MACC Mall Project!

As a culminating project in connection with our unit on “Getting Our Needs Met,” we will actively apply financial literacy, economics, and resource management to the selling of a product at MACC MALL!

Students will:

  • Get a Business Permit: Work independently or with a partner. Some students working with a partner may be choosing to make their own product, but working with someone to receive support from a fellow classmate during the process. Others are working with a partner to produce one item. Ms. D’s permit office will provide you with permission for whichever you decide to do.
  • Create a draft plan of a product: Using the ADST design cycle, brainstorm ideas, then narrow it down to one product. Draw a picture in your journal of the product, and list the potential supplies needed.
  • Get a patent at the Patent Office:  Ms. D will provide patents and product approval to students as they report to the Patent Office.
  • Receive $100 Start Up Money, Set Up Budget:  Each student receives $100 in start up funds from the bank. They will keep track of their spending in their journal or in Excel (may be easier in a journal, as we don’t always have a computer available during building time.)
  • Purchase Supplies: Go to Ms. D’s store, and she will provide you with supplies at a cost. Menu of costs is on the whiteboard. Please do not buy new things for this project. If you bring crafty items or recyclables from home, please show them to Ms. D for price determination. Using scissors, markers, pencils, glue sticks you own, and storage boxes is free. Hot glue guns, tacky glue, hole punches, and special cutters can be rented for a flat fee on the menu board.
  • Make a prototype: Build a prototype, show it to peers, and receive feedback. Also, get it approved by the patent office. Make adjustments if needed, as per the ADST design cycle.
  • Make more product!  Start mass production so you can sell it at MACC MALL.
  • Advertising and Packaging:  You will need some ads to help sell your product, and you may want something for your display. Creating these comes out of your budget. Set a price that is a whole number under $10.
  • Sell your items at MACC MALL:  We will have multiple classes come through. They will receive 10 tickets each, and each ticket represents $1.
  • Did you make a profit?  Similar to Cookie Mining, did you make a profit?
  • REFLECT:  After the process, write an eport entry to reflect, and Ms. D will respond with assessment.

CRITERIA — Students will be able to:

  • Use communication skills with the Patent/Building Permit Offices, fellow MACC Mall Participants, Ms. D’s Store, and their partners successfully to get their needs met.
  • Apply the ADST design cycle, which includes brainstorming/ideating, prototyping/creating, and adjusting ideas as needed before you get to the final product.
  • Keep an organized budget and make independent decisions successfully to not go beyond their $100 start up and to try and make a profit.
  • Apply financial literacy and math skills in that budget successfully.
  • Use creative and critical thinking skills to think about their potential audience of consumers and to create a product that appeals to that audience.
  • Communicate about their product using visual media of their choice and writing conventions effectively.
  • Reflect on the experience, relating MACC Mall to our understanding about how humans use a variety of tools and systems to get their needs and wants met.
  • Participate in MACC Mall independently without production help from home, finishing the majority of construction in the classroom so Ms. D can comment and help with the process.

WHEN IS THE PRODUCT DUE:

We will try to finish the products by end of May, but Ms. D will also monitor production and set an appropriate date for MACC Mall with classes when we are closer to completion. (We can’t have a store without finished products!)