Entrepreneurship · Grade 11

Active learning ideas

Generating Business Ideas

Generating business ideas is the creative heart of the entrepreneurship curriculum. Students learn that innovation often starts with 'pain points', everyday problems that need a better solution. We explore various creative-thinking strategies, such as SCAMPER, mind mapping, and brainstorming, to help students move past obvious ideas and discover unique opportunities in the Ontario market.

• Ontario Curriculum Expectations
• BDI3C Overall Expectation 1: Apply creative-thinking strategies to generate potential venture ideas.
• BDI3C Specific Expectation 1.2: Use a variety of creative-thinking techniques to generate ideas for a venture.

• 25–45 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 3 activities

Activity 01

• Carousel Brainstorm
• 45 min · Small Groups

Station Rotations: The SCAMPER Challenge

Set up stations where students apply different parts of the SCAMPER technique (Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, Reverse) to a common object like a coffee cup or a school backpack. Students rotate every 7 minutes, building on the ideas left by the previous group.

Where do innovative business ideas come from?

• Remember
• Understand
• Analyze
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

Activity 02

• Inquiry Circle
• 40 min · Pairs

Inquiry Circle: The 'Bug List'

Students spend 10 minutes walking around the school or local area identifying 'bugs', things that are broken, inefficient, or annoying. They return to the classroom to categorize these bugs and brainstorm three potential business solutions for the most common issues.

How can everyday problems inspire entrepreneurial ventures?

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Self-Management
• Self-Awareness

Activity 03

• Think-Pair-Share
• 25 min · Pairs

Think-Pair-Share: Trend Spotting

Students identify one current trend they see on social media or in their community (e.g., eco-friendly packaging, digital wellness). They pair up to brainstorm how that trend could be turned into a service or product. Finally, they share their best 'trend-based' idea with the class.

What is the difference between an idea and an opportunity?

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

A few notes on teaching this unit

---

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• A good business idea must be a brand-new invention.

  Most successful businesses are innovations on existing ideas or better ways to solve old problems. Active brainstorming sessions help students see that 'improving' is just as valuable as 'inventing.'

• I need to wait for a 'great' idea before I start thinking like an entrepreneur.

  Quantity leads to quality in ideation. Using timed 'brain-dump' activities teaches students to push past the first five obvious ideas to find the truly creative ones.

---

Methods used in this brief

• Carousel Brainstorm
• Inquiry Circle
• Think-Pair-Share