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Wide Angle
 
The Pickle Business: The Ups and Downs of an Entrepreneurial Business Venture
LESSON INTRO

The Wide Angle episode "Pickles, Inc." chronicles the struggles of a group of Israeli Arab women who defy cultural and gender expectations to start a business making and selling pickled vegetables. As hard as they work to make their business succeed, the barriers to success prove daunting. At the program's end, Fatma, the leader of the venture, is working alone, from her own kitchen.

Through this lesson, students explore the limitations and restrictions placed on Israeli Arab women as well as the many barriers to succeeding in an entrepreneurial business venture. They identify and discuss the issues raised in the film, and learn more about women's cooperative businesses around the world. They also conduct a service-learning project in which they raise money to support a cooperative. As a culminating activity, they come up with their own ideas for small business ventures and write business plans.

Subjects: social studies, economics, global studies

Grade Level: 7-12

Time Allotment: Four to eight 45-minute class periods


Learning Objectives:

Students Will


Identify and share their prior knowledge about entrepreneurship

Identify factors that are helpful to the widows as they try to start their pickle business as well as factors that work against them

Consider the effects on the women and their business of the cultural expectations regarding women in general and widows in particular.

Learn about four organizations that support women's cooperatives around the world

Identify the goals of and possibly carry out a service-learning project to raise money to support a cooperative

Develop ideas and write business plans for their own real or hypothetical small business ventures.

Academic Standards:

MCREL BEHAVIORAL STUDIES STANDARD 1, Level 3, Benchmark 1, 2, 5 and Level 4, 1 and 7
http://www.mcrel.org/compendium/standardDetails.asp?subjectID=20&standardID=1

    Benchmark 1 - Understands that each culture has distinctive patterns of behavior that are usually practiced by most of the people who grow up in it

    Benchmark 2 - Understands that usually within any society there is broad general agreement on what behavior is "unacceptable," but that the standards used to judge behavior vary for different settings and different subgroups and may change with time and in response to different political and economic conditions

    Benchmark 5 - Understands that various factors (e.g., wants and needs, talents, interests, influence of family and peers and media) affect decisions that individuals make

    Benchmark 1 - Understands that cultural beliefs strongly influence the values and behavior of the people who grow up in the culture, often without their being fully aware of it, and that people have different responses to these influences

    Benchmark 7 - Understands that family, gender, ethnicity, nationality, institutional affiliations, socioeconomic status, and other group and cultural influences contribute to the shaping of a person's identity

MCREL BEHAVIORAL STUDIES STANDARD 4, Level 4, Benchmark 1
http://www.mcrel.org/compendium/standardDetails.asp?subjectID=20&standardID=4
Understands conflict, cooperation, and interdependence among individuals, groups, and institutions

    Benchmark 1 - Understands that conflict between people or groups may arise from competition over ideas, resources, power, and/or status

MCREL ECONOMICS STANDARD 3, Level 4, Benchmark 3
http://www.mcrel.org/compendium/standardDetails.asp?subjectID=15&standardID=3
Understands the concept of prices and the interaction of supply and demand in a market economy

    Benchmark 3 - Understands that changes in supply or demand cause relative prices to change; in turn, buyers and sellers adjust their purchase and sales decisions.

McREL ECONOMICS STANDARD 4, Level 4, Benchmark 3 and 4
http://www.mcrel.org/compendium/standardDetails.asp?subjectID=15&standardID=4
Understands basic features of market structures and exchanges

    Benchmark 3 - Understands that in the long run the level of competition in an industry is determined largely by how difficult and expensive it is for new firms to enter the market and by consumers' information about the availability, price, and quantity of substitute goods and services

    Benchmark 4 - Understands that the introduction of new products and production methods by entrepreneurs is an important form of competition and source of technological progress and economic growth

MCREL SELF-REGULATION STANDARD 1, Level 4, Benchmark 2
http://www.mcrel.org/compendium/standardDetails.asp?subjectID=23&standardID=1
Sets and manages goals

    Benchmark 2 - Creates an action plan to achieve long-term goals that includes strategic, practical steps and that accounts for the resources needed to achieve these goals.

McREL WORKING WITH OTHERS STANDARD 1, Level 4, Benchmark 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
http://www.mcrel.org/compendium/standardDetails.asp?subjectID=22&standardID=1
Contributes to the overall effort of a group

    Benchmark 1 - Knows the behaviors and skills that contribute to team effectiveness

    Benchmark 2 - Works cooperatively within a group to complete tasks, achieve goals, and solve problems

    Benchmark 4 - Demonstrates respect for others' rights, feelings, and points of view in a group

    Benchmark 5 - Identifies and uses the individual strengths and interests of others to accomplish team goals

    Benchmark 6 - Identifies causes of conflict in a group and works cooperatively with others to deal with conflict though negotiation, compromise, and consensus

    Benchmark 7 - Helps the group establish goals, taking personal responsibility for accomplishing such goals

    Benchmark 8 - Evaluates the overall progress of a group toward a goal

    Benchmark 9 - Contributes to the development of a supportive climate in groups

    Benchmark 10 - Actively listens to the ideas of others and asks clarifying questions

Media Components

Video
    WIDE ANGLE "Pickles, Inc."
    Thirteen/WNET New York's weekly series of one-hour international documentaries, hosted by Bill Moyers. Learn about a group of Israeli Arab widows who attempt to establish a pickle business.

Web sites


Materials

Per Class:
  • Chalkboard, whiteboard, or poster paper
  • Appropriate writing utensil for your writing surface
  • Copies of appropriate videos
  • VCR/TV
Per Student:
  • Copy of Student Organizers #1, #2, #3, #4 and #5
  • Pen or Pencil
Prep for Teachers

Prior to teaching, bookmark all of the Web sites used in the lesson and create a Microsoft Word document with all of the Web sites as hyperlinks for the students to access the sites. Make sure that your computer and the computer the students will be using have the necessary media players to play any video clips. These are Shockwave, Real Video, and Quicktime. Cue any videotapes to the segment(s) you plan on using to support your lesson. When using media, provide students with a focus for media interaction, a specific task to complete and/or information to identify during or after viewing of video segments, Web sites, or other multimedia elements.


Introductory Activity

  1. Concept Web
    This activity is meant to focus students' attention on the topic at hand. It also will help you assess students' background knowledge. On a flip chart, write the word "entrepreneur." Ask students what words and ideas they associate with that word. Chart their responses. Be sure to point out, if students do not mention it, that risk is associated with entrepreneurial ventures and ask them to identify some kinds of risks.

Learning Activities

  1. What Helps, What Hurts
    Introduce the program "Pickles, Inc.," explaining that it shows the efforts of some very unusual and unexpected entrepreneurs-a group of Israeli Arab widows. Ask students, as they watch, to take note of the things that help the women in their efforts and the things that act as barriers to their success. Student Organizer #1 has space for students to make notes - explain that they should indicate a minimum of three observations for each category.

  2. Show the entire one-hour documentary. When the video is over, have students form small groups to compare notes. Then have the small groups report out to the whole class. Points for discussion include:

    • What observations were most often noted?

    • In which category were more items listed?

    • How did being female and being widowed affect the women?

  3. Follow by discussing the program using the discussion questions on Student Organizer #2. For answers to the questions use Student Organizer #2 - Teacher Copy.

  4. Service Project: Raising Funds for Cooperatives
    The documentary shows the attempt by a group of women to start a cooperative business venture. There are numerous organizations that are helping women around the world to develop businesses that will give them a means to live, autonomy, and status. Information about four of these organizations can be found at the following Web sites:

    As class work or homework, ask students to browse these sites to find out about the work these four organizations are doing, what their needs are for funding, and which projects students find most engaging. Student Organizer #3 can help students organize their ideas.

  5. When students have looked at the sites, decide as a class on one or two projects that the students will undertake to support the work of those organizations. For instance, the Global Partners site notes that "$500 buys a cow and a future for a family" and provides a way to donate online. Other sites offer similar opportunities.

  6. Students can then break into small groups to come up with fundraising ideas, using Student Organizer #4. Allow 10-15 minutes; then have groups report out to the class. The whole class can then decide on which fundraising activities to carry out and organize themselves accordingly to reach the goals of supporting that organization.


Culminating Activity: Business Plan

  1. Students can work in pairs or small groups of 4-5 to come up with ideas for a small business, choose one, and develop a business plan. Student Organizer #5 can help to guide them.

    Point out that before groups start to work, they need to think about how they will work. For example they will need to decide how decisions will be made. By vote? By consensus? In consensus, everyone has to be willing to accept a particular outcome, though it may not be everyone's first choice. For more on consensus, see the UHC Collective Web site.

    Also review brainstorming procedures with students. Rules for brainstorming:

    • Come up with as many ideas as possible.

    • Write down every idea.

    • No idea is too wild. It's more productive to be wild than timid.

    • There is to be no judging or evaluating of any ideas until all ideas are out on the table.

    The following Web sites may be helpful to students:

  2. When students have completed their business plans, groups can present to the class for critiquing.

Cross Curricular Extensions

  1. Students can make pickles. Recipes can be found by writing "pickles" in the Search field at www.epicurious.com.

  2. Students can research and report on women's and other cooperatives in the U.S. and Canada.

  3. Students can explore financial management software such as Quickbooks.



 
 
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