Teaching Entrepreneurship in Dallas in Grades 7–10

Quick answer: Teach entrepreneurship as a set of thinking tools. Start with a SWOT analysis of a real business using the SWOT Analysis workbook, widen the view with PEST, then show how supply and demand set prices. Finish with a small business idea students test against all three tools, using Dallas companies and events as examples.

Entrepreneurship fits naturally into Grades 7–10. Students at this age often have their first business ideas, from selling snacks at school events to mowing lawns in summer, and they are ready to ask why some ideas work and others do not. In Texas, the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) frame what students learn, and entrepreneurship usually appears in electives, CTE courses and economics units.

Dallas gives you plenty of material. Texas Instruments, where Jack Kilby built the first integrated circuit in 1958, is a local story of an idea becoming a product. The 2026 FIFA World Cup matches at AT&T Stadium in nearby Arlington showed students how demand for tickets, food and merchandise changes around a single event.

What should students learn about entrepreneurship in Grades 7–10?

Focus on three tools students can use again in later courses. Each answers a different question about a business.

• SWOT analysis: what is going well or badly inside the business (strengths, weaknesses), and what outside the business could help or hurt it (opportunities, threats)?
• PEST analysis: which political, economic, social and technological factors in the wider environment affect the business?
• Supply and demand: how do buyers and sellers together set a price, and why does that price rise or fall?

Core vocabulary for the unit: entrepreneur, product, service, customer, competitor, internal, external, factor, demand, supply, equilibrium price, shortage, surplus.

What does a good lesson sequence look like?

Plan roughly three weeks. Each step below fits one or two class periods.

1. Open with a quick sort: students list ten local businesses they know and group them by what they sell. Ask which ones they think will still exist in ten years and why.
2. Teach SWOT with the reading section and first worksheets of SWOT Analysis: Strategic Thinking and Business Planning. Model one SWOT together for a school cafeteria.
3. Students complete a SWOT for a real company in pairs, using the case scenarios in the workbook. Check that every strength and weakness is internal and every opportunity and threat is external.
4. Widen the view with the PEST Analysis unit. Students list one political, economic, social and technological factor for the same company and compare the result with their SWOT.
5. Introduce demand with a class auction: offer an item and record how many students would buy at $1, $3, $5 and $8. Plot the demand curve on the board.
6. Add supply: at those same prices, how many would a student seller be willing to make? Find where the two lines cross and name it the equilibrium price.
7. Close with a pitch. Groups present a business idea, one SWOT, one PEST factor that could change their plans, and a price they can defend using supply and demand.

How can I bring Dallas into the lessons?

A SWOT of Texas Instruments in 1958 is a strong opener. Give students a short summary of Kilby's integrated circuit and ask what the company's strengths were, and what threats competitors or cost might pose. Then ask how the technological factor in a PEST analysis looks different today.

The World Cup matches in Arlington work well for supply and demand. Ask students to predict what happens to the price of a parking spot or a team scarf on a match day compared with a normal weekend, and to explain the change with the words demand, supply and shortage.

For a longer project, students can choose a small business in their own neighborhood, such as a taqueria, a hair salon or a phone repair shop, and write a SWOT based on what they can observe and ask about.

What mistakes do students make with SWOT, PEST and pricing?

• Putting outside events under weaknesses. A new competitor opening next door is a threat, not a weakness.
• Listing PEST factors that do not affect the business. Ask for one sentence explaining the effect of each factor.
• Believing the seller alone sets the price. A price that is too high leaves unsold goods, a surplus.
• Mixing up a change in demand with a change in price. A hot day raises demand for water at every price; a price cut only moves buyers along the same curve.
• Writing vague strengths such as good service. Ask for evidence: what exactly makes the service good?

How do I differentiate for mixed-ability classes and English learners?

Both the SWOT and the PEST units include six differentiated worksheets, so you can give the same topic at different levels of challenge. A four-box SWOT grid with picture prompts helps students who are new to English, and sentence starters such as One threat to this business is ... because ... keep answers on track.

For advanced students, ask them to compare SWOT with Porter's Five Forces, which the SWOT workbook introduces, or to write a short memo recommending one change to a company's strategy.

How should I assess the unit, and what else can I use?

Entrepreneurship is not a STAAR subject, so assess through the final pitch, a short quiz on vocabulary and one written SWOT. The quiz and answer key in the PEST unit give you a ready check. The percentage and graph work in the pricing lessons also supports the math skills that state tests cover, which matters as HB 8 replaces STAAR with three shorter tests from 2027-28.

For older or faster groups, Price Formation: Supply and Demand goes further into equilibrium, shifts and price ceilings and floors, with five worksheets, answer keys and slides; it is listed for Grades 9–12. Browse the Business, Finance and Careers collection for more units, or see the Dallas teaching resources page for other subjects.

Entrepreneurship in Dallas: at a glance

Frequently asked questions

Should I teach SWOT or PEST first?

Teach SWOT first. It starts from the business itself, which is easier for younger students to picture. PEST then widens the view to the outside world, and students can see how PEST factors feed into the opportunities and threats boxes of their SWOT.

Is supply and demand too hard for Grade 7?

Not if you start with a classroom auction rather than a graph. Students feel how fewer buyers say yes as the price rises. Once they have that experience, plotting two simple lines and finding where they cross is manageable, especially with round numbers.

How long should a student business pitch be?

Three to four minutes per group works well. Ask for one slide each on the idea, the SWOT, one PEST factor and the price. A strict time limit keeps the pitches focused and leaves time for two questions from the class after each one.

Can these units work in a social studies class?

Yes. The PEST unit is presented as a social studies resource, and both SWOT and PEST ask students to read, discuss and write about real situations. They fit economics units and advisory periods as well as business electives.

Related reading

• Dallas teaching resources: selected units and subjects
• Teaching Business in Dallas in Grades 9–12