Busy Bees T-Shirt Company Lesson Plan

By Tina Yalen, NBCT, Early Adolescence: Social Studies/History

Repurposed by Katie Gould, PBS NewsHour Extra Teacher Resource Producer
Artwork designed by Allison McCartney, PBS NewsHour Editor
Introduction
In this simulation students will authentically experience what it is like to work on an assembly
line. First they will be asked to create their own T-shirt design for homework and the next day
in class they will be part of an assembly line to mass produce T-shirts. Their reflection on the
experience will help them to better understand the realities of one part of the
economic/resource system that they are a part of as consumers.
Subjects
Economics
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Estimated Time
Homework time and one 90 minute class period
Grade Level
Middle school and high school
Materials

Lots of sharpened colored pencils (enough so each student can have three of the same
color- they only need one color though.)
Several working pencil sharpeners
A stop watch or buzzer (needed to signal that students should pass on the T-shirt to the
next person in the assembly line)
A list of students with their numbers
Predesigned blank T-shirt on 8.5 x 11paper
100 copies predesigned T-Shirt on 8.5 x 11 paper

Homework
For homework have students create their own T-shirt design using the blank T-shirt on page 6
of this packet. The only requirement is that they use colored pencils and that they sign their
shirt at the bottom like an artist would. Beyond that they can design the T-shirt however they
want to. Encourage students to make a T-shirt that they are proud of and that reflects their
own personality in some way.
Main Activity
Note: The desks should be arranged in one continuous line around the classroom- like an
assembly line. Additionally you will need assign each student a number, number the desks and
prepare to have them sit where their number is as soon as they walk in. Assign one or two
students to be the foremen/forewomen that will facilitate pencil sharpening and watching to
make sure students are working hard. Finally each desk should have 3 sharpened colored pencils
(of the same color) that the students will use to color in their part in the assembly line.
As students walk in give them their number and have them go sit at their assembly line seat.
Explain to students that they are now part of the Busy Bees T-Shirt Company and are factory
workers. Two students are foremen/forewomen and will be responsible for watching to make
sure that the factory workers are producing as many T-shirts as possible. Students are assigned
a number and will be coloring in that number only on the T-shirts as they go through the
assembly line. They must listen for the bell/buzzer and pass on their T-shirt (regardless if they
are finished or not) to the next person in the assembly line when they hear it. If their pencil
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breaks they must raise their hand and ask the foremen/forewomen for help as they may not
leave their seat for any reason.
Rules :
o
o
o
o
o
o

to color in their assigned section ONLY and in the time given

to ONLY use the colored pencils given to them
to pass the t-shirt to the right every time they hear the bell or buzzer
to raise their hand when they need a pencil sharpened the only way they will be
helped
to stay seated
to remember the objective: to do their part in producing as many quality t-shirts as
possible during their shift

Pass out the predesigned T-shirt and have students get to work. Have them work on producing
T-shirts for 30 minutes and see how many they can make.
During this time there will be backups, boredom and stress. This is important for students to
experience and will help them to better understand the difference between making artisanal
products and factory products.
Debrief Activity
At the end of 30 minutes stop students and have the foremen/forewomen count and collect
the T-shirts.
Have students take out their original T-shirt they made for homework to compare with the Tshirts they made as an assembly line. Give them 5-10 minutes to write answers for the debrief
worksheet.
Notes to teacher
1. Youll need to decide on the time allotment before signaling the workers to pass the paper!
Start with 20 seconds?? Observe may be too much or too little, so adjust remember,
efficiency is the key. You want them under some pressure to stay focused and not have down
time! If you feel like you can spare a student to be the timer then do that it will free you
up to look at the homework designs and draw some conclusions, observe the assembly line
operation, and take notes on what you see!
2. Some workers will have smaller areas to color in, some can afford to be less precise because of
the nature of the design, some have better small motor skills than others, some will care more
and some will care less about the attention to detail. All of this will affect the flow of the
assembly line but it needs to keep moving!!
3. While they are working on this task, look through the finished mass-produced t-shirtsdraw
some of your own conclusions! Be ready to help them compare/contrast the workmaybe put
some of the homework designs up for displayand some of the assembly line designs up for
displayit may help enrich the discussion!
4. Make sure to handout the instructions and specific debrief to the foremen/forewomen.

Busy Bees T-Shirt Company Factory Worker Debrief

1. What was hard about being a worker in an assembly line? What were the biggest
challenges?

2. How do they feel the quality of the different T-shirts compare (original versus factory
made)? Defend your answer.

3. What were the benefits of working in an assembly line?

4. Would you like to have a job as a factory worker? Why or why not?

5. Typically artisanal products are more expensive than mass produced ones. Explain why?

6. Any other comments, questions or thoughts on the process?

Busy Bees T-Shirt Company Foremen/Forewomen

Debrief

1. What were the biggest challenges of the job of foremen/forewomen?

2. How did workers treat you?

3. Did you have to be strict to enforce a high level of worker output?

4. What was the best part of being a foreman/forewoman?

5. What did you notice in the quality of the work as the 30 minutes passed?

Busy Bees T-Shirt Company Design your own T-shirt

Directions: Design your own T-shirt- something that is meaningful to you and that you would be proud
to wear. Use colored pencils and be sure to sign your name at the bottom of the page- like an artist.

Busy Bees T-Shirt Company Mass Produced T-Shirt

Busy Bees T-Shirt Company Foreman/Forewoman Job

Description

Congratulations,
You have been selected as a Foreman/Forewoman for the Busy Bees T-Shirt
Company. It will be your job to make sure that things go smoothly and the
assembly line is as efficient as possible. Specifically your tasks are:
to sharpen/replace pencils as efficiently as possible based on hand-raises
to monitor the flow of the assembly line, looking for back-ups and ways to
solve them
to observe the workerstaking note of any who are causing problems as
well as those
who are really helping with efficiency make sure they have some paper
and something to write notes with
to be prepared to put those observations in writing at the end of the
exercise
to remember the objective: to produce as many quality t-shirts as
possible during their shift
Count the finished and unfinished T-shirts at the end of the activity

Make sure you ask any questions you have for the teacher before the activity
starts. Good luck!
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