Political Science-MN Election Results

Use the information from the 2012 election maps provided by the Mn Secretary of State, Mark Ritchie, to help you identify the dominant political parties in the 8 congressional districts in Minnesota as well as how each county in MN voted for the Governor's office in 2010.  The purpose of the activity is to allow you to see where the Democrat and Republican voting bases are located in our state.  Fill out your blank maps with the appropriate color for the political party candidate that won the district (in the case of the 2012 US Rep elections) or the county (in the case of the 2010 Governor election)

Here are the links to get to the proper maps for the activity:

2012 US Congressional Map
http://www.sos.state.mn.us/index.aspx?page=1734
Select US Representative, margin by district

2010 MN Governor Map
http://www.sos.state.mn.us/index.aspx?page=1634
Select Governor, margin by county

Geography- May 16th, 2013 Japan Slideshow

Today's investigation asks you to click on the following link http://web-japan.org/atlas/index.html

Once you get to the page, you need to watch:
Japan Slide Show I
and
Japan Slide Show II

In order to answer these questions.
The nice thing about this lesson is it allows you to go at your own pace.
Have fun and don't forget to complete the T-Chart at the end.

Political Science May 13, 2013 Special Interest Group

Today you will choose a special interest group to research and create a report.  To find a list of interest groups, use the following link:
http://www.vancouver.wsu.edu/fac/kfountain

Economics Monday May 13 Wall St Survivor

Finally its here...

Today we have to get you signed up for Wall Street Survivor.

1) Click on the following link to get to the page to get started:

http://www.wallstreetsurvivor.com/league/ArneEconMay2013

2) Next you are going to need to set up an account.  Right below the "Sign in with Facebook"
is a link that reads Create an account on WSS.  Click on that and proceed with the steps to set up your account.  Make sure to uncheck the boxes for e-newsletters and promotions unless you like getting extra email.

3) After setting up your account you should see a screen that looks like this:

4) Now you need to join the league for our classes.  On the gray bar that has the Wall Street Survivor Logo, there is a button for leagues.  Click on that and then search for "Arne Econ May 2013".  You should be able to join the league and then get the password from me in class.


5) Always make sure to check the black bar to see which game you are in.  To the right of your dollar amount is a drop window that says "Practice Portf...".  This is for you to get used to the game before actually starting our contest.  To change to our contest, you need to click on the Window that says "Practice Portf..." and select the "Arne Econ May" option like the picture below.

6) You can access this game 24 hours a day from any location so you don't have to be in class to make changes.  Just keep in mind if you sell a stock after the market closes (3PM CST) it will sell for the opening price the next day (8:30AM).

7) Good luck and enjoy the experience.

Economics May 1 The Bottom Line

Today you need to take the numbers you discovered through your research, entrepreneurship and capital shopping to determine your total costs.  Once this figure is calculated, you can estimate your production levels and price of your average item for sale.  To calculate your total costs, Take the figure you calculated for the following

Rent                                                          $______________
Capital                                                      $______________
Labor                                                        $______________
Advertising                                               $______________
Insurance ($50 per worker per month)     $______________
                                                               + ----------------------    Add them up

Total Cost                                                 $______________


Now you are ready to figure out your production levels.

Review your business plan and answer the following questions in your mind.
                       
How many transactions do you think you can make per hour/per number of days you are open each month?

Take your total costs and divide by the number of transactions you think you can make in a month.

The result will give you a price you will need to set to cover your costs.

Political Science April 30 Executive Command

Your job today is to be a software evaluator.  Take 45 minutes to play Executive Command on the iCivics webpage.  For the last 10 minutes of class, you should record your ideas on a half sheet of paper and tell me the following:
1. What did you think of the game overall?
2. What did you like about it?
3. What parts of the game could stand to be improved?
4. Would you be willing to try to evaluate more software from this website in the future?

Click to get to the website http://www.icivics.org/games/executive-command

Economics April 29 2013 Design a Business

Today we are going to start looking at the steps you might take if you were to start your own business.  Keep in mind, this will be a cursory look at some of the factors involved in running your own business.  The objective for this class period is to establish two things:
1) What would you like to produce?
2) Where will you produce it?

To answer number one, you need only use your imagination as a resource.  You have an unlimited budget to get your store started.  Just remember that any cost you decide to take on will need to be covered by your revenue and that will affect how you set your prices in a competitive market.

Answering number two will require some research.  We will use an online real estate resource to help you locate and price out locations in the Twin Cities for your business.

When you are ready, click on the following link
http://www.mncar.org

The following video demonstrates how you can use the website...