Students will create their own restaurant. By combining economics principles and math concepts by interpreting data to drive their decisions as business owners. 

This website provides a basic introduction to entrepreneurs with a special focus on NC. What do you call a person who takes financial risks in hopes to gain a profit? No, not a person suffering from a gambling addiction; an entrepreneur. An entrepreneur is “one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise” (Merriam-Webster, 2012). Business can be very risky, but why would anyone be willing to take such high-stakes financial risks?

Higher-level students will be divided into 3 small groups so that they may work collaboratively with their peers to research entrepreneurs of the 3 main regions of NC (coastal, piedmont, and mountain). Each group will work to find the entrepreneurs of their particular region, and they will make the connection as to why the entrepreneur was able to make business decisions based on the needs and desires of the consumers in the region of NC. Students will work together as a whole group to create a topographical map of NC and show where entrepreneurs have established businesses/developed products or services in each region. Students will create a legend to show types of businesses/products/services. Then each individual student will write a paper telling about one entrepreneur in their region explaining how/why the region was conducive for entrepreneurship. This lesson was developed by NCDPI as part of the Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project. This lesson plan has been vetted at the state level for standards alignment, AIG focus, and content accuracy.

In the first chapter you learned about geography, one of the important areas of social studies. You explored the geography of Michigan and its many special natural characteristics. What do people do with the natural characteristics of Michigan? They put them to use! They plant crops in the soil. They use wood from trees to build houses. What do they do with water??? Lots and lots of things! There is a special name for things in nature that people find useful: natural resources. In this section you will learn how natural resources are important in another area of social studies: economics.

In this lesson, Activities 1 & 2, students are introduced to several businesses from the past. They see that, while the names for these businesses are different many of the elements of that job are seen in occupations today. The web site "Business Cards..." explains that many of our family names may have come the occupations of preceding generations.

This page includes podcasts, videos and blog entries all about entrepreneurship efforts at the Entrepreneurship Center at UNC Chapel Hill.

Higher-level students will be divided into small groups so that they may work collaboratively with their peers to research (even possibly interview via Skype or e-mail) a particular entrepreneur of NC.  Students will draw from “a hat” the entrepreneur who they will research, and they will also draw from “a hat” the type of project that they will complete on the entrepreneur to reveal what they have learned.  Then after exploring how entrepreneurs have become entrepreneurs, students will work on a small entrepreneur fair for their class/school.  They will develop a product to sell at the fair.  This lesson was developed by NCDPI as part of the Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project. This lesson plan has been vetted at the state level for standards alignment, AIG focus, and content accuracy.