Grade Five Math - Problem Solving and Data Management

I found a website that deals with starting your own business through a lemonade stand! Most children including myself have put out a lemonade stand or two on our driveway in hope to make some money! Some questions and concerns that come into mind with a lemonade stand is how much should we price the drink at? What recipe will we use, and how much of ice, sugar, lemons and cups will we need? All of these questions are incorporated into the lemonade stand website which deals with a grade five level of problem solving and data management. After a few rounds of this game I myself became addicted due to how exciting and challening it was, so I feel that my students will hopefully feel the same way and welcome the challenge that the site provides!

I would incorporate this website into my classroom by first having a class discussion of perhaps students that would eventually one day like to create their own business when they get older. What situations would they have to deal with and focus on? Such as the money intake and outake, how much to spend on the supplies you need for your business, who you are going to hire, etc. I want for my students to take all of these ideas into consideration before accessing this site in hope to allow them to be more successful while playing the game. They would then access the site and play a few rounds getting the feel for what ideas and questions a business brings about. For a lesson plan activity related to the site I would pair up my students for them to create their own business. They would be responsible for making up a name for their business and create a fun and welcoming sign. Also, they would have to list what they would be selling, what the prices are, what supplies they would need, how to get your customers attention and make your business successful such as coupons and advertisement, etc. I think that by working with pairs in this lesson activity the students can brainstorm ideas together using a think/pair/share idea and can build on one anothers creativity and skills.

I felt this is a great site to allow students to understand money value, organization, customer service, etc. By having the lemonade stand open on rainy days they realize that with running a business not everyday is going to be successful. They also learn about how much ingredients and supplies they need to buy because sometimes you run out of your supplies such as ice and then you don't have as many satisfied customers. It also teaches them money management, you don't want for your lemonade stand to go bankrupt, so you must find out how much your supplies cost and how much you can afford to buy without running out of money. There is also another link on this site to a coffee shop which is even more challenging by opening up your own coffee shop, making the recipes and buying supplies. I would allow my students to access the coffee shop link once they have practiced at the lemonade stand.