My Co-operative Adventure

To the Teacher

Building on the community mapping exercise in Lesson Three, Lesson Four asks the students to conceptualize and present to their peers a business idea for fulfilling an unmet need in their community. Constructive feedback from the teacher and students will help students hone their
ideas. Refining their ideas will help them further develop their concept into an outline for a co-operative business in Lesson Five.

Pre-Assignment Discussion
1. Based on the community mapping exercise, the teacher asks each student to select an asset category they would like to see grow in their community. The teacher could ask students to consider:

• • What specific needs could be fulfilled by focusing on growing this asset category?
  • Which citizens will benefit?

2. Students should then be grouped with two or three others that have identified the same asset category to complete the Student Assignment.

Student Assignment
1. As per the Conceptualizing a New Business Idea student worksheet, each group is asked to conceptualize a business idea for fulfilling an unmet need in the community and to create a two minute pitch to be presented to their classmates. Students will take this exercise further in Lesson Five.

Bridging
1. The teacher and listening students should be prepared to ask questions of the presenting group from the Conceptualizing a New Business Idea worksheet. The purpose of this is to strengthen the ideas that will underpin the co-operative business outline to be developed in Lesson Five.