MARKET Grades: 1-2

RESEARCH
 As a VentureLab instructor, you are enabling student confidence,
self-efficacy and ingenuity, ultimately preparing students to use an
entrepreneurial mindset to pave their own path. For your own journey
as an instructor, please use the resources below to complement the
VentureLab curriculum. There, you’ll find tips on how to create an
impactful learning experience.

USER ENTREPRENEURIAL
GUIDE MINDSET & SKILLSET

INTRODUCTORY
VIDEO

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 CONTENTS

LESSON OVERVIEW /04

LESSON PREPARATION /06

ACTIVITY 1: CUSTOMER OBSERVATION /08

Duration: 50 minutes

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LESSON OVERVIEW
Market research is key to helping
TOTAL DURATION entrepreneurs figure out if they have a
great new idea that will work, and if
120 minutes
people will buy their product.

INTRODUCTION
In the warm-up to Activity 1, students will learn what a market and market research
are, and about what customers want, showcasing this new knowledge by matching
customers to products they are likely to use. In Activity 1, students will observe pho-
tos of customers and come up with:

1. A problem those customers might have and

2. How to solve that problem with a new product.
Activity 2 will allow teams of students to come up with a problem facing someone in
their school, home, friend group, or larger community and research existing products
to solve the problem they choose. In Activity 3, students will prototype, do market
research to see if their product works, and make changes to the product they created
accordingly (also known as iteration).

BACKGROUND
Entrepreneurs conduct market research to learn about what customers want, discover
what problems and needs they have, and uncover how those problems and needs can
best be met or solved. The aim of market research is to help entrepreneurs and busi-
nesses make better decisions so that they can be more successful.

The word “market” can be used to describe a range of things that relate to the buying
and selling of an entrepreneur’s products or services including:

• businesses selling similar products or services (competitors)

• the type of customers it aims to sell to (target market)

T IP: There is a lot of business language surrounding market research and it

can be daunting for students. Model correct usage of the words as often as
possible and prompt students to repeat what you’re saying using complete sen-
tences.
 Grades 1-2

Market research doesn’t neatly fit into one place in the entrepreneurial process and is
often done throughout, from idea generation to product launch (and beyond). Encour-
age students to see market research as an ongoing activity providing a vital feedback
loop that will help them develop and improve their product or service and increase
their chances of success.

Make students aware that market research often leads to more questions! Students
will need to understand they will not know everything they may need or want to
know. However, through market research, they can gain valuable insights into their
market and their customers. This will help them make better decisions, but they will
always act with a degree of uncertainty and have to decide which risks are worth tak-
ing. Taking calculated risks based on the limited information you have is part of being
an entrepreneur!

Types of Market Research

Market research is most often classified into primary research and secondary re-
search.

Primary research is new research done by entrepreneurs themselves through talking

directly to customers to better understand their needs, wants, buying habits, opin-
ions, and experiences. Primary research methods include surveys, interviews, focus
groups, consumer tests, experiments and observation. Primary research is very useful
but often difficult to do, time-consuming, and relatively expensive!

Secondary research is using information or data that already exists and has been col-
lected by someone else. Using an internet search engine is the most common form of
secondary research. Types of information found while searching include: competitor
websites, comparison and review sites, market reports, and research studies.

T IP: Students will carry out both primary and secondary research. It is not
necessary for students to understand the difference between the two in
order to be successful in this lesson. However, we suggest you use the terms
to help them understand the concepts over time.

Market Research (Grades 1-2)

GOALS
In this lesson, students will :

• Develop an understanding of markets and market research from an

entrepreneurial standpoint

• Understand customer needs

• Prototype solutions to a real customer’s problem

• Conduct market research on existing products

• Conduct market research to see if their prototypes fit customer needs

ENTREPRENEURIAL MINDSETS AND SKILLS

This lesson is designed to help students experience and develop the following:

Entrepreneurial Mindsets Entrepreneurial Skills

Accepting Failure Creativity
Opportunity Seeking Teamwork
Empathy Market Research
Persistence and Grit Design Thinking
Problem Solving Prototyping
Resourcefulness

Adaptability
LESSON PREPARATION
MATERIALS
• Slides

• Customer Cards and Product Cards, cut up (save one of each for yourself that’s not
cut up to reference)

• Bowl or container to put cards in

• Idea Journals

• Resources for Market Research (computers, books, magazines, etc.)

• Computer or other devices with access to internet

• Market Research Questionnaire

• Prototyping Materials

• Assorted 2D material options such as paper, markers, scissors, glue, tape, col-
ored pencils, crayons, foil, sticky notes, construction paper

• Assorted 3D material options such as cardboard scraps, toilet paper rolls, paper
towel tubes, craft sticks, boxes, cotton balls, cotton swabs, plastic cups, plastic
spoons, plastic bottles, string, yarn (anything goes - just raid your recycling
bin!)

DOWNLOADS
SLIDES SLIDES WITH NOTES

CUSTOMER CARDS PRODUCT CARDS GROUP UP!

Market Research (Grades 1-2)

 ENTREPRENEUR SONG
ENTREPRENEUR SONG LYRICS

KEY TERMS
ENT REPRENEURS
spot an opportunity and develop a vision for a new product, business, or solution and
put together all the resources needed to bring their vision to life.

ENT REPRENEURSHIP
isn’t just about starting companies; it is a skillset and a way of thinking. The core of
entrepreneurship is having a vision and making it a reality.

A MARKET
is a group of people who like or need the same things. Competing businesses sell
similar products or services to this group.

MARKET RESEARCH
is how entrepreneurs find out what customers want, what problems exist for cus-
tomers, and uncover how those problems can best be solved or needs met. Market
research is key to helping entrepreneurs figure out if they have a great new idea that
will work, and if people will buy their product.

PRIMARY RESEARCH
is new research done by entrepreneurs who talk directly to their customers to under-
stand their needs and wants better.

PROT OTYPING
is when entrepreneurs create their ideas into visual and physical representations to
show how they would work.

SECONDARY RESEARCH
is using information that already exists to get information about existing products or
markets.
ACTIVITY 1: CUSTOMER
OBSERVATION
INTRODUCTION
In the warm-up to Activity 1, students will learn (or review) what the terms “market” and
“research” mean separately, and then discuss what market research is. Half of the group
will be given a photo of a customer and the other half the photo of a product. Students
will walk around the room and find the person that they would want to sell their product
to, with discussion following.

Activity 1 will allow students to further understand what market research means by expos-
ing them to photos of different “customers” that students will make observations about.
Once they observe the customer, they will discuss what kinds of problems these custom-
ers might need solved and what products might be appropriate for them.

PREPARATION
1) Read through the entire activity.
2) Cut up Customer and Product Cards. Put customer cards in one bowl and product
cards in another for students to draw out of. Make sure to set one customer and
product handout aside for yourself (not cut up), so you can support students if
they’re unsure which ones match up.

3) Read through slides.

MATERIALS
• Slides

• The Entrepreneur Song

• Customer Cards and Product Cards, cut up (save one of each for yourself that’s not
cut up to reference)

• Bowl or container to put cards in

• Idea Journals

Market Research (Grades 1-2)

 Duration: 50 min

INSTRUCTIONS
Warm-Up: Customer Match
1) Show Slide 1. Tell students that today we are going to learn about something
called market research, which is very important for entrepreneurs because it
helps them figure out if they have a great new idea that will work and if people
will buy their product or service.

2) Before beginning, play the Entrepreneur’s Song for students. Have them take out
their lyric page (they should glue it into their Idea Journal if they haven’t already)
and follow along as you play the song the first time. Play again and have them
sing along. See the User Guide for more information about the song.

3) Show Slide 3 about markets and ask students to tell you what they see in the pic-
tures. They may say a market is a place where you go to buy and sell things. Have
a student read the definition of market. Then have a student read the definition of
research. Ask students if they have ever done any research before.

4) Switch to Slide 4. Explain that a market is a place to buy and sell, but it is also a lot
more to entrepreneurs. Have a student read what a market is to an entrepreneur.
A market is “similar products or services,” and “groups of people who like or need
similar things.”

5) Go to Slide 5 - Market Research. Have a student read that market research is “how
an entrepreneur finds out what products a customer needs or wants. Market re-
search will help me talk to customers to find out if my new idea will work and if
people would buy it.” Ask students how they think entrepreneurs would do mar-
ket research.

6) Go to slide 6 - Marketing to the Right People. Ask students which of the products
on the slide would be marketed to them. Talk about how young students wouldn’t
need dentures, but would most likely use the toy trucks. Does everyone like toy
trucks? Probably not, but would that product make more sense than dentures
for you? Yes. Would an elderly person be interested in playing with toy trucks?
Discuss.

7) Go to Slide 7 - Product Match. Have students think about who would need each of
these three products. Would I try to sell video games to a runner? Which product
would be better for an athlete? They would probably need the sports drink after
a workout. Whom might I try to sell video games to? Discuss. To the students’
parents? Probably not, unless they wanted to buy it for their children. The young
children might enjoy playing. Could older people enjoy playing too though? Dis-
cuss. Who would need the large car? Discuss. The family with kids would probably
benefit most from a large car.
 8) Slide 8 - Have students think of a few products that would be marketed to a cer-
tain group of people and either have them share whole-group or with a partner
near them. Ask, “What could you market to me? Someone in your family? The
person sitting next to you? If you don’t know the person well, how could you find
out what kinds of products they want?”

9) Switch to Slide 9. Tell students they’re going to play a game to see if they can pick
out who would buy certain products. Pass out a Customer Card to half the class.
The other half will get a Product Card. If you don’t have enough kids to use up
all the photos, make sure you give out the matching photos. If you have an odd
number of kids, either have two kids partner up with one photo, or have the extra
student think about what product they would buy if given a customer photo, or
what customer would buy their product if given a product photo.

10) Students with product cards will walk around and find the customer who would
buy their product. Customers will wait for a product person to come and talk to
them. Once students find their match, they will talk with each other about why
that person would buy their product and how you know that.

11) Discuss how students knew which customer would buy their product. Is it a mar-
ket? For example, the fisherman would not need to buy a baseball glove. Maybe
that’s a side hobby, but his picture shows that he would have no use for it right
then.

12) Watch the short advertisement on Slide 10. Talk about who the market is for this
advertisement. How do you know? Who was in the commercial? Boys? Girls?
Young? Old? Families? Athletes? Discuss different ways companies advertise.
What have you seen (TV, movie trailers, posters at stores, side of bus, radio, mail,
etc.)? Do you think these companies do market research before creating their
product and creating the advertisements for it?

Market Research (Grades 1-2)

Customer Observation
13) Switch to Slide 11. Tell students they’re now going to observe different pictures
of customers and try to come up with a problem they might have, as well as a
product that might help solve that problem. Explain to students that the purpose
of observing customer photos is to encourage them to look closely at what cus-
tomers might need. This will help them come up with a real problem with a real
customer in the next activity.

14) Slide 11 shows the three icons students will be recording in their Idea Journal.
First, they will observe the photo. Students will draw an eye, and next to it write
words or sketches on what they notice about the photo. The second icon is a lock.
Students will draw this symbol in their notebook below the eye, and will draw or
write different problems this customer might have. The third icon is a key, repre-
senting the key to unlocking the problem, or solving it. Students will draw a key in
their notebook below the lock, and write or draw product ideas to help solve the
customer’s problem.

15) Slide 12 will walk students through one image with an example of the three icons
and your guidance before doing this on their own. Draw the symbols as a group to
guide students through the first photo. On chart paper or a white board, draw the
icons really large as students are writing in their notebooks.

16) Make observations as a group. Ask students what they notice about this custom-
er? Responses might be, “she is walking alone, she looks sad, etc.” Write that next
to the eye. Then, brainstorm problems she might have. Responses might include,
“Maybe she does not want to be alone, or maybe she is bored.” Write those next
to the lock. Finally, brainstorm solutions to her problem. “Maybe we could invent
a new toy for her to play with, or a new game that she could play.” Write these
next to the key. Remind students that these should be ideas for a product that ha-
ven’t been thought of before, because that’s what we often do as entrepreneurs.

17) Go through the rest of the customer photos, having students write down the three
icons in their notebook for each photo. You can continue doing this as a whole
group if your kids need some extra support, or have them do this in small groups
or partners while you project the slide. You could also have students do a few
independently and then share if you’d like. Get through as many as you have time
for.
 Here is a list of possible problems these customers might be having, organized by slide, in
case students struggle to come up with a problem (try to have students come up with the
problem and if they come up with something different than the ones listed below, that’s
great!):

• Slide 14: Need a quick way to clean up all those leaves

• Slide 15: Too much trash (creative way to reduce waste) or need a creative way to
dispose of trash

• Slide 16: Need a better, more creative way to catch the most amount of fish possi-
ble

• Slide 17: Creative shelter or way to stay dry

NOT E: The problems students came up with for different customers can be
used in later lessons (or even in Activity 2 of this lesson!) when students are
asked to think of a problem others are having. This will save time because stu-
dents won’t need to come up with a problem; they will only have to reference
their Idea Journal!

POST-ACTIVITY DISCUSSION
Have students talk in pairs about what they learned about market research. What is
it? How does observing customers help us decide what product they need? What are
some things entrepreneurs think about when designing solutions for their market
(age, weather, location, interest, etc.)?

• KEY TAKEAWAY:

• It is so important to conduct market research, because entrepreneurs need to

know what their customers need and want, and that their product is different
than others out there.

EXTENSION OR HOMEWORK (Optional)

1) Cut up the customer cards. Have students pair up (they can choose their partner)
and pick a customer card from a hat or bowl. Students will design a product spe-
cifically to meet a need they think that customer has.

2) Students will come up with their own customer, identify what need that customer
has, and design a product to meet that need.

Market Research (Grades 1-2)

ACTIVITY 2: MARKET RESEARCH
INTRODUCTION

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ACTIVITY 3: PROTOTYPING
INTRODUCTION

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Market Research? Click here
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Market Research (Grades 1-2)