There was a bit of an unusual math, science and art lesson – with a big dash of creativity thrown in – as Sorrento Elementary Grade 4-5 students came up with ideas and then marketed products for a Young Entrepreneur Fair on April 29-30.
Slime, stress balls, wooden signs, tech decks, strawberry plants, bookmarks, bath salts and more were created by the students.
Teacher Sara Haugland explained young entrepreneurs is a fun Math and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) activity that has students challenge themselves to come up with a product they would be able to sell.
Students in Division 1 and 2 were told about the challenge the week before spring break and had until last week to develop a product.
Many students chose to work with a partner, but there were quite a few individual entrepreneurs as well. The fair took place outside and each division was given a 30-minute time slot on either Thursday or Friday to purchase a product.
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During the project, students were tasked with keeping all their receipts for their product expenses, in the spirit of paying back their start-up costs. They had lessons on supply and demand, product creation and practiced their sales pitches through persuasive writing activities. They also created small posters that they put up around the school encouraging others to purchase their product, and had large product posters placed on their stations when outside.
Once the fair was over, participating students had to add up the totals for what they spent and deduct their expenses from their profits. Some students wished they’d had charged a bit more, while others felt they charged a bit too much and could have sold more product if they’d lowered the price a bit. Most students sold out of their goods.
Submitted by School District 83.
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