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Elon Musk Knows Entrepreneurship High School Submitted by: John Cunninghama and John Meehan Freedom High School, Loudoun County Public Schools Abstract. Students will begin an investigation into what is Entrepreneurship and learn about one (1) approach in evaluating an opportunity for a business and / or product idea. The goal is to begin generating an interest with students in what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur using someone who most students find inspiration from, Elon Musk. The lesson plan uses Elon Musk who, in my experience, is the most well-known business person and entrepreneur known among high school students. In using the inspiration provided by Elon Musk, the students are introduced to a Lean Canvas approach to “deconstruct an idea into its key assumptions”. The Lean Canvas approach will be introduced using an actual business opportunity under consideration by the teacher. This lesson plan builds on a lesson from the beginning of the year where the students were introduced to a growing issue where Unmanned Aerial Systems (i.e. drones) are entering either airspace illegally and/or placing people in danger. The students are asked to create their own product or business idea using the concept of Ideation and First Principles Thinking. In addition to traditional brainstorming, I am also asking the students to use Sketchnoting to help generate ideas and to, ultimately, begin a deeper investigation into that idea / concept. My goal, by using an actual business opportunity, is to provide the students an understanding and appreciation for the initial steps in product and business formation. https://vcee.org/economic-educator-awards/

Materials. https://vcee.org/economic-educator-awards/ 1) The entire lesson is included on the Google Slide presentation “Elon Musk Intro to Entrepreneurship - VCEE Final” - https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Apr3J6eiyd6eZHOzyCwl9Bu2P7ErOQwv3eikj21RItQ/edit?usp=sharing 2) If the lesson is going to be used in a classroom, the teacher may consider making the Dilbert “PROJECT Entrepreneurship Puzzle” a hands-on activity by providing paper comic cells for each group of students to arrange in the correct order. When in class having the students in teams that compete to see who can finish the puzzle makes the activity much more exciting and is a good demonstration of the importance of teamwork. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1AK_WWwm12mc0qexTlvx_ThjvlP-UtfS2EjQJCziJ2rg/edit?usp=sharing 3) Students will require a computer, laptop, Chromebook or tablet to complete the activities. A phone is not recommended. Elements not original to the lesson 1) Template found on Slide #3 - John Meehan - English Teacher Bishop O’Connell High School and author of “Adrenaline Rush - Game Changing Student Engagement Inspired by Theme Parks, Mud Runs, and Escape Rooms. 2) The YouTube video on Elon Musk - “Biography of Elon Musk” - Jake Zeeman 3) All of items included in the Wakelet a) What does it mean to be an entrepreneur? - Max Freedman - Business News Daily b) The entrepreneurial mindset: from kid to Entrepreneur - Kim Cope TEDxGastownWomen c) Entrepreneurial potential self-assessment - Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) 4) “What should I do with my life” - “Magic Powers” - Po Bronson 5) Lean Canvas template - VCEE Entre Institute (Part A): Entrepreneurial Mindset 6) Blastar Video Game - Elon Musk

Time required. 160 to 180 minutes or approximately two (2) blocks of class time. There are also two (2) homework assignments that are estimated to take a total of 40 to 45 minutes. Economic or personal finance concepts. Some of the key entrepreneurship concepts and business skills that this lesson addresses are: * An introduction to Intrapreneurship and Entrepreneurship * The role of innovative thinking, problem solving and project / program management * The design thinking process, ideation and First PrinciplesThinking * Communication and situational communication skills required for success as an entrepreneur, intrapreneur and as an employee for any business. * Leadership and teamwork skills * A true customer centric focus * Ability to take constructive criticism * The process of building a Lean Canvas Business Plan. Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs). Identify the specific Virginia SOLs addressed in this lesson.* The VDOE competencies that will be addressed are: 39 Explain the concept of entrepreneurship. 40 Explain the concept of intrapreneurship. 42 Describe goals of being an entrepreneur. 43 Describe the entrepreneurial mindset. 44 Research entrepreneurs. 45 Describe the role of innovation in entrepreneurship. 46 Explain entrepreneurial roots of opportunity. 51 Demonstrate the design thinking process. https://vcee.org/economic-educator-awards/

54 Identify the components of the business model canvas. Student learning outcomes. Explain how this lesson/unit teaches or reinforces the economic/personal finance concepts listed in section 3. Example: Students learned about X economic concept by doing Y activity* * The students investigate what makes an entrepreneur by watching a video on Elon Musk’s life and completing the reading and activities in a Wakelet. * The entrepreneurship self assessment and following class discussions will help students understand the mindset and goals of entrepreneurs. * The Dilbert puzzle activity develops problem solving, teamwork, leadership and communications skills as students work competitively to finish assembling the cartoons in the correct order faster than their classmates. * The develop your own Dilbert Entrepreneurship cartoon activity helps get the students’ creative juices flowing prior to beginning the ideation and first principles process. It also allows the students to learn a bit more about entrepreneurship in a, hopefully, engaging and fun activity. * The Po Bronson story, “Magic Powers”, uses a book that is being read in the students’ English class. It helps further tie all of the concepts and skills discussed to another real-life inspirational entrepreneur, Deni Leonard. * The Sketchnote and Ideation activity introduces the students to the Design Thinking process. The activity is supported by an actual business idea under active investigation by the teacher on Unmanned Aerial System UAS) / drone counter-measure solutions. The UAS counter-measure business concept is used throughout the course helping demonstrate many of the steps required in a startup business. * Use of the Lean Canvas activity provides the students an opportunity to step through the process of business case development and business model development. * The last activity, playing Elon Musk’s Blastar video game, reinforces how your life experiences, interests and passions can be the start of something special. https://vcee.org/economic-educator-awards/

Procedure. “Elon Musk knows Entrepreneurship” is built on Google Slides and is designed to be easily modified to add, change and/or and adapt any of the activities and content. This includes the entire presentation being a template for any content area. The lesson is designed for Distance Learning but can be easily modified and adjusted for in class instruction. To use this lesson to introduce entrepreneurship to students, please follow the following steps. Teacher instructions: The Google Slide deck contains the instructions for all of the activities for the students. Below are the steps for modifying the Google Slide deck to be used in your class. 1) In Google Slides bring up the “Elon Musk knows Entrepreneurship” and make a copy for your use. File>Make a copy. Save a copy to a Google directory of your choice. 2) Go to the activity slides (slide 3) and update the yellow box #1 labeled “WEEK ONE”. Update the “Click here” link to your Google Meet code. If you are Zoom or other conferencing tool, link the appropriate URL. 3) Go to the activity slides (slide 3) and update the yellow box #6 labeled “Team End of Day #1”. Update the “Click here” link to your Google Meet code. If you are Zoom or other conferencing tool, link the appropriate URL. 4) Go to the activity slides (slide 3) and update the green box #7 labeled “Team End of week #1 - Return to Google Meet XX:XXam ”. Update the “Click here” link to your Google Meet code. If you are Zoom or other conferencing tool, link the appropriate URL. 5) Go to the activity slides (slide 3) and update the green box #12 labeled “Join Team Google Meet to discuss day #2 activities”. Update the “Click here” link to your Google Meet code. If you are Zoom or other conferencing tool, link the appropriate URL. 6) On slide #3 go to the blue box titled “PROJECT Entrepreneurship Puzzle” and open the Google Slide deck and go to File>Make a copy. Save a copy to a Google directory of your choice. Update the link using your copy for this activity. 7) On slide 3 open up the Google Form for the Activity labeled “Po Bronson” by clicking on the link “HERE”. Bring up the Google Form and Click on the edit pencil in the lower right corner. Go to the upper right corner 3 dot menu and click on the menu. Select “Make a copy”. Save a copy https://vcee.org/economic-educator-awards/

to a Google directory of your choice. Save a copy to a Google directory of your choice. Update the link using your copy for this activity. 8) On slide #9, the Sketchnote example references a business idea of Mr. C. You are welcome to re-use Mr. C’s business idea or substitute one of your choice. Please note the drone counter-measure business idea had been discussed with the class that worked on this lesson. This provided them additional background and information on the business opportunity. 9) On slide #12, the Lean Canvas business plan example references a business idea of Mr. C, the author of the lesson. You are welcome to re-use Mr. C’s business idea or substitute one of your choice. Please note the drone counter-measure business idea had been discussed with the class that worked on this lesson prior to students beginning the activities. This provided them potentially important additional background and information on the business opportunity. 10) On slide 13 titled “LEAN CANVAS BUSINESS PLAN” click on the link and bring up the blank Lean Canvas template. Go to File>Make a copy. Save a copy to a Google directory of your choice. 11) On slide 11 open up the Google Form by clicking on the link. Bring up the Google Form and Click on the edit pencil in the lower right corner. Go to the upper right corner 3 dot menu and click on the menu. Select “Make a copy”. Save a copy to a Google directory of your choice. 12) Test all of all of your links in the Presentation. 13) Each Dilbert cartoon cell has a letter in the cell to help the teacher quickly check each teams’ work during the competition. The answer key is as follows: KEN PAT DJI SOB GYM Student Instructions It is time to begin our journey to learn about Entrepreneurship with the help of Elon Musk. 1) Slides 1 and 2 provides a brief introduction to Elon Musk and his businesses. 2) Once you get to Slide #3 “ELON MUSK: BUILDING AN EMPIRE”, you will follow the silver arrows and navigate through eight (8) activities on Entrepreneurship including:: https://vcee.org/economic-educator-awards/

2.1) Watching a short video on Elon Musk’s life 2.2) Exploring Entrepreneurship on a Wakelet and completing a self-assessment 2.3) Working with Dilbert to learn a bit more about Entrepreneurship and Intrapreneurship 2.4) Reading a short story on another truly inspirational entrepreneur 2.5) Ideate using Sketchnoting 2.6) Creating a Lean Canvas one (1) page business plan 2.7) Playing Blastar Elon Musk’s video game he built and sold at the age of 12. 2.8) Uploading all of your creations and work to a Google Form 3) Please make sure the Google Slide presentation is in presentation mode for all activities except for the Dilbert “PROJECT Entrepreneurship Puzzle”. For this activity you will work with Dilbert and with your team to move comic cells around to solve the Dilbert comic puzzle. After learning a little bit about Dilbert and his team, you will then use your creative juices to build your own Dilbert cartoon in the vein of Scott Adams. Evaluation. All of the activities provide evidence of student learning except for the video summarizing Elon Musk’s life and the playing of his Blastar video game. The students’ Dilbert cartoons begin to show me theirunderstanding of basic business and entrepreneurship concepts. This is further reinforced when I post some of the better cartoons and we discuss these concepts as a class. Below are some examples of the Dilbert cartoons I have received. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bSQxIdVnhZViM89h-h6cOvWAGkx-FU55Cl2wwLxmwgM/edit?usp=sharing The Po Bronson story, “Magic Powers” story of Deni Leonard, provides an opportunity for students to reflect on a challenge they overcame in life. The second question asks the students to describe three (3) attributes of what has made Deni Leonard a successful entrepreneur. https://vcee.org/economic-educator-awards/

I use the Sketchnote activity to work with students to create product and business ideas in preparation for developing a Lean Canvas Business Plan.. In addition to the development of the Sketchnote, the students will work in groups to provide direct feedback to each other. My goal during these discussions is to act as a moderator working to drive engagement from all group members. In several cases, students working on this project have talked about their own businesses or experiences in a family business. It has been some of these experiences and insights that have greatly improved the content of the discussions.. Once I have reviewed the Sketchnotes, the students will then begin developing the Lean Canvas business plan. These plans are reviewed and, if necessary, returned to the student for further refining. For the students who have their own business or work in their family business we use the process to try and improve some aspect of that business. For example, last year, I had two (2) students who ran a sneaker reselling business. The Lean Canvas business plan focused on expanding their market to include marketing and more products for teenage girls. Extension The activities can be spread the across three (3) full blocks and eliminating the homework assignments. This year during distance learning, it has been a struggle to get students to do homework in a timely manner. Interdisciplinary aspects. https://vcee.org/economic-educator-awards/ The lesson using the Po Bronson book “What Should I Do With My Life” is being read by the students in English class. The English teacher and I wanted a book where we could use it to show students all the different career roads people can take in their lives. quoting the English teacher “WHY THE HELL DO YOU NEED TO KNOW HOW TO

https://vcee.org/economic-educator-awards/ READ/WRITE/ORALLY COMMUNICATE?” and its importance in the development of a career. the amount of drive and hard work it takes to be successful in business