Zip Code Lookup

Overview

The Why

Reinforced Values
Knowledge
Sound Judgment
Win-Win

Zip Code Lookup is a way for teachers to not only discuss what a market analysis is with students, but also for students to conduct a brief market analysis of their own. This lesson gives you the opportunity to talk to students about conducting research using the internet.

Intro

Ask “How do companies or entrepreneurs know they should start a business or sell a product or service in a particular location?”

• The responses should be something along the lines of “market research.”
• One way of doing that is by doing a market analysis.

Social and Emotional Skills

1. In this activity, researching zip codes is a snapshot into a community. Students will utilize their knowledge of the customer to determine how best to present their business while remaining true to their brand.  It is imperative to understand cultural norms and behaviors to avoid offending your customer while also ensuring your business or product is filling a gap as presented by that community.  Students may reflect on zip codes, access to resources, income levels, etc. to determine needs and gaps in a community.

Preparation

• Determine how you will share the activity with your students.
• Review Zip Code Lookup Activity Guide and PowerPoint and modify as needed.
  • See notes in the PowerPoint.
• Post a copy of the Zip Code Lookup Worksheet for each student to complete.
• Check suggested websites for availability. If unavailable, find alternative sites to conduct market analysis.
• Review the debrief questions shared in this guide and within the PowerPoint notes and decide how you would like to share any of those as additional reflection questions or set up a collaborative class session using Zoom and breakouts for questions.
• Post the activity to your classroom platform for students to access and complete.

Directions

NOTE: These directions are written for a collaborative session with students virtually – if not collaborating as a class virtually, you can post pieces of the directions online with the resources listed above.

• Walk students through the Zip Code Lookup PowerPoint to build their knowledge about market analysis.
• Ensure students can access the Zip Code Lookup Worksheet.  Review the instructions and answer any questions.
  • Protip: Ask students to either analyze 4 different zip codes within their state or 4 zip codes from 4 different states. You could also share 4 zip codes from 4 different states that have the same income levels (or other data points) to see how the other factors would differ.
• At the end of the PowerPoint and discussion, allow students time to do their own market analysis using zip codes.
• Depending on the time available, regroup as a class to debrief or ask students to submit their work to your classroom platform.
  • If they are submitting to your platform, consider making a post that asks students to share what they learned so peers can review and comment.
    

Debrief

Students can complete the debrief on paper by answering the following questions or in a group setting via Zoom (either as a full class or in breakouts) to discuss their learnings.

• How are entrepreneurs demonstrating Knowledge when they conduct market analysis?
• Which of those zip codes would provide the type of market that could sustain new businesses? Why?
• Which type of business/product/service would be sustainable in each of those zip codes? Why?
• Is this data qualitative or quantitative? If both, which is qualitative, and which is quantitative? What can an entrepreneur learn from each set of data?
• How is understanding your target market displaying a Win-Win Focus?
• How is using the results of market analysis to inform business decisions demonstrating Sound Judgment?