Driving Question
(Teacher Guided, Student Constructed)
How can we develop a plan to create a more vibrant downtown with a culture of engagement, where people will want to live, shop, dine, visit, and invest?
Public Products
Groups will present their business proposal to community stakeholders (planning and zoning committee members, city council members, etc.).
Connections
Foundations
Milestones
Milestone 1 (Day 1): Entry Event
Situation
The local city council is offering grants for businesses to locate their business on the main street of downtown. They are looking for businesses that will help draw people to the downtown area to eat, shop, work, and participate in entertainment/recreation. Student groups will identify a product or a service that would thrive in a dynamic downtown area, helping to increase the number of residents and visitors to the area. Groups will present their business proposal to city stakeholders.
Key Student Questions
- What does a vibrant community look like?
- What features attract people to spend time downtown?
- What is placemaking?
- Are there any areas in our community that are underused places with the potential for redevelopment?
- What is our community’s history or heritage? What things (assets) drew our city’s founders to create our town in the first place?
Formative Assessments
- Business Idea
Materials
- Downtown Student Survey (use these questions to create a survey in Google Forms, SurveyMonkey, or another tool)
- Main Street videos:
- index cards
Instructional Procedures
- Begin by asking students whether games help them remember or learn things. Invite examples.
- Ask students if games could be designed to explore careers and local economies (e.g., downtown revitalization).
- Guide students to construct a question similar to, “How can we develop a plan to create a more vibrant downtown with a culture of engagement, where people want to live, shop, dine, visit, and invest?”
- Have students complete the Downtown Student Survey to assess current downtown use, visit frequency, and activities, and to consider which businesses/amenities support community engagement.
- Lead a discussion about benefits of a dynamic Main Street. Show one or more of the Main Street videos.
- Explain that the city council is offering grants to draw businesses to Main Street (eat, shop, work, entertainment/recreation). Clarify that student proposals will simulate applications for these grants.
- As a class, brainstorm towns with vibrant downtowns and capture key features that made them memorable.
- What features stood out (walkability, events, local shops, public art, housing)?
- What product/service could your team offer on Main Street?
- Explain that teams will create a digital presentation/proposal covering their business concept, target market, and promotion strategies for a stakeholder panel.
- Identify vacant or underused local areas that could benefit from redesign. Connect these sites to potential business ideas.
- Using the class-generated list of business ideas, have students write their top three choices on index cards and submit them as they leave.
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