Iowa Authors, K-12

A list of more than 100 authors who live and write in Iowa is now available electronically on the Iowa Center for the Book’s (ICB) Web site, http://www.iowacenterforthebook.org/authors. The list continues to grow, and was recently retooled so that viewers can choose to read more about authors who do programs specifically for adults, young adults and children.

The purpose of the list is twofold: For readers, it is a source of information about Iowa authors and what they have written. For libraries, schools and other organizations, the list contains information about Iowa authors who are interested in accepting speaking engagements.

A few of the authors listed include Stephen G. Bloom, Neal Bowers, Dorothy Garlock, Donald Harstad, Mary Kay Shanley and Walt Shotwell.

Being a Writer, K-6

http://www.devstu.org/being_a_writer/index.html
The Being a Writer™ program is a yearlong writing curriculum for grades K–5 that combines two decades of research in the areas of writing, motivation, and learning theory with social and ethical development. The program has two goals: to develop the creativity and skills of a writer, and to develop the social and ethical values of a responsible person. It uses trade books for genre immersion and author studies. Books recommended in this program have been identified in Com Cat. Just search being a writer for a list of Heartland and school library books.

Finding Books by Lexile, Reading or Interest Level, K-12

Teachers can search for books by any of these levels in Com Cat. It’s a great tool to find appropriate reading-level materials for students. Lexile training is being provided to a statewide group through Every Child Reads.

Draw Me a Story DVD Series, K-6

Each title in this series presents a story and shows the illustrations as they are being created. Illustrations are shown in various stages with voice-over narration. Each video is about 9 minutes.

Draw me a story: Cinderella (mixed media) (073350)
Draw me a story: Death for a godfather (cut-outs) (073367)
Draw me a story: Fearless Peter (creative crafts) (073366)
Draw me a story: Goldilocks (oils & ink) (073353)
Draw me a story: Hansel and Gretel (chocolate & frostings) (073368)
Draw me a story: Little Red Riding Hood (mixed media) (073358)
Draw me a story: Nasreddin's path (colored chalk) (073377)
Draw me a story: Salvador and the Christmas goose (pen & paints) (073363)
Draw me a story: the brave little tailor (colored chalk) (073351)
Draw me a story: the brown cow (embroidery & fabric) (073375)
Draw me a story: the clever girl (fabric & pen) (073374)
Draw me a story: the Emperor's new clothes (painting & watercolors) (073357)
Draw me a story: the great race (watercolors) (073352)
Draw me a story: the greedy calculator (mixed media) (073372)
Draw me a story: The light (pencil & paints) (073365)
Draw me a story: the little fur tree (colored ink & pen) (073359)
Draw me a story: the magic tree (paint on parchment) (073376)
Draw me a story: the Pied Piper of Hamelin (color transparencies) (073355)
Draw me a story: the selfish giant (pencil & paints) (073362)
Draw me a story: the snake and the maiden (natural vegetation) (073371)
Draw me a story: the snowman (construction paper cut-outs) (073361)
Draw me a story: the Sun and the Moon (finger paints) (073369)
Draw me a story: the thirsty frog (mixed media) (073373)
Draw me a story: the tin soldier (modeling clay) (073356)
Draw me a story: The violin's ghost (mixed media) (073364)
Draw me a story: the violin's story (sketch painting) (073378)
Draw me a story: Tiny Tom (construction paper cut-outs) (073354)
Draw me a story: Tsar Saltan (crafts & cut-outs) (073370)
Draw me a stroy: The three little pigs (watercolors) (073349)

Life on Terra: Video Podcasts on Environmental Issues, 5-8

http://lifeonterra.com
Terra is a popular video podcast site with independent documentary filmmaking. The progressive, eco-conscious, weekly video podcasts feature concerns about the environment and appreciation of its beauty. The site provides an archive of previous video podcasts. All videos are available as a Medium Quality Flash 8 or High Quality Quicktime (.m4v). There is a forum for conversations about the environment, questions about the environment answered by scientific experts, and comments and questions about the films and filmmaking. Students can also create and contribute their own movies and write movie reviews. To subscribe students can use their email address or go through iTunes or Miro.

Celestia Real-Time Space Simulation, 7-12

http://www.shatters.net/celestia/
Celestia, a free real-time space simulation, lets students explore the universe in three dimensions. Students can travel throughout the solar system to any of more than 100,000 stars or even beyond the galaxy at any speed, at any moment of time, and in any direction they choose. With the zoom feature students can explore space across a huge range of scales, from galaxy clusters down to spacecraft only a few meters across. A “point-and-go to” interface makes it simple to navigate through the universe to the object students want to visit. Celestia comes with a large catalog of stars, galaxies, planets, moons, asteroids, comets, and spacecraft. Students can also download dozens of easy-to-install add-ons with more objects.

With Celestia students are in a virtual reality world of the universe. Celestia has developed a set of twelve of educational activities that take students on extensive, detailed virtual tours of the universe, some lasting several hours. These activities teach students a variety of facts about specific astronomical topics and allow them to participate in an educational journey not as a spectator but as pilot of their own spacecraft. Each journey includes student worksheets, which meet all National Educational Standards in Science, that can be printed, copied, and distributed by teachers. They are available at no charge for download individually as zipped files from http://www.celestiamotherlode.net/catalog/educational.php.

Using some of the add-ons available for the program, here is just a taste of what students will be able to encounter:

  • Learn the unbelievable size and magnitude of our universe firsthand, with a journey from the surface of Earth to the far reaches of our observable universe at hyperspeed.
  • Fly along with Mariner 10 on its historic flyby of Mercury.
  • Visit the searing surface of Venus and view it in a panoramic 360° vista from the surface.
  • Be present as Apollo 11 lands on the Moon in 1969, or fly by Sputnik 1 in 1958 shortly after its launch.
  • View Earth’s Magnetic Field from space and see the Aurora glowing and shimmering.
  • Display an internal X-section of Earth and peer deeply into its tectonic layers and structure.
  • See the massive size of Hurricane Katrina as it makes landfall on New Orleans.

Robotic Hand, K-12

http://www.thefutureschannel.com/dockets/science_technology/testing_robotic_hand/
NASA engineer Larry Li built a robotic hand that can catch a baseball and grasp a wrench. While it'll probably be a long time before we see robots playing first base in the World Series or repairing our cars, a robotic arm is very useful in outer space.

Kids in the Garden DVD Series, K-6

These 6-minute videos show how plants grow. Topics: flowers, fungi, herbs, how plants work, leaves, plant survivors, seeds, soil, trees, useful plants.

Cacti (809004)
Fruit (809003)
Indoor gardens (809005)
Flowers (808995)
Fungi (808998)
Herbs (808993)
How plants work (808997)
Leaves (808996)
Plant survivors (808999)
Seeds (808994)
Soil (808992)
Trees (809001)
Useful plants (809002)
Plant creatures (809000)
Veggies (809006)

Planet H2O DVD Series, 6-9

This series shows how students and professionals are helping to solve the growing problems of water use and pollution. The positive and negative scientific and social implications of water's utilization are explored.

Cleaning polluted water : pumped up for peace (808809)
Drinking water : bottle or tap? (808808)
The Great Lakes : who owns the water (808810)
Restoring H2O ecosystems : saving Chesapeake Bay (808811)
Surface water : a day in the life of the Rio Grande (808806)
Underground aquifer water : precision farming (808807)

Free, Web-based Physics Video Game, 3-12

http://www.fantasticcontraption.com
Fantastic Contraption is a Web-based video game that teaches the principles of physics through experimentation, problem-solving, and hypothesizing. This is a physics puzzle game in which the objective in each level is to move all red objects into a rectangular goal area. To do this, students are given a blue rectangular building area and a few different materials in which to build a device. Standing in the way, however, are a variety of obstacles, ranging from gaping gaps to a sea of circles bent on destroying a student's red object-moving device. Students are provided only a handful of simplistic components with which to build - wheels, a water-drive rod, and sticks. Users assemble these components to reach the goal, and move on to the next level. The physics is surprisingly realistic, and the game can get quite challenging.

Even students who have never had a physics class can play this game because knowledge of physics is not necessary to work out the puzzles. Students can figure out the puzzle through trial and error. The game teaches students how to interact through step-by-step directions on the first two logic puzzles. This is a great activity to get students thinking outside the box and using critical thinking and logic skills.

Educators and students may also be interested in viewing a variety of video solutions to this puzzle on YouTube. Simply go to YouTube.com, enter "Fantastic Contraption" in the text box, and click "Search".

FactCheckEd.org, 9-12

http://www.factchecked.org
FactCheckEd.org is an educational resource for high school teachers and students. It is designed to help students learn to cut through the haze of misinformation and deception that surrounds the many messages everyone is bombarded with every day. The site is a sister to the award-winning Annenberg Political Fact Check, accessible at FactCheck.org and monitors the factual accuracy of what is said in the nation’s political arena.

According to Edutopia.org, this nonpartisan site turns a critical eye toward political statements from all sides, scrutinizes misleading advertising claims, and gives students pointers on evaluating information found online. It also provides a dictionary. For educators, the site offers lesson plans and guides for teaching critical thinking, the proper use of sources, and how to recognize deceptive arguments.

New DVD Series: Countries Around the World, 2-5

http://media2.aea11.k12.ia.us/display/041/wsr770?kw=countries+around+the+world&di=BTICK&submit=1
This series covers six continents and 52 countries. It introduces students to the physical characteristics of each place, from geographic landmarks to capitals, and to the social, political, historical and cultural features. Through the eyes of a child host, students observe aspects of daily life, including food, school, climate, transportation, and recreation. Each episode runs approximately 13 minutes. All DVDs in the series are available for loan.

Listed below are the countries included in this 52 DVD series:
Algeria (#808897)
Argentina (#808898)
Australia (#808899)
Austria (#808900)
Belgium (#808901)
Bolivia (#808902)
Brazil (#808903)
Cambodia (#808904)
Canada (#808905)
Chile (#808906)
China (#808907)
Czech Republic (#808908)
Denmark (#808909)
Estonia (#808910)
Finland (#808911)
France (#808912)
Germany (#808913)
Greece (#808914)
Guatemala (#808915)
Iceland (#808916)
India (#808917)
Indonesia (#808918)
Ireland (#808919)
Israel (#808920)
Italy (#808921)
Japan (#808922)
Jordan (#808923)
Kenya (#808924)
Lebanon (#808925)
Madagascar (#808926)
Mali (#808927)
Malta (#808928)
Mexico (#808929)
Mongolia (#808930)
Morocco (#808931)
Myanmar (#808932)
Netherlands (#808933)
Norway (#808934)
Peru (#808935)
Portugal (#808936)
Romania (#808937)
Russia (#808938)
Rwanda (#808939)
South Africa (#808940)
Spain (#808941)
Sweden (#808942)
Turkey (#808944)
United Kingdom (#808945)
United States (#808946)
Venezuela (#808947)
Vietnam (#808948)

Heartland Intro for New and Veteran Teachers, K-12

http://www.aea11.k12.ia.us/mentoring/newteacher/index.html
Heartland recently created a Web page for new and veteran teachers that contains a ten-minute overview video of Heartland resources plus all kinds of resources and links to resources for teachers. This page provides teachers with resource support so they have meaningful, direct connections to their curriculum. The page includes links and full-text PDF’s to instructional materials and Heartland's online catalogs, online databases and resources, support materials, and instructions for ordering materials, subscribing to an online newsletter for teachers and a link to the World of Media, a monthly newsletter with instructional materials, resources, and technology to support teaching and learning. Check out this web site and find valuable resources to use today!

What Works Clearinghouse: Practice Guides, K-12

http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/practiceguides/#studentlearning_pg
The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) is an initiative of the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences. The WWC produces user-friendly practice guides with research-based recommendations for the everyday challenges teachers face in their schools and classrooms. These practice guides, developed by a panel of nationally recognized experts, consist of actionable recommendations, strategies for overcoming potential roadblocks, and an indication of the strength of evidence supporting each recommendation. The following practice guides are currently available to view, download or print:

Reducing Behavior Problems in the Elementary School Classroom
Designed for elementary school educators and school and district level administrators, this guide offers prevention, implementation, and school-wide strategies that can be used to reduce problematic behavior that interferes with the ability of students to attend to and engage fully in instructional activities.

Dropout Prevention
Geared toward educators, administrators, and policymakers, this guide provides recommendations that focus on reducing high school dropout rates. Strategies presented include identifying and advocating for at-risk students, implementing programs to improve behavior and social skills, and keeping students engaged in the school environment.

Improving Adolescent Literacy: Effective Classroom and Intervention Practices
This guide presents strategies that classroom teachers and specialists can use to increase the reading ability of adolescent students. The recommendations aim to help students gain more from their reading tasks, improve their motivation for and engagement in the learning process, and assist struggling readers who may need intensive and individualized attention.

Encouraging Girls in Math and Science
The objective of this guide is to provide teachers with specific recommendations that can be carried out in the classroom without requiring systemic change. Other school personnel having direct contact with students, such as coaches, counselors, and principals, will also find the guide useful.

Organizing Instruction and Study to Improve Student Learning
This guide includes a set of concrete actions relating to the use of instructional and study time that are applicable to subjects that demand a great deal of content learning, including social studies, science, and mathematics. The guide was developed with some of the most important principles to emerge from research on learning and memory in mind.

Effective Literacy and English Language Instruction for English Learners in the Elementary Grades
The target audience for this guide is a broad spectrum of school practitioners such as administrators, curriculum specialists, coaches, staff development specialists, and teachers who face the challenge of providing effective literacy instruction for English language learners in the elementary grades. The guide also aims to reach district level administrators who develop practice and policy options for their schools.

Turning Around Chronically Low-Performing Schools
This guide identifies practices that can improve the performance of chronically low-performing schools—a process commonly referred to as creating "turnaround schools." The four recommendations in this guide work together to help failing schools make adequate yearly progress.

New PD360 Online Videos, K-12

http://www.pd360.com/pd360.cfm?
PD 360, an on-demand professional learning resource provided to area teachers by Heartland, has added more than ten hours of video content. The new content provides teachers and administrators with training segments that address many critical topics and feature respected experts. Each of these programs has an average of ten segments, with each segment being five to ten minutes long. Titles include “Accountability for Greater Student Learning”; “Increasing Student Performance and Achievement”; “Data-Driven Decisions to Improve Results”; “Writing Across the Curriculum”; “Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening”; and “Reading for Older Struggling Students.” Use your building’s online database username and password to access the PD360 content.

New Teacher Survival Guide, K-12

http://www.discoveryeducation.com/survival/
The New Teacher Survival Central Web site features a variety of classroom tools designed to welcome and support educators new to the teaching profession as well as veteran teachers looking for new ideas. In the Technology 101 area of the site, teachers can access practical information on how educational technologies promote student engagement in learning and what tools are available for use in the classroom. Free K–12 student resources are highlighted for teachers in the Tech Tools for Students section of the site. With a variety of interactive games, virtual labs and lessons, new teachers have access to a collection of quality tools that can help engage students across the curriculum. Another section of the site, Homeroom Headquarters, allows teachers to access information on the art of classroom management, classroom environment, and parent communication. This area provides teachers with tips and guidelines to help them run a classroom smoothly and efficiently; create an organized, functional classroom; and communicate effectively and efficiently with parents. In the Survival Tool Kit: Best of the Web section, new teacher blogs and useful Web sites with classroom tools and curriculum resources for teachers are collected in one place. This site also features videos for new teachers covering topics such as lesson planning, community and parental involvement, and effective use of technology.

Animoto for Education

http://education.animoto.com/
Animoto is a free Web-based tool that allows users to produce music videos using a very simple and easy to use interface. The site has recently added an educators edition which includes many of the premium version features like:

  • The ability to download videos as MP4s or Quicktime movies
  • The ability to export video directly from YouTube
Students and teachers will now be able to to set-up an individual account which allows them to share videos with other students, teachers, parents, community members, businesses, and colleges. Videos can be created at home, school, or any place with an Internet connection. To make viewing the videos in class a little easier videos can now be downloaded to their personal computer. Students can choose images, select music from the site's copyright free library, or import their own music. They can also choose the order of the images used. Users can choose to create a 30-second video or a longer, full-length feature. The application does all the rest of the work, creating animation synced to music around the student's images.

This simple application can be used in a variety of ways such as creating digital stories, creating collages of student work, art work montages for parents night, or classroom promotional videos.

21st Century Learning Technology, K-12

http://movies.atomiclearning.com/k12/home
As a companion to the bestselling book The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Friedman, Atomic Learning has developed a workshop tutorial. Atomic Learning, an online database provided to schools by Iowa AEA Online, is a web-based software training and curriculum resources web site that provides short, easy-to-understand tutorial movies. The workshop titled the Seven Steps to a Flat Classroom guides users through flattening their classroom by expanding it to include global communities and collaboration tools. The workshop includes more than 80 tutorials on topics such as applying NETS standards to global projects, connecting to resources to help transform classrooms, connecting classrooms online, and digital citizenship and safety. See your teacher librarian for the Atomic Learning username and password.

Soundzabound, K-12

http://www.soundzabound.com/
Royalty free music for schools is available online.

Iowa Core Curriculum: 21st Century Skills--Financial Literacy

As each Iowa student is provided access to essential concepts and meaningful learning experiences in the core academic content areas, it is imperative that we also look to 21st century skills to build capacity in students so they are prepared to lead productive, satisfying lives. According to Ken Kay, president of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, the 21st century skills set “is the ticket to economic upward mobility in the new economy” (Gewertz, 2007). Business and industry are providing a very clear message that students need the skills to “work comfortably with people from other cultures, solve problems creatively, write and speak well, think in a multidisciplinary way, and evaluate information critically. And they need to be punctual, dependable, and industrious.” (Gewertz, 2007).

The Framework for 21st Century Learning stated, “We believe schools must move beyond a focus on basic competency in core subjects to promoting understanding of academic content at much higher levels by weaving 21st century interdisciplinary themes into core subjects” (2007). 21st century skills bridge the knowledge, skills, and dispositions of students from the core academic areas to real life application.

“The primary aim of education is not to enable students to do well in school, but to help them do well in the lives they lead outside of the school.”
-Ray McNulty, ICLE
Iowa High School Summit, December 10, 2007

In the 2007 session, the Iowa Legislature established the Iowa 21st century framework as:
1. employability skills
2. financial literacy
3. health literacy
4. technology literacy

Within this 21st century skill framework are the common strands of learning and innovation; communication, information, and technology; and, life and career skills.

Iowa Core Curriculum Essential Concepts and Skills of Financial Literacy – High School
• Demonstrate financial responsibility and planning skills to achieve financial goals for a lifetime of financial health
• Manage money effectively by developing spending plans and selecting appropriate financial instruments to maintain positive cash flow
• Make informed and responsible decisions about incurring and repaying debt to remain both creditworthy and financially secure
• Evaluate and identify appropriate risk management options, including types of insurance, non-insurance, and identity protection
• Assess the value, features, and planning processes associated with savings, investing, and asset building, and apply this knowledge to achieve long-term financial security with personal and entrepreneurial goals in a global market
• Understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to financial literacy, and practice legal and ethical behavior

Primary Elementary Grades – Being Developed
Intermediate Elementary Grades - Being Developed
Middle School Level - Being Developed

New Iowa Core Curriculum Web Page, K-12

Heartland has recently launched a new Web page in support of the Iowa Core Curriculum. From this page, users can currently access links to the following:
• A list of Heartland’s Iowa Core Curriculum Network Team members including contact information.
• A downloadable .pdf version of the Iowa Core Curriculum flyer
• The Department of Education’s Web site, which contains links to important Iowa Core Curriculum, documents and resources such as the Essential Content and Skills document, FAQs, etc.
• A podcast of the September 9, 2008 Iowa Core Curriculum overview presentation to Heartland AEA's Administrative Association
• An electronic version of the homework assignment from training module one

To access Heartland’s Iowa Core Curriculum web page, go to: http://www.aea11.k12.ia.us. Scroll to the far right column and under “Featured Content” click on the provided link.

Please keep in mind, this is a work in progress. The page will continue to develop as we roll out additional training modules and resources. Please check back often for updates.

Financial Literacy Resources, K-12

The Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy has determined that the average student who graduates from high school lacks basic skills in the management of personal financial affairs. Many are unable to balance a checkbook and most simply have no insight into the basic survival principles involved with earning, spending, saving and investing. As the global economy falters and in light of the Iowa Core Curriculum's emphasis on 21st Century Skills, it is even more important for students to leave high school with financial skills such as how to budget, how to set financial goals, how to choose a well-paying career, how to control their spending, how to build good credit, how to save money, how to pick a good credit card, and how to stay out of debt.

For educators wishing to know more, the list below contains online resources focused on financial literacy.

HotChalk
http://www.hotchalk.com/mydesk/index.php/financial-literacy-for-students-list
Being financially-savvy is crucial to making the kind of smart money decisions key to ensuring quality of life. Help your students get up to speed on this important life skill with regularly updated K-12 lessons and other resources in this special sponsored section of HotChalk.

U.S. Treasury Bad Credit Hotel

http://www.controlyourcredit.gov/
Just as the global financial crisis was spinning out of control, the Advertising Council and U.S. Treasury Department has launched a new multimedia campaign to educate young adults about the need for good credit. The campaign features an online interactive game -- the Bad Credit Hotel -- where users navigate through a darkened hotel and gather enough credit knowledge and clues to unlock the key to a perfect credit score of 850.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York
http://www.newyorkfed.org/education/index.html
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York's education department promotes sound financial and economic decisions by the region’s households through financial literacy and economic education programs and by increasing understanding of the role and effectiveness of these programs. Educators will find resources for elementary, middle, and high school students.

The Successful Investor Project
http://www.edutopia.org/financial-literacy-curriculum
Economics teacher Greg Fisher finds that the best way to teach financial literacy is to help students actually create their own business. It includes the materials (presented on the site as PDFs) in his senior-year course at the California Academy of Math and Science, in Carson, California.

Dollars and Sense
http://www.edutopia.org/ariel-video
Video of Chicago school students in grades K-8 honing math skills and learnig practical, lifelong lessons in finance by managing a $20,000 class stock portfolio.

Care: A Financial Literacy Resource
http://www.careprogram.us/
CARE is a free financial literacy program which makes bankruptcy professionals available to educators, students and the public to illuminate the dangers of credit abuse. The Web site features information for students, parents, and educators.

National Youth Advisory Board
http://www.nyib.org/financial_literacy.php
Sample topics: Tips on buying that first car; Lessons before using credit; Developing a workable budget; etc.

National Endowment for Financial Education High School Financial Planning Program
http://hsfpp.nefe.org/home/channels.cfm?chid=97&tid=1&deptid=14
When it comes to learning about how to handle and manage money, any knowledge a student gains from a course on the subject isn’t worth much if there isn’t a way to turn what they learn into real actions that result in positive habits. That is what the NEFE High School Financial Planning Program® (HSFPP) does through its seven unit Student Guide and Instructor’s Manual.

PBS Biz Kids
http://hsfpp.nefe.org/home/channels.cfm?chid=97&tid=1&deptid=14
Links to the PBS series that teaches how to make and manage money including a newsletter, blog, clips from the show, and educational tools.

The Mint.org
http://www.themint.org/
Information on earning, saving, investing, giving, and safeguarding your investments.

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta: A Guide to Your First Bank Account
http://www.frbatlanta.org/invoke.cfm?objectid=D8BCB1E3-5056-9F1A-E27F5509EF85AB16&method=display
This is a guide to bank accounts by the Federal Reserve Bank for young adults.

About.com: Get Started in Investing
http://financialplan.about.com/cs/investing/a/StartInvesting.htm
Information for the first time investor on how to get started.

FDICs Taking Control of Your Finances: A Special Guide for Young Adults
http://www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/news/cnspr05/index.html
A special guide published by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to help young adults take control of their finances.

66 Ways to Save Money
http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/money/66ways/index.html
Features 66 money saving tips for young adults.

Washington State Department of Financial Institutions: Right On the Money College Workbook

http://www.dfi.wa.gov/consumers/collegebookorder.htm
Free informative workbook from the Washington State Department of Financial Instutions (DFI) helps young adults learn to manage their finances.

Utah State Office of Education: Financial Literacy: Student/Teacher/Parent Resources
http://www.uen.org/financial_lit/student/teen_activities.shtml
A list of financial literacy resources and games for all grade levels.

Financial Football
http://www.financialfootball.com/english/at_school/trainingcamp/
Visa and the National Football League have teamed up to help students learn financial concepts. Students tackle financial questions like professionals in this fast-paced, quiz-style game. Two teams compete by answering finance-themed questions to earn yardage and score touchdowns.

Business Simulation Resources, 9-12

Computer simulations provide logical and user-friendly platforms for engaging and motivating students to learn more about business education. Using business simulations students learn how to:

  • Interpret financial statements and examine the competitive market
  • Devise business plans
  • Make decisions about marketing
  • Utilize experiential learning as a tool to aid in retention of entrepreneurial concepts
  • Create, maintain, analyze and influence the essential factors in a successful virtual small business
  • Experience, engage and interact with entrepreneurial decisions and events in a virtual setting
Business simulations involve basic knowledge such as reading comprehension and mathematics and applied skills such as critical thinking, problem solving collaboration, and teamwork, professionalism and work ethic, information technology, leadership, ethics and civic responsibility, lifelong learning.

Listed below are a combination of free and subscription online business simulations for educators interested in learning more.

Beat the Market Online
http://www.goldsimulations.com/new/econSims/econSims.htm
Beat The Market Online contains simulation games and exercises designed to teach principles or introductory level microeconomics as well as managerial economics. The goal is to maximize profits in one or more of the market structures including Perfect Competition, Monopoly, Monopolistic Competition or Oligopoly. Accompanying exercises cover a range of topics including market equilibrium, demand, elasticity, production, costs, and revenue maximization. The simulation games and exercises are all automatically graded with online progress reports. An online consultant helps guide students. Students may compete against each other or computer managed firms as individuals or in teams. The simulation manages the entire process for the instructor. Data from the simulation, both cross sectional and time series, can be exported to Excel.

Capsim
http://www.capsim.com/visiting_gen/teach_prof_info.cfm?header_type=prof&menu_type=highschool&onlink=TPLearnHow
Students are the management team for a realistic corporation. They'll compete with other corporations, for sales, profits, share of market, etc. They will obtain management training by working as a team to run a business.

Competitive Strategy Game

http://csg.haas.berkeley.edu/
This game software and accompanying Web site are free. The game "is a simulated market environment in which up to eight teams each compete in any of four markets, choosing which market(s) to enter, how much production capacity to build, what prices to charge, and how much output to produce. The markets differ in their fixed versus marginal costs of production, sunk entry costs, size, degree of product differentiation, growth rates, and storage characteristics. Each firm knows its own costs in each market and the distribution from which all firms' costs are drawn. The Game is useful for teaching basic economic concepts such as sunk, fixed, and marginal costs, the opportunity cost of investment, firm- and market-elasticities of demand, and product differentiation. It also is immediately applicable to discussions of entry deterrence, first-mover advantages, preemption, competitive advantage, predation, oligopoly coordination, multimarket contact, signalling, information asymmetries, and end game issues in finitely repeated games."

Environment and the Economy
http://www.fte.org/teachers/programs/environment/curriculum/index.php
The HSBC Institute on The Environment and the Economy provides an introduction to environmental economics designed for high school students. Includes online chapters, lesson plans, exercises and simulations. Separate notes for teachers. Focus is on market failures due to external environmental cost, and ways that property rights assignment or taxation could rectify them.

Eurogame
http://www.eurogame.uli.it/en/home.php
This is a free online market game in which each turn takes a week and represents a year of business time. It runs entirely in a web browser, although you can download an Excel spreadsheet to help calculate your team's budget. Taking a turn involves managing a group of companies; deciding how to spread investment and whether to scale up or down production in various sectors. An economic bulletin shows the supply, demand and prices in each market.

Exploring Supply and Demand
http://ecedweb.unomaha.edu/Dem_Sup/econqui2.htm
Exploring Supply and Demand provides graphical representations of changes in supply and demand. This page uses Javascript and frames to give feedback to six questions on supply and demand (if and how price and quantity change in different situations).

Hot Shot Business
http://spapps.go.com/hsb4/landing/
Hot Shot Business takes a fresh approach to showing students (ages 9-12) what it means to be an entrepreneur. Through carefully constructed scenarios, students gain experience with the nuts and bolts of designing and operating their own business.

Iowa Electronic Markets (IEM)
http://www.biz.uiowa.edu/iem/
Iowa Electronic Markets (IEM) is an online futures market where contract payoffs are based on real-world events such as political outcomes (including the U.S. Presidential election), companies' earnings per share (EPS), and stock price returns. It is run as a non-profit educational and research project by faculty at University of Iowa, Henry B. Tippie College of Business. Most of the markets use real money, although there is a free practice market. The site includes instructor resources, research papers based on their experience and a trader's manual.

Johnny Money Online Game (JMOG)
http://www.nfib.com/page/YEFJohnnyMoney.html
This is an interactive small business simulation designed to enhance high school students' exploration of entrepreneurship. The online game is presented through flash-based Internet technology and allows students to learn about the day-to-day functions of entrepreneurs and small business owners.

Knowledge Matters
http://knowledgematters.com/
Includes virtual business simulations on marketing, introduction to business, management, supervision, sports marketing, retailing, and entrepreneurship.

LavaMind
http://www.lavamind.com
LavaMind offers a number of educational learning tools for both teachers and students. McGraw Hills' business simulation games (Gazillionaire, Zapitalism & Profitania) are designed to be both engaging and highly educational.

Oak Tree Simulations
http://oaktreesim.com/Business-Simulation-Game-Instructors.html
Micromatic is a medium to complex Web-based business simulation targeted toward college undergrads in which students sell products through retail markets to the general public.

The Economy Stupid!
http://www.theeconomystupid.eu/introduction.html
This is an online game that "puts you in the role of a prime minister of a moderate size European country. Your task is to survive in office for the whole four-year term and win the next elections. You loose if your party loses the elections, or if you are removed from office before elections. The game is turn-based with each turn representing two months of game time." The game requires Java Virtual Machine version 5 or higher and a monitor with a resolution of at least 1024x768 pixels. The site includes a players manual, and news of developments of this evolving game.

The Stock Market Game
http://www.smg2000.org/
The Stock Market Game is produced by the Foundation for Investor Education, and supported by more than 650 securities firms. It is a dedicated educational stock market game, primarily aimed at US schools. The game can be played using a Javascript-enabled web browser. Games run over set time periods, and there are separate divisions for adults and school teams. Players are given a notional 100,000 dollars to invest. The site includes a section for teachers' resources.

The Secret Life of Kids DVD Series, 9-12

http://media2.aea11.k12.ia.us/htbin/wwform/041?T=S08448
This series contains true stories about children who have managed to succeed in spite of the odds. It features children who have faced such challenges as poverty, drugs, crime, family problems, and cultural differences.

The Secret Life of Kids DVD Series, 9-12

http://media2.aea11.k12.ia.us/htbin/wwform/041?T=S08448
This series contains true stories about children who have managed to succeed in spite of the odds. It features children who have faced such challenges as poverty, drugs, crime, family problems, and cultural differences.