Summary
Students will learn how location impacts businesses and markets. Students will also identify the infrastructure, manufacturing, and markets of different businesses: Huffman’s, Braum’s, and Netflix.
Essential Question(s)
How does location impact the success of businesses and markets?
Snapshot
Engage
Students watch a video about job outsourcing and discuss what they learned with a partner.
Explore
Students read about the history of the Huffman company and identify how location helped or hindered their business over time.
Explain
Students consider economic factors that led to the rise and fall of Huffman and recognize how those elements have influenced the growth of another business.
Extend
Students compare and contrast the business practices between the Netflix corporation with the other two companies that they have previously examined.
Evaluate
Students illustrate the significance of location for businesses by creating a comic strip answering the lesson’s essential question.
Materials
Lesson Slides (attached)
Cycling Through the Story of Huffman’s handout (attached; one per student; printed front only)
Economic Influences handout (attached; one per student; printed front only)
Economic Influences (Sample Responses document (attached; for teacher use)
Company Chronicles (attached; one per student; printed front/back)
Location Impacts handout (attached; one per student; printed front/back)
Highlighters (2 per student)
Dice (1 for teacher use; digital option available)
Engage
10 Minute(s)
Use the attached Lesson Slides to guide the lesson. Show the essential questions on slide 3 and ask for responses to the questions based on anything students already know about industries. Transition to slide 4 to review the lesson objectives.
Move to slide 5 and play the “Why It Matters: Outsourcing Jobs” video.
Place students in pairs then show slide 6. Ask pairs to discuss the questions on the slide:
What are some examples of how job outsourcing can impact Americans?
Why are U.S. companies outsourcing jobs?
What are some potential solutions to keep job opportunities in the United States?
As time allows, have volunteers share their responses.
Explore
20 Minute(s)
Display slide 7 and give each student two highlighters. Then give each student a copy of the attached Cycling Through the Story of Huffman’s handout, which tells of the rise and fall of the Huffman Company. Direct students to pick one color to represent factors that are “helpful” and second color for factors that are “hurtful” to the company. Have students highlight the corresponding words at the top of their handout so that it is easy for them to recall which color represents which type of factor.
Move to slide 8 and tell students that as they read, they should look for factors that contributed to the growth or profit of the Huffman Company and highlight those phrases with the first color (helpful) and look for factors that contributed to the company’s demise, highlighting those phrases with the second color (hurtful).
Show slide 9 and facilitate a class discussion, asking students to suggest factors that contributed to company growth or profits and the factors that hindered or harmed its growth.
Explain
20 Minute(s)
Show slide 10 and ask students: How did location play a role in the rise and fall of the Huffman Company? As students share responses, ask prompting questions to guide students towards their examples being in one of the following categories: infrastructure, manufacturing, and markets.
Move to slide 11 and give each student a copy of the attached Economic Influences handout. Share the definitions for infrastructure, manufacturing, and markets from the slide. Direct students to write those definitions in their own words on their handout.
Transition through slides 12-14 and share examples of these key terms. Direct students to record this information in the Examples column of their handout. Use the attached Economic Influences (Sample Responses) document as needed.
Display slide 15 and give each student a copy of the attached Company Chronicles handout. Direct their attention to the Here’s the Scoop on Braum’s portion of the handout, which has a brief history of this now Oklahoma company. Direct students to underline where they see examples of this new vocabulary in their reading.
As they discuss their responses, reinforce and support those who talk about how industries might choose a location based upon cheaper labor costs to make more of a profit. Ask students to brainstorm how industries might make a profit in other ways. Write these ideas on the board.
Extend
25 Minute(s)
Display slide 16 and direct students’ attention to the Netflix’s Binge-Worthy Start side of their Company Chronicles handout. Direct students to circle the ways in which Netflix differs from the other companies they have read about during this lesson: Huffy’s and Braum’s.
Once students complete the reading, have students find a partner or assign partners. Introduce the Critical Thinking Cube strategy to the class. Preview the activity by explaining that you will roll a dice and share out the number. Students will then have about two minutes to talk with their partner about the corresponding prompt. Call on pairs to share with the whole class. For clarity, explain to the class that if a 3 is rolled, they will discuss prompt #3 (which they will see on the following slide) with their partner for two minutes and then share with the whole class.
Transition to slide 17 and share the following prompts:
Describe: Describe the infrastructure of Netflix.
Apply: What can we do with the information from this lesson?
Compare: Compare the locations of the Huffman, Braum’s, and Netflix companies. How are they similar? different?
Analyze: How did outsourcing impact Netflix?
Synthesize: How are the infrastructure, manufacturing, and/or markets of Netflix like another company you know?
Argue: Is location the most important reason a business succeeds or fails? Justify your answer.
During the whole class share out, record the common big idea of the class for each prompt on the board or somewhere else visible. The goal is for students to understand the concepts of outsourcing, infrastructure, manufacturing, and markets.
Evaluate
20 Minute(s)
Move to slide 18 and share with students the Cognitive Comics strategy. Give each student a copy of the attached Location Impacts handout. Ask students to create a 3-6 cell comic to answer the essential question on the slide: How does location impact the success of businesses and markets? Have students write a brief summary explaining their comic once they have finished their comic strip.
Resources
Associated Press. (2012, October 24). Why it matters: outsourcing jobs. [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/ymT1W-g_FCY?si=9qZw1xXAeBlNbTpp
Bahrul Ulum. (2024, July 4). Manufacturing. [Illustration]. Noun Project. https://thenounproject.com/icon/manufacturing-7040244/
Eucalyp. (2020, May 21). Global Markets. [Illustration]. Noun Project. https://thenounproject.com/icon/global-markets-3685625/
Good Wife. (2022, February 13). Public Infrastructure. [Illustration]. Noun Project. https://thenounproject.com/icon/public-infrastructure-4617818/
K20 Center. (n.d.) Categorical highlighting. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/192
K20 Center. (n.d.) CPM Probability Generators. Tech Tools. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/tech-tool/2317
K20 Center. (n.d.) Critical thinking cube. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/1583
K20 Center. (n.d.) Cognitive comics. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/198