by Clara Ngo, Middle School STEM Teacher and an Anonymous Contributing Writer
May 7, 2019 marked the culmination of the 7th grade math students’ month-long project exploring the intersection of business, marketing, and logistics as it relates to mathematics. Led by Clara Ngo, the Pre-Algebra students used the design process to create a variety of goods and experiences from laser cut keychains, fresh squeezed lemonade, homemade macarons, photo booths, and even a make-your-own slime station to be sold at The Marketplace. The Algebra students took charge of the operations of The Marketplace from creating and distributing currency, logistics, and booth layout. Guests who visited the marketplace were given “mock money” and were challenged with the tough task of choosing which of their favorite marketplace booths to support. It was a huge success and learning experience for the students who were able to apply various skills learned throughout the year as part of the 7th grade math curriculum.
Students reground after the first Marketplace to debrief everything from event logistics to product modifications in preparation for a second and final Marketplace event. Students used information they gathered in surveys sent to event participants and implemented strategic feedback-based improvements into their initial concepts. This will be an interesting look into how consumer analytics and data can be used to better serve the end customer, just as companies and corporations behave to deliver on customer experience and satisfaction.
How does the Marketplace experience highlight amazing opportunities for math learning?
Throughout the year, to solidify the concepts of math, the students have been partaking in various projects from making infographics to look at ratios and visual representation of data, making chance cubes to learn about surface area and probability, laser cutting stickers to learn about composite shapes, 3d printing objects to learn about volume, the chance carnival to learn about probability and marketing, and throughout the year, the students have been given $100,000 of fake money to invest in the stock market. The Marketplace project came up as an idea to have a fun culminating project where the students will be able to use their personal talents and what they learned in class to make something of their own. The students took a risk on themselves and their ideas and felt great accomplishments at the end of it. Hillbrook School is really about learning collaboration, creativity, communication, and critical thinking. The Marketplace project helped them do just that!
Highlight in the Marketplace: Kindness Kits by Brianna C. and Kai F. (Mailchimp style preference: gray box with below copy following the article teaser)
What’s included in a kindness kit?
“Inside our kindness kits there is one homemade chocolate chip cookie, two homemade stickers (one is our logo and the other is a small fun decoration sticker), and a kind inspirational note. The note is meant to be passed on to one of your friends or family members to spread kindness. Along with all of goodies inside you also get an environmentally-friendly bag. When we were making this product we wanted to use as little plastic as possible so we used reusable fabric bags.
One extra thing we want to share is about our logo: When creating this logo, we wanted to make it easy to remember, relate to our name, and also ensure that it was not too busy. So using Adobe Draw, we created a green leaf logo. We used one color to keep it simple but easy to remember and recognize, and for the meaning we wanted to show that with our product we care about the environment. Also, a leaf symbolizes peace and love, which is what we are trying to share with other people.”
Why did you decide to create Kindness Kits and why does spreading kindness matter to you?
“We decided to make kindness kits because when people are shopping, they are usually looking for something for themselves, but with a kindness kit you get to enjoy what’s in it then pass it on to others to spread kindness.”
What was unique/special about your product?
“Something that is unique about our project is that you don’t just buy it for yourself, you are able to share what you have with others. This can teach younger kids that giving and sharing is a kind thing to do.”