TITLE: Science Working in Business and Industry
AUTHOR: David J. Franklin, Weiser High School, Weiser, ID
GRADE LEVEL/SUBJECT: (11-12)
OVERVIEW: Many students that study science in high school
fail to see the value and application in business and
industry.
PURPOSE: The purpose of this activity, used during the
later part of the school year in an elective physics class,
is to show students how science goes to work in business and
industry by obtaining and studying public companies' annual
reports.
OBJECTIVE(s): As a result of this activity, the student
will:
1. List five science ideas that go to work at a particular
company in doing the normal business of the company.
2. compare and contrast the science applications found in
three different company operations.
3. Judge the relative success of a business from a
financial and social basis.
This activity works best at the end of a student's high
school career. The activity can also help achieve
several secondary objectives.
4. Discussion of the science applications in a company
follows the presentation.
5. One of the roles of the teacher in this activity is to
provide some additional insight into science
applications in the business that might be overlooked.
RESOURCES/MATERIALS: Company annual reports are easily
obtained by calling the company. simply request to speak
with shareholder services. Companies are happy to supply
these reports free to anyone who is interested in the
company. FORBES Publishes a phone number list for the
largest 500 American companies.
TYING IT ALL TOGETHER:
1. Each student earns 50 homework points for each company
presented (150 points total for three companies).
2. Encourage students to do company research from company
annual reports prior to doing a job interview. Point
out that annual reports are found in most major
libraries.
3. Tell students to think about the applied science that
went into the production of products they buy (chewing
gum, gasoline, Oil of Olay, etc.).
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John Kurilecjmk@ofcn.org