TTLP Sullivan Inc

Lesson Overview
Classroom: Algebra A
Content: A review activity at the end of linear
Context: Group Worthy Legacy Activity
Lesson Goal(s):
- To have students work in a group to find
the answer to a complex problem and
present their findings
Prior Knowledge being accessed:
- Writing Linear rules
- Evaluating and Solving Linear functions
- Explaining how the context relates to a
linear function
Classroom Set-up:
- Students will be in groups of four
Note
This is a two-day lesson. The first day will be
focused on students collecting the data and
second day will be focused on the groups
presenting their findings.
CCSS Addressed:
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSA.CED.A.2
Create equations in two or more variabl
relationships between quantities; graph
coordinate axes with labels and scales.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSA.REI.A.1
Explain each step in solving a simple eq
following from the equality of numbers a
previous step, starting from the assump
original equation has a solution. Constru
argument to justify a solution method.
Prior to Lesson
-Students have been asked to go home
guardians about what it takes for a busi
money.

Launch-
This will begin with a conversation about what
the students were able to ask their guardians
about. The goal is to get out the idea that there
are two major factors in business, things that
cost you money and things that make you
money. After this is clear they will receive an
envelope with the slip Sullivan Inc in it.

Explore-
The way this activity is structured is the
students will have to discuss what they have
read on the different slips of paper they receive
in envelopes. They as a group will decide what
kind of information they think they still need to
answer the question, How much money is
Sullivan Inc going to make? . I will walk
around and based on what questions they ask me
they will receive an envelope with more information
in it.
IE if they ask, How much does we have to pay our
employees? And I would give them Staff Costs in
the US

After the first few minutes of them thinking as well I

will put up on the board that they sell one unit for
$775

If the students are stuck and dont know what to

ask they will receive one of the 7 hints based on
what envelopes they have received. I will be
tracking all of the groups progress on the sheet
included last on this document.

Summarize:
After the groups think they have enough
information to answer the question they will do
some number crunching and make a way of
presenting their findings to the class. This
should include what slips they received and
why they decided that this information was
relevant to answer the question. Every member
of the groups will be expected to talk about
their findings to help ease the class into the
idea of group presentations.
 Sullivan Inc.

Today we are putting our selves in the shoes of a big business executive. Our goal is
to answer this question.

How much money is Sullivan Inc. going to make?

Your goal for the group is to think about what you need to find out to answer this
question. Mr. Sullivan will walk around the classroom and listen to your questions.
Depending on what you ask you will get certain clues that will help the overall goal.
Good luck!

Staff Costs in the US

Sullivan Inc. has three kinds of staff. Blue Collar (BC), White Collar (WC) and Upper
Management (UM).

A BC has a starting wage of $27,000 per year. They get a raise each year they work
of $500

A WC has a starting wage of $36,000 per year. They get a raise each year they work
of $1000

An UM has a starting wage of $90,000 per year. They get a raise each year they
work of $5000

Assume for every Upper Management there is 10 white collar workers and 2 blue
collar workers.

There are 10 upper management employees at Sullivan Inc.

You can assume UM workers have been working for 17 years on average. The WC
has been working for 22 years and BC has been there three times as long as UM.

Outsourced Staff costs in India

Some of the jobs of Sullivan Inc. have been outsourced to India.

Here there are two kinds of jobs, Workers and Watchers. They each get paid hourly.
Workers make 92 cents per hour. Watchers make $5 per hour.

None of this staff stays long enough to have a solid count of named workers. What
we do know is we have one factory that has 40 workers and 5 watchers. They work
Monday through Friday and work 8 am to 8 pm all year long, no exceptions.

Factory Costs

Lets assume every country has one factory.

The factory costs quite a bit to get working.

There are two kinds of costs associated with our factories. A cost per worker and a
static cost of machines. (IE Every year Sullivan Inc. will have to pay this fee no
matter how many employees they have)

The Cost Per employee is $362 and the static cost is $500,000
 Number of units made in the US

The number of units made in the US can be represented by

Y =15 x +2502

Where x is the number of units and y is a theoretical demand of the product. An

analysis of the market has shown us that there is a theoretical demand of 394,302

Number of Units Made in India

The theoretical demand here is half as much as in the US. This follows the same rule
as the units made in the US

Taxes!

In the US business taxes are determined on the amount of money your company
makes. Based on this number you will fit into a tax bracket (Range).

If you make between 10 million and 20 million you pay 10% of your money made in
taxes.

If you make between 20 million and 30 million you pay 20% of your money made in
taxes.

If you make between 30 million and 40 million you pay 30% of your money made in
taxes.
 Government Subsidies

In the US the Government will often pay businesses to produce certain products.
They do this for the Good of the Country.

The government gives us a fixed amount based on the number of us citizens we

employ and then a variable amount of $50 per produced product.

The government gives us $500 for each fixed employee.

Employee pension in the US

In the US when your employees retire you have to pay them a percentage of their
wage for a certain amount of time.

You have 20 BC, 35 WC and 15 UMs that are currently collecting pension.

All of these people have worked for 50 years with Sullivan Inc.

They all receive 75% or 0.75x what they earned in the last year of working for
Sullivan Inc.
 Hint 1
Who does the work?

Hint 2
What physical place do you do the work?

Hint 3
How do your grandparents who are retired get money?

Hint 4
What are we selling?

Hint 5
How do farmers afford to produce corn in America?

Hint 6
At the store why do I have to pay more then whats on the label of the product.

Hint 7
Why are some people so particular about buy clothes that were made in America?
Group 1
Envelope:
S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8
Hint:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Group 2
Envelope:
S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8
Hint:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Group 3
Envelope:
S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8
Hint:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Group 4
Envelope:
S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8
Hint:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Group 5
Envelope:
S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8
Hint:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Group 6
Envelope:
S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8
Hint:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Group 7
Envelope:
S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8
Hint:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
S- Starting
1 US staff costs H1
2 # of units in us H4
3 Out soured H7
4 # of units india
5 Factory costs H 2
6Pension H3
7 Taxes H6
8 Gov Subs H5