Shark Tank
If you're looking for an engaging and educational project for middle school students, look no further than the Shark Tank project. This project challenges students to come up with their own business ideas, create marketing materials, and pitch their ideas to a panel of "sharks" (teachers or guest judges). It's a fun and interactive way to teach important business and marketing skills, and it can help students build confidence and communication skills as well. The Shark Tank project is divided into three parts: planning, marketing, and the pitch.
Planning
In the planning stage, students are asked to come up with a business idea, create a name for their company, and think about what service or product their business will provide. They also need to consider who would work for their company, how much they would charge for their goods or services, and who would buy their product. This helps students learn about market research and target audiences, as well as budgeting and financial planning. We let students work individually or in groups.
Marketing
In the marketing stage, students create an advertisement for their business or product. This can be done on paper or digitally, and should include the name of the product or service, the purpose of the product or service, and the cost of the product or service. This helps students learn about branding and messaging, as well as visual design and communication.
The Pitch
In the pitch stage, students present their business ideas to a panel of "sharks". They create a slideshow presentation that includes a picture of their product or service, and answers to important questions like how much money they're asking for, what percentage of the company they're willing to give up in exchange for investment, and how their product or service will improve people's lives. This helps students learn about public speaking and persuasion, as well as critical thinking and problem solving.
Student Examples
Overall, the Shark Tank project is a great way to engage students in a fun and interactive learning experience. Our goal was primarily to enjoy the creative process along with some actual math examples in the real world. We (Jen, Maggie, and Aimee a.k.a: MarGilly and Weiss) combined classes to allow for more group work and a larger audience on pitch day. As teachers, we were able to float around to assist individuals and groups with their own unique business ideas and talk through the math that was applicable (e.g., costs like materials and advertising). Some examples of student business ideas that were created include:
Instafoods: Instant Kugel (small batch re-heatable kugel)
Roman’s Pasta (protein pasta and protein bars)
Maui Boutique (a clothing and accessory lifestyle brand)
Post-It Folks (custom sticky notes personalized with an image/face - We know Post-It is actually a brand name, don’t worry!)
R.O.G. Dog Collars (customizable collars for larger breed dogs with an accessory pouch included)
Sporf On, Baby: ETT (Easy-To-Travel) Sporfs (travel utensils that include a spoon, fork, and knife) - see product mock-up photos below
Students had a good sense of humor with their pitches and this group even included this delightful tagline for their billboard advertisement:
“Forks, spoons, and knives are good, but nothing compares to the Sporf.”
Try it yourself
We created our own (ask me about Jagels Bagels!) teacher example, complete with a Canva-created advertisement, for fun to showcase what a finished pitch might look like after completing the planning document. The options are endless, and I highly recommend using Canva and other digital creation tools (Tinkercad, iMovie etc.) to enhance the products/services. We had students create physical prototypes, 3D model for images to share, and create physical paper-based and video advertisements. To get started, you can use this Google Doc to guide your students through the project, and use these blank Google Slides to create your own pitch deck. Additionally, there are many online resources available to help you teach entrepreneurship and marketing skills to your students. There are existing “Shark Tank” style activities/projects online. If you are looking for even more, check out the Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge and the Junior Achievement programs.