INVITING GUEST SPEAKERS

Invite one of our faculty to your class. Select among the following presentations or inquire for another topic of your choice. Presentations can be done in person for local schools or virtually.

Invite Speakers in your Classroom

We will do our best to grant your request by inviting one of our faculty members, whose interests in the area of study you requested matches your presentation topic and whose availability matches your class time, to come to your class in person or virtually via zoom. In-person presentations can be requested in schools within Erie County and other neighboring school districts.  Please allow us at least 2 weeks’ time to schedule your presentation.

The Cost of a Credit Card - Sample PresentationThis session will introduce students to the concept of credit cards. We will discuss interest and calculation of interest on the credit card and significant consequences of a credit card debt. Students will also learn about annual and late fees, and the difference between debit and credit cards.
This topic illustrates a sample of a presentation that Penn State Behrend faculty are ready to provide teachers and students (in-person or in a virtual format).
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PA Standards:
  • Financial and Resource Management
Learning Objectives:
  • Explain the responsibilities associated with managing finances.
  • Understand the concept of credit cards.
  • Explain the consequences of credit card debt.
Appropriate for grades 9-12
Budgeting Basics - Sample PresentationThis session will introduce students to the concept of credit cards. We will discuss interest and calculation of interest on the credit card and significant consequences of a credit card debt. Students will also learn about annual and late fees, and the difference between debit and credit cards. This session will introduce students to the concept of budgeting. Students will become familiar with the concepts of income, expenses, and debt, which are key terms for preparing a budget. We will discuss the importance of a budget. Students will create a budget for themselves to understand how to achieve their financial long-term and short-term goals. This topic illustrates a sample of a presentation that Penn State Behrend faculty are ready to provide teachers and students (in-person or in a virtual format).
Schedule this presentation
PA Standards:
  • Career Awareness and Preparation
  • Career Retention and Advancement
Learning Objectives:
  • Explain the responsibilities associated with managing finances.
  • Understand the concept of budgeting: income, expenses, and debt.
  • Be able to create a personal budget.
Appropriate for grades 6-12
Should You Invest in a College Education? - Sample Presentation Students will learn how to apply economic principles to make the best choice when they are confronting one of the most consequential decisions in their lives. Economic concepts such as opportunity cost, the present value of lifetime earnings, and investment in human capital will be emphasized. Historical estimates of the benefits of a college degree will also be presented.

At the end of the session, students will understand how to compare their “age earnings profile” with and without a college degree to see if investing in college is the best decision for them.

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PA Standards:
  • Career Awareness and Preparation
  • Career Retention and Advancement
Learning Objectives: At the end of the session, students will understand how to compare their “age earnings profile” with and without a college degree to see if investing in college is the best decision for them.
Topics:
  • Economic Concepts: Opportunity Costs, Lifetime Earnings, and Investment in Human Capital
  • Benefits of a College Degree
  • Comparing Life Experience with and without a Degree

Appropriate for grades 8-12
Database Exploration - Sample Presentation Do you surf the web? Do you connect with friends and family with social media? Do you make purchases online?

Learn about databases behind all online activity. This activity promotes critical thinking skills. Students will first work through the conceptual side of database thinking by manually building a data model. Next, students will watch a video showing logical modeling and physical modeling using data modeling software.

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PA Standards:
  • Career Preparation
  • Computer Science: Network and the Internet, data analysis, algorithms, and programming
Learning Objectives:
  • Build a database manually.
  • Gain an understanding of logical modeling and physical modeling.
Requirements and Materials: Access to a computer with an internet connection. Students should practice loading Anaconda Navigator on their computer prior to the session. Interest faculty should contact Scott McAuley at sdm16@psu.edu for instructions on how to load Anaconda Navigator.
Appropriate for grades 11-12
Would You Take a Job for One Penny a Day, if Your Wage Doubled Every Day? - Sample Presentation Would you take a job for one penny a day, if your wage doubled every day? This project illustrates the use of three tools to solve a problem. Students will understand the problem by processing the steps manually and employ two different tools to solve the problem (Excel and Python programming). Students can then discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each approach and recommend which is best. This is an example of what a Business Analyst does. This activity promotes critical thinking skills.
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PA Standards:
  • Career Awareness and Preparation
  • Math: Exponential functions and compound interests
Learning Objectives:
  • Learn what business analysts do.
  • Understand exponential functions and compound interests.
Requirements and Materials: Computer Access with Excel. Students can watch a video using Python and loops to solve the problem. If you want students to build a Python program, contact Scott McAuley at sdm16@psu.edu to discuss how to install Python on your lab computers. Appropriate for grades 7-12
Python: Not Always a Snake! Learn about the Python Coding - Sample PresentationAt the end of the session, students will understand basic Python syntax.
This topic illustrates a sample of a presentation that Penn State Behrend faculty are ready to provide teachers and students (in-person or in a virtual format).
Schedule this presentation
PA Standards:
  • Career Preparation
  • Computer Science: data analysis, algorithms, and programming
Learning Objectives:
  • Learn how to code.
  • Understand basic Python syntax.
Requirements and Materials: Access to a computer with an internet connection. Students should practice loading Anaconda Navigator on their computer prior to the session. Interest faculty should contact Scott McAuley at sdm16@psu.edu for instructions on how to load Anaconda Navigator.
Appropriate for grades 9-12
Ever Made Purchases Online? Learn about the Databases behind all Online Activities - Sample PresentationAt the end of the session, students will understand how a database is created.

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PA Standards:
  • Career Awareness and Preparation
  • Computer Science: Network and the Internet
Learning Objectives:
  • Relate careers to individual interests, abilities, and aptitudes.
  • Evaluate school-based opportunities for career preparation: elective courses, graduate assistantship, applying for graduate school.
Requirements and Materials: Access to a computer with an internet connection. Each student must create a free Vertabelo academic account in advance of the session. Interested faculty should contact Scott McAuley at sdm16@psu.edu for instructions on how to create the account.
Appropriate for grades 11-12
Why Do We Trade with Other Countries? - Sample Presentation Virtually everything you touch or consume each day, from the time you wake up in the morning to the time you go to bed at night, has some connection to the rest of the world.
The sweater you wear, the coffee you drink, the car you drive to school, the computer you use to write your term paper, the smartphone you use to text your friends – all of these items would not be as readily available if they were not for international trade.
Students will learn the underlying reasons why countries trade, the main attributes of contemporary global trade, the consequences of this trade, and policies governments use to influence the extent and patterns of trade. At the end of the session, students will know where to find data and information on the international trade for virtually any country in the world.
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PA Standards:
  • Career Awareness and Preparation
  • Economic Interdependence
Learning Objectives:
  • Identify and define imports, exports, inter-regional trade and international trade.
  • Understand how trade impacts a society’s standard of living.
  • Understand how the location of resources affects economic patterns.
  • Understand how individual consumers participate in the global production of goods and services.
  • Understand how government policies influence trade.
At the end of the session, students will know where to find data and information on the international trade for virtually any country in the world.

Appropriate for grades 8-12
Materials Needed/Requirements: Students will have to have access to a computer with an internet connection.
Economic Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic - Sample Presentation The COVID-19 global pandemic has wreaked havoc in the lives of ordinary citizens across the world. In addition to the tremendous toll in terms of human lives lost, the pandemic has created significant economic disruption in the U.S., including unemployment and lost earnings for workers, substantially diminished revenues for private businesses, and lost output for the national economy.

Students will learn how to apply economic concepts to estimate the economic impact the pandemic has had, both on the U.S. national economy and on the Erie local economy.

Students will also learn about historical comparisons of the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic impact with that of the Great Recession of 2007-2009 and the Great Depression of 1929-1933.

At the end of the session, students will know where to find data and information on the economic dimensions of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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PA Standards:
  • Markets and the Functions of Governments
  • Scarcity and Choice
  • Work and Earnings
Learning Objectives:
  • Identify the economic concept the COVID-19 pandemic has had.
  • Explain the importance of the essential workplace skills: communication.t
  • Understand its impact on the local economy.
Appropriate for grades 9-12
Materials Needed/Requirements: Students will have to have access to a computer with an internet connection.
Let a Frog Teach You about Quality Control - Sample Presentation Quality control is the process that makes sure the products that we buy will meet our expectations. This session will introduce students to product variation and statistical quality control by first creating a simple origami frog and measuring how far it jumps.
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PA Standards:
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Career Awareness and Preparation
Learning Objectives:
  • Understand the concept of quality control.
  • Experience how the quality of a product affects its performance.
  • Understand the relationship between quality control and customer satisfaction.
Materials Needed : Each student will need a square sheet of paper (preferably 5.5 x 5.5 inches and green) and a calculator.
Appropriate for grades 8-12
Learning Supply Chain Optimization with Lego Game - Sample PresentationThis session will introduce students to the concept of supply chain optimization by first introducing supply chain and supply chain management with real life examples from Domino and Amazon. Students will then participate in a Lego game where teams of students will play the role of a manufacturer who needs to decide the planning of materials with the objective of maximizing their profit. After the game, students will be guided through a discussion and discuss the concept of the optimization method and the idea of capturing a major tradeoff.
Schedule this presentation

PA Standards:
  • Career Preparation
  • Markets and the Functions of Government
Learning Objectives:
  • Understand the concept of supply chain and supply chain management.
  • Predict how supply and demand can affect equilibrium price and quantity sold.
  • Be able to maximize a profit.
Materials Needed: Legos, game worksheets, paper and pencil/pen.
Appropriate for grades 6-12
Project, Project, Project! Learn about How to Manage Projects in a Smarter Way - Sample PresentationDo you know that one-fifth of the world’s economic activity, with an annual value of over $12 trillion, is organized as projects?

Project management is a smarter way of delivering a variety of projects using proven theories and innovative techniques for scope, time, and cost management. Dealing with uncertainty and risk offers additional challenging and exciting opportunities. This session will introduce students to the recent trends and remarkable growth of the demand for project managers in recent years.
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PA Standards:
  • Career Preparation
Learning Objectives:
  • Understand the concept of project management.
  • Understand the importance of working with a team and being organized.
Materials Needed: Internet Access
Appropriate for grades 10-12
Is Accounting for you? - Sample Presentation This presentation will introduce students to the general topic of accounting. It discusses different areas of accounting, abundant career opportunities, requirements for becoming a CPA (Certified Public Accountant) and potential compensations at various levels and roles.
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PA Standards:
  • Career Awareness and Preparation
Learning Objectives:
  • Analyze career options based on personal interests, abilities, aptitudes, achievements and goals.
  • Analyze the economic factors that impact employment opportunities: salaries.

Appropriate for grades 6-12
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