Academic and Career Planning
Grade 7- Unit 1
Understanding the Workplace and Community
Students will be able to:
Understand concepts and ideas related to employment; work day, salary, wages, income/ sales taxes, social security W-2.
Identify the various employment opportunities in the community and their social and economic function. (i.e. wages, goods and services)
Name as many occupations/jobs as possible that you know.
Brainstorm answers to these questions:
Why do people work in jobs and careers in a community?
How do services, businesses, products/goods solve problems?
Why is employment required for the worker?
Brainstorm as a large group and list students’ answers on the board.
Exit activity - Why do I need to work?
Research one of the following definitions and bring your findings to class:
Job
Career
Salary
Wage
Contract
Paycheck
Income tax
Sales tax
Social Security requirement
W-2
Understand the employment/workforce definitions that were assigned for homework.
Look at an example of a W-2 tax form. What do you notice about it?
Answer these essential questions:
Why are there taxes on income and sales?
What do taxes do for a local community? (i.e. maintain roads for transportation, pay for schools, provide medical care, care for the elderly, pay for parks and recreation spaces, etc.)
What do taxes do for the country? (i.e. Social Security, medical care, federal initiatives, etc.)
Teach each term. Enlist the help of students based on their findings.
Show an example of a W-2 tax form so students can see that when they work, not all of their earnings will go directly into their pockets.
Students should begin to see that taxes go to benefit themselves, the community, the state they live in, and the entire country’s population.
Students should also begin to see that there is a relationship between themselves, their employment, and their community.
Exit Activity - What did you learn about working and taxes that did you not know before?
For the following places/jobs, identify:
What does this place or job do for the community?
What does this place or job do for the worker(s)?
What is the economic function of this place/job?
Examples
Grocery Store
Bank
Gym/Fitness Club
Restaurant
Park
Community Center (like the YMCA)
Middle School
High School
Movie Theater
Clothing Store
Home Materials Supplier (lumber, cabinets, hardware, etc.)
College/University
Car Dealership
Automotive Shop
Health Department
Hospital
Legal Services
Police Department
Fire Department
Factory
Appliance Store
Counseling Center
Place students in pairs or groups with 4-5 places/jobs from the list provided.
Have students answer the questions in web form, on a piece of easel paper, or on whiteboards.
Have students select a workplace from the list you provide and brainstorm what they think the work day and environment is like for a worker from that place.
Choose one of the places of employment from the list provided in class.
What do you think the work day is like for a worker there?
What do you imagine the working conditions are like?
How do they earn? Is it hourly or a salary?
For example, at a movie theater, the workers would be inside a building, on their feet most likely, using their hands, answering questions, counting money, and their work shifts would be late in the day or in the evening.
Bring your thoughts/brainstorm notes to class.
Determine particular working conditions related to certain types of employment
Explain how basic employment clusters function in a society. (i.e. Hospitality/Service Industry, Medical and Science, Social Services, Law Enforcement and Military)
Diagram the circular flow of money related to wages, goods and services.
In pairs, share your answers to the assigned homework about working conditions.
Recall the comprehensive list of occupations/jobs that was created at the start of the unit.
Learn about particular working conditions for various places of employment/jobs.
Elicit responses from students about their brainstorming answers regarding workplace conditions.
Teach students about various work environments using webs/concept maps on the board.
In addition to the ones students offered, give a variety of examples to showcase a cross-section of community jobs.
Exit Activity - What kind of workplace environment do you think you would like most?
Top Five Employment Clusters
Hospitality/Service Industry
Medical and Science
Social Services
Law Enforcement
Military
Recall the comprehensive list of occupations/jobs that was created at the start of the unit.
Learn about the basics of each cluster and what each term entails at a broad level.
Introduce students to the Top Five Employment Clusters and help them understand the basics of the terms.
.
Ask them to try and place the workplace they investigated for the previous lesson/class into one of the clusters.
Ask them to take some of the occupations/jobs they came up with at the start of the unit and place them in a cluster category.
For example, if a student thought about the movie theater as a workplace and what the conditions are for the worker, they would most likely connect their findings to the Hospitality/Service Industry cluster.
Exit Activity - Identify two clusters that interest you the most.
In your group, research the cluster that has been assigned to you.
Resources:
Guiding Questions
What are some jobs within your cluster?
What are the workplace conditions like for jobs in your cluster?
How are the people who work jobs in your cluster paid? Is it by taxes? Revenue/business capital? Consumer/customers?
Group students based on the Top Five Employment Clusters and their preferences indicated from the previous Exit Activity.
Assign each student one of the guiding questions to answer.
Students should record their data and answers to share with the rest of the class.
In a mini-presentation to the class, share your answers to the Guiding Questions.
For each cluster, have students share their answers.
Record their answers on a whiteboard so they can see a broad view of the clusters.
Now that you understand your assigned cluster’s function, think about the economic element of the cluster/jobs within the cluster.
Diagram the circular flow of money related to wages, goods, and services for your assigned cluster.
Provide students an example diagram with the circular flow of money related to wages, goods, and services for a particular occupation or workplace.
Groups should deliver a diagram in order to move on to the next level.
Analyze local jobs and their impact on your community. (goods, services, exchanges and social benefit)
Evaluate the economic impact of buying local vs. online in terms of community sustainability. (Amazon vs. Main Street)
Now that you understand your assigned cluster, as a group, think of how some of the jobs within the cluster impact Manchester/your local community.
Record the people you encounter each day or in a week.
Are they working a job? Are they providing a service or performing a task that helps the community function?
How do people in your local community (including yourself!) benefit from the jobs performed in your cluster?
Show students how connected people’s jobs are to the well-being of a community.
What are the needs of people?
Have them answer questions or draw a diagram that connects people they encounter to services/goods that either help the community function or help them in some way.
Example:
Food=Necessary to live, which requires people to work in stores to keep shelves stocked and registers open for payment
School/Education=the production of citizens who work and contribute to a community - food is provided at the school (someone had to bring it there!)
Infrastructure=maintains the roads and pathways for students to get to school, jobs, and stores for food
Exit Activity - What have you learned from going over the people you know/meet and their work?
Family Jobs Web
Create a web with branches that shows your family members and family friends, their occupations, and where they work.
How does your family contribute to the society/community with their work?
Have students create a Family Jobs Web so that they can see the contributions and benefits of work within their local community.
Ask one of your family members/friends about their work and why it is important.
Amazon v. Main Street
Understand the difference between purchasing items/goods/services online and purchasing from a local establishment.
Recall circular flow of money diagram.
Possibly create a venn diagram for this information.
Guide students through understanding where money goes when they buy something from Amazon v. when they buy something from a local business.
Example:
Buying a book from Amazon will be cheaper and faster.
Buying a book from The Bookery in Manchester will be a few dollars more.
Buying from Amazon supports workers in a warehouse and driving carrier vans.
Buying from The Bookery supports workers in the store.
Buying from Amazon supports a large economy beyond the local community. .
Buying from The Bookery supports a locally-owned business that is most likely run by a person living in the community (who will pay taxes into the community and those taxes will benefit schools, roads, services, etc. beyond the store).
Create a presentation that showcases your understanding of the exchange that happens in communities based on jobs, services, and needs.
Final Component Options
Option 1 - Pitch to Manchester City Council
In your group, identify a good or a service from within your cluster and pitch it as a job opportunity to city council.
Option 2 - Craft a Job Description/Post for Indeed
Write
Option 3 - Create a Business Plan/Pitch
Presentation to the class!