Shark Tank Grades 9 - 12 | Four sessions

Summary & objectives: Your student will create or improve a product that solves a problem and create an advertisement to persuade others to buy it. At the conclusion of this lesson, they will be able to use persuasive speaking and writing skills to sell a product.

Relevant tutorials: ● Google Slides ● How to use Animoto ● How to use Canva

Materials to prepare: ● Scrub Daddy episode of Shark Tank

Encourage your student to share their hard work with their parent/guardian! Don’t forget to help them post their work on the School on Wheels Community Padlet every week, as well.

https://schoolonwheels.org/summer2021 Steps:

Part 1: Watch an episode of Shark Tank with your student. Discuss what made the sharks want to invest in Scrub Daddy. What stood out to you about the presentation, or pitch? Is there anything you would have done differently?

Talk with your student about the two main types of products: inventions and innovations. Inventions are the creation of a product for the first time (think: cameras). Innovations are significant changes and improvements made to an existing product (think: Apple computers, iPods).

Help your student brainstorm what product they would like to create. Do they want to create a completely new product from scratch, or is there a product out there that they want to make even better?

Part 2: Have your student create a visual representation of their product to present to the sharks. This can be hand-drawn, created using a website like Google Draw, or students may use items around the house if they are available. This should clearly show the design and function of their product.

Part 3: Have your student create an advertisement for their product. This should catch the eye of the buyer/sharks and convince them that their product is worth investing in!

Students can choose how they would like to advertise their product. They can create a commercial using a website like Animoto, a magazine ad, a digital poster using Canva, a digital presentation using Google Slides, or something else!

Your student’s advertisement should include the following components. They can also add additional information that will make their product appealing to customers. ● Name of product ● Cost of product ● Where you can buy the product (optional) ● What the product does ● What problem the product solves ● Picture of the product ● Catchy slogan ● Company logo (optional)

Part 4: After all components have been completed, your student will give a presentation to you, the “shark”, to sell their product! This should be attention-grabbing and persuasive. This is a great time to involve your student’s parent/guardian. In addition, feel free to reach out to the Volunteer Support Coordinator or Student Support Coordinator for your region and see if they would like to be a “shark” for the presentation as well.

https://schoolonwheels.org/summer2021 Just like in Shark Tank, your student is trying to convince the sharks that there is a need for their product and customers would be lining up if they were to invest in their product. This is a great time for your student to present their advertisement and show the visual representation of their product.

The “sharks” will weigh the pros and cons of the proposed product. Was the presentation convincing? Are there some changes that would need to be made to the product? Final decision: to invest or not to invest, that is the question.

https://schoolonwheels.org/summer2021