Lesson plan · Understanding Businesses · Lesson 11
Putting It Together
Use the six-question framework to analyze a business from start to finish.
- 45 minutes
- Grades 9–12
- Intermediate
- Activity: small groups
Objectives
Students will be able to:
- Apply the six-question framework to a business
- Support every conclusion with a number
- Write an honest one-paragraph business summary
Materials
- Slide deck and a projector
- Worksheet (one per student)
- Profit Margin Calculator (projected, or on student devices)
- Exit ticket slips (bottom of the worksheet)
Standards
- National Standards for Personal Financial Education (2021)
- Investing
- Texas TEKS §113.76 Personal Financial Literacy and Economics
- (1) The student understands the fundamental concepts of economics.
- (8) The student understands the importance of saving and investing in creating wealth and building assets.
Topic-level alignment by FLC. How we map standards
Background reading
The official sources this lesson is based on.
45-minute agenda
0–5 min
Warm-up
Post: “If you could invest in one business you visit every week, which would it be — and what would you want to know first?”
5–12 min
Direct instruction
Present the lesson slides. Make sure students leave with these points:
- Six questions: model, margins, owns/owes, cash, moat, risks.
- No single number tells the whole story.
- Back every claim with a number.
- End with an honest one-paragraph summary.
Use the “See it” slide (Analyzing Campus Coffee Co.) to make the idea visual.
12–17 min
Worked example
Walk through “Writing the one-paragraph summary” on the slides. Pause before the result and ask students to predict it.
17–22 min
Live demo
Project check the margins from the slides or the Profit Margin Calculator. Change one input at a time and have students call out what they think will happen.
22–37 min
Analyst Team
Format: small groups · 15 minutes
- Groups use the Campus Coffee Co. facts from the lesson.
- Each group member takes one or two of the six questions: model, margins, owns/owes, cash, moat, risks.
- The group combines answers and writes a one-paragraph summary with at least three numbers.
- Two groups read their summaries aloud; the class asks one follow-up question each.
What to look for: Strong summaries state the model, cite a margin, mention debt or cash, name a moat, and end with the biggest risk.
37–42 min
Check for understanding
Use the question slides — or run them as a Four Corners game. Questions:
- Which statement is most reasonable?
- Which question does the balance sheet help you answer?
- A strong business analysis names the biggest risks, not just the strengths.
42–45 min
Exit ticket
Prompt: Why shouldn't you judge a business by a single number?
Differentiation
Common misconception
“Analysis means predicting the stock price.” It means understanding the business honestly, strengths and weaknesses.
Support
Give students sentence starters for each of the six questions.
Extension
Apply the six questions to a real public company using its investor relations page, and write a one-paragraph summary.
Homework or make-up work
Students can complete the full interactive lesson — including its knowledge check — at learnwithflc.org/courses/understanding-businesses/analyze-a-business. No account needed; progress saves on their device.