Unit 1Economic Resources and Systems

This unit focuses on the role of business in the economy, and how economic trends affect business. They will demonstrate business acumen through examination of needs and wants, development of short and long term plans, and/or conservation of limited resources. A PBA will have students synthesize information about a business from the TV show "Shark Tank" and develop solutions to potential business growth problems.

21^st Century Capacities: Synthesizing, Imagining

Unit 2Business Structure

Students will focus on the structure of business including: types of business ownership, and the roles of management. Students will study the functions of a manager, and learn how managers can motivate their employees to perform. The Shark Tank PBA Part 2 will have students act as a consultant for a business and give the business advice on their business structure, employee motivation, and ethical behaviors.

21^st Century Capacities: Synthesizing

Unit 3Business Activities

This unit will focus on several business activities such as accounting, marketing, and hiring/personnel that are essential to succeeding and managing a business. Students will use their knowledge of accounting to make financial forecasts and projections. These activities will also coincide with learning how to create a business plan which will be a major focus of the following course; Entrepreneurship. A PBA will have students develop the idea of a Food truck business, and will produce a mini business plan.

21st Century Capacities: Analyzing, Product Creation

Unit 1The Game

In the Entrepreneurship course, students will gain hands on experience of running a business as a team. In unit 1, students will work in smaller groups to develop a business idea. In the PBA, students will create a mission statement, what separates their business and makes them different, and then create a survey to research what the perceptions of their market are. Students will then take the information and their idea and give a sales pitch to the rest of the class as to why their product should go forward into being sold.

21^st Century capacities: Analyzing, Collective Intelligence, Presentation

Unit 2The Plan

In Unit 1, students developed a business idea and pitched it to the rest of the class. From those pitches, two ideas will be selected to go forward in unit 2. Students will be part of one of those two businesses, and will assume a role within a department where they will have specific responsibilities. The PBA, which encompasses the whole unit, asks students in their departments and within their business to develop a comprehensive business plan. As students continue to work on the business plan they should be holding regular business meetings to ensure that each department is working together and communicating.

21^st Century Capacities: Design, Collective Intelligence, Product Creation

Unit 3The Sale

Students will carry out the operations of their business and sell their product. This includes tracking revenue, inventory control, marketing and selling of the product. The PBA has students give a report on their performance as well as discuss strategies for growth if the business were to continue.

21^st Century capacities: Analyzing, Collective Intelligence, Perseverance

Unit 4The Entrepreneur

The last unit of Entrepreneurship is the culminating final project (to be used as final exam). This allows students to take their own idea for a business and develop it. Students will then be asked to create a visual as part of a gallery walk display.

21^st Century capacities: Product Creation, Imagining

Unit 1Branding is Everything

One of the challenges in Marketing is being able to strike an emotional connection with consumers. This unit looks at how a company builds a brand to connect with consumers. Students will look at how a company positions themselves in a competitive market, and how that influences the brand message that they communicate to consumers. Students will also learn how to decode messages to learn what an advertisement is really saying and how the emotional appeal by the company shapes the brand. The PBA gives students the beginning of a case study about Real Burger World (a non-fictional business) and asks them to build their brand and message.

21^st Century capacities: Imagining, Presentation, Product Creation

Unit 2How to Hit the Target (Market)

In unit 2 students will learn that trying to meet the needs and wants of everyone is very difficult, therefore businesses must focus their marketing efforts on a specific target market. Students will learn how the market gets segmented in order to create a target market. Students will then study how the decisions and strategies made in the marketing mix (product, price, place, promotion) must directly reach the target market and satisfy their needs and wants. Students will then use Ansoff's matrix to determine how to extend the product life cycle and adapt their marketing mix to the new strategy that was made. The PBA of the unit asks students to visit the New Coke case study, and come up with an alternative strategy that would have been effective in the Cola wars by developing a comprehensive marketing mix for different target markets.

21^st Century Capacities: Innovation, Imagining

Unit 3Social Responsibility

Corporations bring in billions of dollars a year in revenue while providing us products to satisfy our wants and needs. Because these corporations and businesses bring a lot of money we look to them to give back to our community, the marketplace, environment, and employees. We look to them to give back because as San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said "Because we're rich as hell and we don't need it all, and other people need it." This unit looks at how corporations are socially responsible and give back to society, with a focus on the impact their decisions have on the marketplace, community, employees, and environment. Students will analyze the actions the company takes to be construed as "window-dressing", and how those actions correlate into an increase of brand image, revenue and profits. The PBA asks students to act as a consultant for the Madison Beach Hotel and develop a comprehensive social responsibility plan that is feasible and can help achieve an increase of brand image, revenue and profits.

21^st Century capacities: Analyzing, Imagining

Unit 4The Marketing Plan

In this culminating experience, students will create a Marketing plan for an existing company that is in decline. This marketing plan will act as an all encompassing PBA and final exam for the entire course, allowing students to demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the concepts acquired throughout all the units of the course. The PBA will ask students to perform a situation analysis, description of the target market and position, develop goals for the business, develop marketing strategies and communications, as well as a marketing budget.

21^st Century capacities: Synthesizing, Imagining, Product Creation

Unit 1

A Paycheck and a Plan

In Unit 1 of Personal Finance students will get the chance to explore potential careers and the education/training needed to perform those jobs. From those career choices, students will find an entry level salary, which they will use for the activities throughout the unit and the PBA. The essence of the unit has students calculating net pay as they learn about the income tax process and deductions from a paycheck. With their net pay, students learn the importance of a financial plan and sticking to a budget. The PBA will have students act as a financial planner in creating both a financial plan for a client with a specific profile, and a spending plan (budget) that aligns to the financial goals outlined in the financial plan.

21^st Century capacities: Decision Making, Production Creation

Unit 2Smart Choices in Banking

In unit 2 of Personal Finance students will delve into the landscape of financial institutions. Students will learn how to evaluate a checking account and savings account offer from a bank so that they are an informed consumer. Students will also take the perspective of the bank to decide how they choose whom to give a loan. The PBA asks students to compare checking accounts and savings accounts from banks to determine which account best fits their needs.

21^st Century Capacities: Analyzing, Decision Making

Unit 3The Costs of Using Credit

In unit 3 of Personal Finance, students will delve into the costs and risks associated with using credit. Students will explore how a credit score increases and decreases, and how a credit score will affect your life. Students will also be able to calculate how much interest is paid over time as the cost of using credit, as well as the dangers a credit card brings to one's finances. Students will also learn about the risks of identity theft and how to protect themselves. The PBA asks students to compare and choose a credit card that fits their needs, and then write a letter to their parents explaining why they should have a credit card, demonstrating they have the knowledge of how a credit card works and can use it responsibly.

21^st Century capacities: Presentation, Synthesizing

Unit 4Stock Market Analysis

In Unit 4 of Personal Finance students will learn the basics of the stock market and how to analyze stocks. Students will take a look at the company as a whole, and their recent performances to determine if the company is worth investing in. Students will learn how events, news, and other factors such as psychology, and fear play a role within the stock market. Students will learn basic stock analysis of popular key indicators such as EPS, PE Ratio, and market cap. The PBA asks students to prepare a report for a client that analyzes a stock, makes an investment recommendation, as well as a prediction of where the price will be in one and five years based on their research and analysis.

21^st Century capacities: Synthesizing