.
|
|
8.5.6.a
|
Determine the purpose,
audience, and format for speaking, working individually
|
|
|
or in groups.
|
|
8.5.6.b
|
Demonstrate effective oral
communication skills.
|
|
8.5.6.c
|
Communicate knowledge and
understanding through individual and group
|
|
|
presentations.
|
Page 2 of 4
8.5.7.aUse
application software and word processing skills to create a
document.
8.6.1.bMake
a decision based on available information.
8.6.1.cIdentify
possible alternatives to, and likely consequences of, the
decision.
8.6.1.dProvide
a rationale for the decision.
VA SOL(s) (including
Computer/Technology):HSS7.6,
HSS7.9, 8.3, 8.5, 8.6
C/T8.1, C/T8.2,
C/T8.3C/T8.4
Other:
EVIDENCE
- What will we examine as
evidence of students' knowledge and/or skill?
Product(s):PowerPoint
presentation on the chosen corporation
Performance(s):
Other:
DIRECTIONS
- What exactly will the
students and teacher do during the lesson?
Directions to students for
proceeding with the lesson:
a. Look up the
chosen company on the Internet, using a search vehicle such
as hotbot.com or excite.com
b. Locate the
ANNUAL REPORT within the Web Site of the Corporation. (An
alternative way to get to Annual
Reports is to go to:
http://www.reportgallery.com/or
http://www.icbinc.com/cgi-bin/barrons.plor
http://www.prars.com/
c. Open ClarisWorks to "NEW" and
"DRAWING"
d. Copy some
identifying picture (e.g.. company logo, the cover of the Annual
Report, etc). to the ClarisWorks
document.
|
|
|
e.
|
Copy the Letter
to the Stockholders and picture of the CEO and/or
senior
|
|
|
corporate executives
to new pages in the ClarisWorks document.
|
|
f.
Locate the CONSOLIDATED INCOME
STATEMENT (AKA Earnings
Statement, Statement of Operations,
etc) and copy this page to a new page in the
Page 3 of 4
ClarisWorks document.
g. Find and copy
any photographs of the company's products to a new page in
the ClarisWorks document.
h. Using a
corporate research site on the Internet, determine the trading
symbol,
stock price history and synopsis of the selected
corporation.
http://www.bigcharts.com/
http://hoovers.com/
i. Copy a
one-year history and synopsis of the corporation to new pages in
the
ClarisWorks document.
j.
Using the above (less the Letter to
the Stockholders), students will prepare a
presentation on PowerPoint for the
class on the company they chose.
k. Print out a copy of the report
to practice your presentation at home.
l.
Save on student floppy disk.
m. Based on the
above information, students will recommend purchasing or not
purchasing stock in their selected
company
Directions to
teacher/administrator using the lesson?
- Prior to going to the computer lab have students select a well
known corporation from
the stock market pages (no duplications/class).
- Regarding item "e." the two sets of numbers that are of
interest to this review would be
the NET SALES (AKA Total Revenue, Total Sales, etc) and NET INCOME
(AKA
Profit, Net Profit, etc.). Each annual report will have a two or
three year comparison.
Students should compare sales and profits over time. Are both
going up? Are
revenues rising while profits are falling? etc.
APPROPRIATE
ACCOMMODATIONS/MODIFICATIONS
- What options in
presentation(s) and/or response(s) are suggested in order to
provide the opportunity for all students to demonstrate
achievement of the benchmark(s) and indicator(s)?
None required
