One of the joys of Virtual PDs is unleashing the creativity of educators. During a recent workshop focused on a cool investment visualization, FinViz (tool and activity), teachers came up with questions for a Scavenger Hunt to guide student exploration of this investing tool. 

Here's ten of the top-rated questions for this Scavenger Hunt Activity:

• Find companies that have products that you use on your phone and/or just use their product or service. 
• Which industry group had the largest number of companies with a positive return over the past week?
• Find three companies that are headquartered in your state and determine how their stocks have performed over the past year. Is this indicative of how your state is doing economically? Hint: May need to google "S&P 500 companies in [your state here]" to help with this question. 
• If you were given five hundred dollars to invest today, in hopes of earning some profit, what stocks would you purchase and why? Hint: You can find the stock price of the individual companies by scrolling over the company name. Assume that you can buy fractions of a share too. 
• Over the past week/month/year (can choose any interval), which stock has been a better performer...
  • Amazon vs. Walmart
  • Verizon vs. AT&T
  • Visa vs. Mastercard
  • Apple vs. Microsoft
• What is the largest company in each sector?
• Which industry has the most companies? How many?
• What is the worst performing stock over the past day/week/month/year (choose your interval)?
  • Look for news stories to explain their poor performance. 
• What is the best performing stock over the past day/week/month/year (choose your interval)? 
  • Look for news stories to explain their strong performance.
• Identify 2-3 companies whose products are wants. Identify 2-3 companies whose products are needs. 

Thank you to all of the teachers who helped in the co-creation effort! 

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About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.