Save the Bakery: A Pricing Challenge - Interactive high school CTE lab for Business, and Entrepreneurship pathways

Uncle Tony's neighborhood bakery is in trouble. His lease is up in 60 days, his prices haven't changed in years, and his sales are sliding. He's giving two students full control of his pricing decisions — and whatever profit the bakery earns determines whether the doors stay open.

In this 2-day paired learning lab, students take on a real business challenge: figuring out the right price for five products with no answer key, no instructions, and no easy way out. They test prices, watch demand respond, calculate revenue and profit, and lock in final decisions that get tested across a 40-day simulation. At the end, every team in the class lands on a leaderboard ranked by total profit earned.

What students learn

How to calculate revenue, cost, and profit across multiple price points
Why higher prices don't always mean more profit — and the meaning of the "sweet spot"
How real businesses use price discovery, A/B testing, and structured experimentation
How to interpret a small dataset and use it to make the next decision
How to collaborate productively on contested business decisions
How to justify a pricing choice in writing with evidence from real data

What's in the lab

Multi-day interactive simulation with real-time team syncing across two student devices
Five products students price independently and together (cookies, muffins, cupcakes, cinnamon rolls, cake slices)
A side-trip activity where students discover the profit curve through a hypothetical electronics scenario
Two structured writing reflection activities (one on pricing, one on teamwork)
A class leaderboard reveal designed as a classroom moment
A complete teacher guide covering pairing strategy, classroom flow, common questions, troubleshooting, and differentiation
Built-in support for student absences, mid-lab team re-arrangement, and read-aloud accommodations
Discussion prompts for post-lab class conversations

Duration: Two class periods, approximately 90-110 minutes total (Day 1 ~50 min, Day 2 ~50 min)

Pacing: Self-paced within each phase; teacher controls leaderboard reveal

Team size: Pairs (2 students per team)

Why this lab is different

Most pricing lessons teach formulas. This one teaches judgment. Students aren't told what the right answer is — they have to discover it the way real businesses do, by testing, observing, and adjusting. The paired format means they have to actually defend their thinking out loud, not just click through to the next slide. And the leaderboard ensures every team has skin in the game until the final moment.

Best for

High school CTE teachers in Personal Finance, Business, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, or Accounting pathways
Workplace readiness and career exploration courses
Substitute lessons that need to be self-directed but rigorous
End-of-unit synthesis activities for pricing, profit, or small business units
Career & Technical Education teachers looking for less worksheet, more experience

Save the Bakery: Paired Learning Pricing Challenge