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In Unit 3. What Is Work Ethic?, the following enduring understandings will be gained: (1) the American work ethic has deep roots in European and U.S. history and culture; (2) planning and goal-setting are essential to pursuing a profitable, sustainable, and meaningful career; and (3) developing a work ethic is integral to career planning.

Content includes: definitions of work ethic (including Max Weber, Benjamin Franklin, Elbert Hubbard); connections between Protestantism, democracy, capitalism, and the work ethic; Measuring modern work ethic by developing a survey and analyzing the results; reflecting on personal work ethic; setting short- and long-term goals related to improving personal work ethic; and applying individual reflections to future career planning.

The following essential questions are discussed: (1) What are the historical roots of the American work ethic? (2) Does the American work ethic persist in modern times? (3) How can research methods be applied to measure modern work ethic? (4) What are my positive and negative working habits? (5) How can I create and implement systems to achieve goals? (6) What is the difference between a job and a career? (7) How can I begin to build toward a career now?

Skills developed include: (1) identifying author's purpose; (2) Identifying main ideas and summarizing a text; (2) drawing conclusions based on a text; (4) comparing and contrasting multiple texts; (4) composing an expository essay comparing and contrasting multiple texts; (5) developing research methods appropriate to a specific question; (6) creating charts and graphs based on the results of a research project; (7) analyzing the results of a research project; (8) reflecting on individual interests and abilities; (9) relating careers to individual interests and abilities; (10) analyzing career options; and (11) applying career preparation opportunities to career options.