Ford Partnership for Advanced Studies (Ford PAS)

From Concept to Consumer: Building a Foundation in Problem-Solving introduces students to the following concepts: various aspects of manufacturing, such as product design, product development, production planning, manufacturing processes, and quality assurance.

Students Will:

• Learn about the historical context in which manufacturing occurs by investigating the evolution of everyday objects in relation to social and technological change.
• Solve a variety of problems similar to the problems people must solve in the various departments of manufacturing organizations. By the end of this module, students will know what it takes for a product to make its way from concept to consumer.
• Learn that effective communication, collaboration, and compromise are essential aspects of work in manufacturing organizations.

Throughout the module, students develop and practice these skills through role-playing, hands-on simulation, and team-based research activities. This module relies heavily on guided Internet research and requires that student teams develop and give several presentations, including one presentation that uses Microsoft® PowerPoint® software. In addition to developing oral presentation skills, students also develop skills in communicating ideas graphically through process flowcharts and tables.

Media and Messages: Building a Foundation of Communication Skills introduce students to communication issues in the workplace. Students are engaged in addressing a variety of communication challenges encountered by a fictional food company that is expanding its product line through a partnership with a company based in another country.

Students Will:

• Decide on the best locations for introducing their new business line.
• Prepare to interview potential employees.
• Analyze styles of communication appropriate for different contexts.
• Develop logos and slogans.
• Plan an ad campaign.
• Summarize and organize written and verbal information.
• Write and speak persuasively.
• Write and revise a short report.
• Make oral presentations.
• Develop an awareness of issues of diversity in communication and the importance of shaping information for a specific audience and purpose.
• Practice developing communication skills using presentation software.

People at Work: Building a Foundation of Research Skills challenges students to trace changes in the workplace by looking closely at key periods in United States history. Students learn how such factors as immigration, the economy, technological innovation, and legislation affected people’s work experiences in the past, shape working conditions today, and will affect the workplace of tomorrow.

Students Will:

• Research different periods of U.S. history by analyzing primary and secondary sources of information, including documents, art, and photographs, that portray work life from various perspectives.
• Conduct interviews of present-day workers in order to collect information about the workplace of today.
• Learn and apply a variety of research and communication skills, including finding and evaluating sources, paraphrasing, and citing sources appropriately.
• Develop technology skills as they build a class Web site that explains how the workplace has changed throughout U.S. history.

In We All Run on Energy, students are encouraged to take on the responsibility of becoming their generation’s leaders by creating an activity that teaches younger students about the concept of energy—what it is, how we use it, and how we need to prepare for the future by finding new sources of energy to meet society’s needs. Students choose from several options for helping fifth-grade students understand energy, such as developing a hands-on experiment or creating a web site. As part of the activity design process, students seek information from members of the business community by asking questions of a representative of an energy company, thus learning how energy companies are dealing with energy-related challenges and what alternatives to fossil fuels are being pursued by energy providers.

Students Will:

• Learn the physical science concepts that underlie how energy is stored and released for human use.
• Learn that various forms of energy are interchangeable and that converting energy from one form to another allows humans to use energy to do different kinds of work.
• Learn about atoms and molecules, the role of the carbon cycle in energy transfer, and the relationship between energy and the earth’s climate.
• Learn why scientists and governments are working to find sustainable, renewable energy sources; why fossil fuels are no longer the best solution for all of our energy needs; and why they, as members of the next generation to deal with the challenges of energy, need to understand and be engaged with the subject.

Energy from the Sun: Biomass introduces students to the use of biomass to meet human energy needs. Students take on the roles of staff members in a nongovernmental organization (NGO) consulting for a developing country that is trying to choose a biomass-fueled stove to distribute to its citizens. The country also wants to investigate ways in which biomass can serve as a source for other energy needs. The NGO will investigate the different stove designs available and study other biomass fuels, including biogas, which can be used to create electricity, and ethanol, which can be used as a fuel to run engines and generators.

In Energy from the Sun: Biomass, students learn about biomass as a source of solar energy from the perspective of biology and chemistry. Students explore how plants, through photosynthesis, capture solar energy as chemical energy and how this energy travels through ecosystems. Students learn how humans and other animals use the chemical energy stored in food and how the breakdown of food in animals releases energy, which is used to do work. They then learn how biofuels are used in the same way food is to do other kinds of work, such as cooking, heating water, and generating electricity. For their ongoing project, they write a report that makes recommendations to the developing country about which stove design would be best for the country’s unique situation. By the end of the module, students have explored how biomass can be used as a sustainable alternative energy source and some of the advantages and disadvantages of different biomass sources and use methods.

In Is Hydrogen a Solution?, students explore the possibilities of using hydrogen-powered fuel cells
to meet future energy needs.

Students Will:

• Play the roles of researchers in a venture capital firm specializing in technology innovations and renewable sources of energy.
• Consider whether or not they should invest in a start-up company that is working on developing vehicles that run on fuel cells.
• Question as they investigate the properties of hydrogen and learn how fuel cells work.
• Learn what hydrogen is, how it can be used in fuel cells, and what obstacles currently prevent us from using it on a large scale.
• Make decisions about pursuing fuel cells as a solution to transportation energy needs in the U.S. and share with the class the reasoning behind those decisions.
• Conduct research and hands-on experiments to learn how hydrogen gas is produced, why hydrogen is considered an energy carrier or storage device (like biofuels and batteries) rather than an energy source, how hydrogen can be stored, and how fuel cells extract energy from hydrogen.
• Learn about some fundamental science concepts related to hydrogen and fuel cells: the formation of chemical bonds, the ways in which substances change during chemical reactions, and properties of gases at different temperatures and pressures.

The Nuclear Revolution introduces students to the concepts of the generation of power from radioactive elements found on Earth. Throughout the module, students take on the roles of advisors to the prime minister of a fictional Eastern European country.

Students Will:

• Work in teams and act as if they are members of a governmental commission appointed to examine nuclear power as an alternative energy source that is more sustainable than fossil fuel.
• Investigate the potential of, and the problems with nuclear power, and make a recommendation to the prime minister as to whether their country should build new nuclear power plants.
• Learn about the energy inside atoms and the positive and negative aspects of nuclear energy.
• Explore the properties that make elements radioactive and investigate how scientists know what they know about atoms.
• Examine how nuclear fission and fusion are currently used as energy sources and how they might be used in the future to meet the energy needs of their country.

Energy for the Future introduces students to innovative ways in which renewable energy sources and technologies are used to provide energy for society. Students become familiar with the different forms and sources of energy and learn about renewable and non-renewable energy sources. They analyze case studies to determine the pros and cons of several energy sources and analyze the availability, practicality, safety, and environmental impact of different energy technologies. They construct simple energy systems and learn to calculate work, power, potential energy, and efficiency. They also learn about the principles of electricity and how to determine the energy needs of different systems, such as homes or schools.

Students Will:

• Develop their Internet research skills as they gather information about one energy-generation technology.
• Consider the merits and drawbacks of the different energy technologies for meeting the energy needs of a particular building.
• Design a plan to meet some of the energy needs of their school with renewable energy sources.

From Concept to Consumer: Building a Foundation in Problem-Solving introduces students to the following concepts: various aspects of manufacturing, such as product design, product development, production planning, manufacturing processes, and quality assurance.

Students Will:

• Learn about the historical context in which manufacturing occurs by investigating the evolution of everyday objects in relation to social and technological change.
• Solve a variety of problems similar to the problems people must solve in the various departments of manufacturing organizations. By the end of this module, students will know what it takes for a product to make its way from concept to consumer.
• Learn that effective communication, collaboration, and compromise are essential aspects of work in manufacturing organizations.

Throughout the module, students develop and practice these skills through role-playing, hands-on simulation, and team-based research activities. This module relies heavily on guided Internet research and requires that student teams develop and give several presentations, including one presentation that uses Microsoft® PowerPoint® software. In addition to developing oral presentation skills, students also develop skills in communicating ideas graphically through process flowcharts and tables.

Media and Messages: Building a Foundation of Communication Skills introduce students to communication issues in the workplace. Students are engaged in addressing a variety of communication challenges encountered by a fictional food company that is expanding its product line through a partnership with a company based in another country.

Students Will:

• Decide on the best locations for introducing their new business line.
• Prepare to interview potential employees.
• Analyze styles of communication appropriate for different contexts.
• Develop logos and slogans.
• Plan an ad campaign.
• Summarize and organize written and verbal information.
• Write and speak persuasively.
• Write and revise a short report.
• Make oral presentations.
• Develop an awareness of issues of diversity in communication and the importance of shaping information for a specific audience and purpose.
• Practice developing communication skills using presentation software.

Careers, Companies, and Communities provide students with a better understanding of careers they may want to pursue, places they may want to work or intern, and the ways that people andcompanies adapt to change.

Students Will:

• Complete six activities which include: “Change in the Workplace,” “Interplay Between Industry and Community,” and “Industry Clusters.”
• Complete a Career Exploration Journal assignment in each of the first five activities.
• Use their newly acquired comprehension of industry clusters and the interactions between industry and community to create a career presentation.
• Learn about the businesses and industries in their region, the range of positions companies may offer, and the changing nature of the workplace.
• Gain information through interviews, classroom speakers, a worksite visit, and others.
• Develop technology skills: working with databases, creating and delivering presentations, and doing Internet research.

In Calculating Your Future: Personal Finance, students learn the skills and knowledge needed to take ownership of their finances. Students apply concepts of algebra and data analysis to making short- and long-term real-world financial decisions, such as how much to spend on a daily and monthly basis; whether to apply for a credit card, and, if so, which one; what to consider before making a major purchase, such as an automobile; how to pay for college; how to weigh the risks of different investment options; and when and how to plan for retirement.

Students Will:

• Apply critical-thinking and problem-solving skills to set financial goals and evaluate strategies for meeting those goals.
• Use algebra and data analysis to analyze financial situations. For example, students construct and explore functions that express relationships among the variables of principal, interest, and time in order to maximize their investments and minimize debts.
• Consider how personal values and other non-economic factors affect financial decisions, and they examine the short- and long-term effects of different financial decisions.

In Planning for Business Success, students take on the role of manager of NoNaymz, a local band trying to break into the national music scene, and, through case studies and a computer simulation, they learn about marketing and finance. Students apply their NoNaymz experience to create a realistic business plan for a small business of their own. In a closing activity, students present their plans to visitors from the community in an effort to recruit potential “investors.” The module utilizes Microsoft® Excel as a financial management tool.

• Develop a range of entrepreneurial skills.
• Identify a business’s target audience.
• Design market surveys and analyze their results.
• Develop a marketing plan to reach a particular audience.
• Determine costs and revenues.
• Calculate profits and losses.
• Conduct a break-even analysis.
• Analyze the effect of supply and demand on prices.
• Debate ethical issues involved in marketing.

Planning for Business Success (Math-Enriched) is an alternate version of this module that presents students with the same scenarios and activities but also provides extensive practice with the use of algebra and data analysis, teaching students to use graphing and functions as they are applied in business decision-making.

From Concept to Consumer: Building a Foundation in Problem-Solving introduces students to the following concepts: various aspects of manufacturing, such as product design, product development, production planning, manufacturing processes, and quality assurance.

Students Will:

• Learn about the historical context in which manufacturing occurs by investigating the evolution of everyday objects in relation to social and technological change.
• Solve a variety of problems similar to the problems people must solve in the various departments of manufacturing organizations. By the end of this module, students will know what it takes for a product to make its way from concept to consumer.
• Learn that effective communication, collaboration, and compromise are essential aspects of work in manufacturing organizations.

Throughout the module, students develop and practice these skills through role-playing, hands-on simulation, and team-based research activities. This module relies heavily on guided Internet research and requires that student teams develop and give several presentations, including one presentation that uses Microsoft® PowerPoint® software. In addition to developing oral presentation skills, students also develop skills in communicating ideas graphically through process flowcharts and tables.

In Closing the Environmental Loop, students investigate how industry is changing in response to today’s environmental issues and learn about a range of incentives for reducing the environmental impact of products and processes. They first look at how every stage in the life cycle of everyday products affects the environment. Then, through video, case studies, and Web research, they learn how industries are redesigning products for easier remanufacture or recycling, changing their production processes, improving their facilities, developing eco-industrial parks, and “greening” their product supply chains.

Students Will:

• Use data for monitoring progress toward environmental goals.
• Role-play: students develop the negotiation skills needed to build financially and environmentally sustainable business partnerships.
• Apply what they learn about products and companies to a product of their own choosing.
• Present proposals for making their chosen products more environmentally sustainable.

Planning for Efficiency focuses on how companies can make the best use of time, materials, and human resources in the context of changing social, environmental, and market realities.

Students Will:

• Learn about historical changes in the ways that people think about time and work.
• Explore how historical changes, along with advances in technology, have shaped the ways in which businesses manage their resources.
• Participate in: role plays, simulations, and case studies in which they analyze various approaches to resource management and production planning.
• Learn how to use resource management tools including the critical path method and value stream mapping.
• Apply tools to planning and scheduling tasks in their own lives and in several business settings.
• Develop skills for conducting effective meetings.

In Ensuring Quality, students face a series of challenges that show how business and industry use statistics and data analysis to improve the quality of products and services. The goal is for students to be able to apply statistical analysis in several business contexts in order to measure, analyze, and control quality. To do this, they take on the roles of members of various departments in Xavier Automotive Company (XAC) and use statistics to make business decisions that members of these departments would make. Students learn how companies measure and control for quality and about the role of data analysis in ensuring quality. In addition, students learn how data is used to make long-term business decisions.

• Learn statistics concepts relevant to analyzing data and then apply these concepts to a final company scenario, in which they create a status report for one XAC division.
• Become familiar with a variety of ways to present statistical information visually. Using MINITAB® Statistical Software,** a statistical analysis software package, or Microsoft® Excel.
• Analyze consumer information to inform design and marketing decisions.
• Make personnel decisions based on data about employees’ previous performance.
• Monitor production for the presence of defects.

From Data to Knowledge introduces students to the purposes and uses of information systems. Students learn to create and use their own information systems. Using the health care industry as an example, students research ways that information systems, including geographic information systems, are used by businesses. Through observation, hands-on projects, and case studies, students find out how different types of information systems are used to create, manage, and share information for a variety of purposes.

Students Will:

• Learn skills that will help them analyze different kinds of data and make decisions using those data.
• Learn and apply skills in database development and learn the pros and cons of spreadsheets and databases.
• Grapple with ethical issues related to information systems as they consider the potential benefits and drawbacks of using information systems in business.
• Develop a solid understanding of information systems and be able to make informed decisions about the benefits and drawbacks of new trends in the field.

In Reverse Engineering, students analyze products, determining how they can be designed to meet the needs of their intended users and considering other factors that influence product design. First, students focus on using reverse engineering to make good products for the consumer by analyzing features of existing products, considering design factors that determine the ease of product assembly, and looking at the manufacturing processes used to create products from different materials. Students then focus on reverse engineering from the perspective of product failure, and analyze communication failures in written and visual instructions. Students also test different materials as they explore engineering failures related to material choice. For their module project, students analyze a case study and role-play its situation.

Students Will:

• Explore the process of reverse engineering in this module.
• Develop a number of valuable skills.
• Create logbooks and write log entries of experiment results that they will use in scientific and technical fields.
• Learn to take team meeting notes, and make sketches of products.
• Develop their teamwork skills by focusing on meeting facilitation.

In Different by Design, students take on the challenge of redesigning an existing product. They first consider how the features and functions of a product are directly related to consumer needs. They learn about the procedures that design teams use to develop products, including the screening and scoring of potential concepts to find the one that best matches the team’s goal. Students then complete a basic cost analysis of a product, addressing the economic factors that affect a product’s development. They learn basic principles of industrial design and consider how such factors as appearance and user-friendliness may influence both a company’s image and a product’s success. Students are also introduced to the idea of intellectual property rights, and they conduct searches for patents. Finally, students learn how to visually represent a design idea to different audiences, from tradespeople to consumers, using technical drawings and illustrations.

Students Will:

• Apply the design tools they’ve learned to a product of their choice.
• Compare and contrast different brands and models of a similar product, exploring how the products meet customers’ needs.
• Present a complete plan for a redesigned product.
• Think and work like engineers.
• Learn techniques used to turn customer feedback into useful design information and how the creative aspects of the design process can fulfill customers’ needs in unique ways.

In The Wealth of Nations, students analyze the factors that affect the wealth of different countries and consider different ways to measure the health of an economy. They examine the
consequences of declining natural resources and learn how investments in resources affect a country’s productivity and the standard of living of its citizens. Students compare standards of living among countries and predict how current population trends may affect the workforce as well as the market for particular goods and services. Students also compare the way that resources are used in different countries and consider the potential economic, environmental,
and social consequences of a declining natural resource base. In an ongoing project, students become familiar with CleanWater Tech, a fictional U.S. company that produces water filtration and disinfection technologies and is interested in opening a facility abroad. Students apply what they’ve learned about the country’s economic health in order to justify their decision about whether to expand CleanWater Tech into their chosen country.

Students Will:

• Analyze and interpret data such as real and nominal GDP, inflation rates, and unemployment rates to better understand how economists measure the health of economies.
• Develop their research and analytic skills in this module, using them as economists do to analyze a country’s economic climate.
• Use their analyses of the various indicators they’ve learned about to develop their own economic indicator for analyzing the economic health of a country.

In Markets Without Borders, students become familiar with the interdependence of different countries in today’s global economy. They examine the role of trade in the global economy and analyze the purposes and effects of quotas, tariffs, and trade agreements on businesses, governments, and individuals throughout the world. Students analyze the challenges of conducting intercultural business and trade, and they develop international agreements that balance the conflicting interests of different nations.

Students Will:

• Participate in a Web-based international relations simulation in which they take on the role of policymaker for a particular country.
• Propose and negotiate trade agreements.
• Set trade policy.
• Cast their votes on international regulations.
• Create a Country Briefing Handbook, a compilation of information about their project country’s economy, trade relations, laws, and social and environmental issues related to globalization.

Global Citizens introduces students to the concept of corporate citizenship—the responsibility companies have to enact policies and practices that address emerging social and environmental issues around the world. Students also examine the effects these practices may have on the company’s stakeholders, including shareholders and customers. Through case studies and role plays, students learn about the different kinds of social and environmental issues—such as pollution, labor practices, and worker health—that arise in different business contexts around the world and look at how companies have addressed these issues.

Students Will:

• Take on the role of employees in the corporate citizenship department of a company.
• Work in teams that will recommends how its company can responsibly manage one social or environmental issue in a particular country.
• Examine the potential impact that individual citizens can have on a company’s actions, and develop an experiment and survey to determine if and how corporate behavior affects consumer behavior. This capstone module allows Ford PAS students to demonstrate the variety of skills and breadth of knowledge they have developed throughout this program. 

In Calculating Your Future: Personal Finance, students learn the skills and knowledge needed to take ownership of their finances. Students apply concepts of algebra and data analysis to making short- and long-term real-world financial decisions, such as how much to spend on a daily and monthly basis; whether to apply for a credit card, and, if so, which one; what to consider before making a major purchase, such as an automobile; how to pay for college; how to weigh the risks of different investment options; and when and how to plan for retirement.

Students Will:

• Apply critical-thinking and problem-solving skills to set financial goals and evaluate strategies for meeting those goals.
• Use algebra and data analysis to analyze financial situations. For example, students construct and explore functions that express relationships among the variables of principal, interest, and time in order to maximize their investments and minimize debts.
• Consider how personal values and other non-economic factors affect financial decisions, and they examine the short- and long-term effects of different financial decisions.

In Planning for Business Success, students take on the role of manager of NoNaymz, a local band trying to break into the national music scene, and, through case studies and a computer simulation, they learn about marketing and finance. Students apply their NoNaymz experience to create a realistic business plan for a small business of their own. In a closing activity, students present their plans to visitors from the community in an effort to recruit potential “investors.” The module utilizes Microsoft® Excel as a financial management tool.

• Develop a range of entrepreneurial skills.
• Identify a business’s target audience.
• Design market surveys and analyze their results.
• Develop a marketing plan to reach a particular audience.
• Determine costs and revenues.
• Calculate profits and losses.
• Conduct a break-even analysis.
• Analyze the effect of supply and demand on prices.
• Debate ethical issues involved in marketing.

Planning for Business Success (Math-Enriched) is an alternate version of this module that presents students with the same scenarios and activities but also provides extensive practice with the use of algebra and data analysis, teaching students to use graphing and functions as they are applied in business decision-making.

In Ensuring Quality, students face a series of challenges that show how business and industry use statistics and data analysis to improve the quality of products and services. The goal is for students to be able to apply statistical analysis in several business contexts in order to measure, analyze, and control quality. To do this, they take on the roles of members of various departments in Xavier Automotive Company (XAC) and use statistics to make business decisions that members of these departments would make. Students learn how companies measure and control for quality and about the role of data analysis in ensuring quality. In addition, students learn how data is used to make long-term business decisions.

• Learn statistics concepts relevant to analyzing data and then apply these concepts to a final company scenario, in which they create a status report for one XAC division.
• Become familiar with a variety of ways to present statistical information visually. Using MINITAB® Statistical Software,** a statistical analysis software package, or Microsoft® Excel.
• Analyze consumer information to inform design and marketing decisions.
• Make personnel decisions based on data about employees’ previous performance.
• Monitor production for the presence of defects.