Invite a local business person from a company that makes something or provides an essential service, preferably on a national or international level, to be interviewed by the class.
The business should offer products or services that young children can understand or which can be shown and/or explained to them easily. The ideal business person would represent a company that has been in business for 20 or more years, and which has perhaps evolved to meet different economic demands. In this way, the class can ask "then and now" questions that will show difference in business practices over time. Encourage the interview candidate to bring products, print advertising copy/catalogs, or even multimedia information along with them. A map would be useful when discussing trade regionally and internationally. These resources will enable the interview to take on a "show and tell" format for the group interview.
Variation: The class could invite two individuals from the same or similar business, one a current employee and one a longtime or perhaps retired employee.
Topics and questions:
- Tell us about what your company/business makes or what they provide for customers?
- What made your product or service valuable to customers in the past? Now?
- How did your company/business get bigger (or smaller) over the years and why did that happen?
- How does your company/business make money? Sales for cash money? Trading goods or services? Other?
- In what ways (such as media advertising) does your company/business tell customers about what you sell or do? What way works the best? Has it changed over time?
- Tell us about how your products or services are used in other places in the United States. In the rest of the world?
- How does your company/business use people or resources from other places?
Standards: Social Studies-Economics; Social Studies-History; Social Studies-Geography; Language Arts-Research; Language Arts-Written and Oral Communication
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