The next step in Capstone was answering my main inquiry question. In case you don’t know what it is, it’s:

How has Crayola evolved and what have been the key elements to the company’s success?

I thought it would be really hard; I was right. But the sub questions would REALLY help me answer it. I had a lot of different facts and examples in my head, but putting them into an essay in an organized fashion would be harder. The first thing I decided to do is break-up my main inquiry question. So I decided to make an introduction, a paragraph about how Crayola evolved, a paragraph on how Crayola is successful, and a closing paragraph. First, I wanted to do the draft in my social studies notebook so I could have people edit it and so forth. I started by writing my introduction, including my thesis, which is, “Crayola has evolved many different ways to make the company successful.” Then, for my first body paragraph it would be about how Crayola evolved. For example, 1) They changed their products over the years and 2) How they promote there products. Then, for my second body paragraph it would be about what products made Crayola so successful. For example, the 64 crayon box or washable markers. Then, last, the conclusion. I just restated my thesis, which was Crayola has evolved a lot of ways that had made the company successful.

I was checking it with Mrs. Edwards and she suggested that when I say how Crayola evolved and what products that had made it successful she said that I should name two products and really get into the details of it and I sort of agreed with her because I read my first answer over and it didn’t really sound that organized. I would have to write a full other answer but I felt like it would be the right choice. Even if I felt like I would give less information on this new one because I would just be talking about two products and really be getting into the detail with them. I choose the two products. The Crayola crayon and the marker. I thought these were the best products and the most popular ones too. I wanted to change my introduction so I played around a little and had some help and it turned out to be. “There are many elements that have influenced Crayola’s success, some more than others. After reading books, going online, and visiting Crayola Experience for my site visit and interview, I have identified one major event that has contributed the most to the company’s success: inventing the crayon in 1903.” I thought this was a really good introduction and thesis. I started writing the crayon paragraph first. I wrote it so that it was very detailed. It took a lot of hard work and I finished it. Now I would have to start my marker paragraph. I looked it up, but I realized that there aren’t many websites or information on the marker. Carrel is named after the crayon.  So I decided to fix my crayon paragraph a little. Mrs. Edwards said that I should write how that is the main thing that Crayola has sold and is selling. It turned out to be this. “You probably think that there are so many more things that make Crayola so successful. But after all of my research, site visit and interview, I learned that the crayon is the main reason Crayola is so successful..” After all this hard work it finally paid off and this is how it turned out to be:

There are many elements that have influenced Crayola’s success, some more than others. After reading books, going online, and visiting Crayola Experience for my site visit and interview, I have identified one major event that has contributed the most to the company’s success: inventing the crayon in 1903.

The Crayola crayon comes from the french words “craie” (which means chalk) and “oleaginous” (which means oily). Alison Binney created this new word and the company Binney & Smith became “Crayola” in 1903. The first box of eight crayons included the colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, black, and brown. Crayola didn’t invent the crayon because Europe was the birthplace of the crayon. Even though Europe made the crayon it was expensive and toxic. So, Crayola decided to make their crayons non-toxic. The mixture that Crayola used back then contained waxes, talc and pigments and were mixed in small batches and the mixture was poured into molds so it could harden. Then, the workers attached labels to the crayons by hand. Today, they make crayons by melting the wax in a pot. They take the liquid wax and pour it into molds that hold 100 or so crayons each. Then, after the crayons harden, they put them into a wrapping machine. (Even though there are more than 400 colors, there are only 13 different color wrappers.) After the crayons are wrapped, they go into a packaging machine. From there, the crayons are separated into boxes and are put into big shipping boxes and are shipped to stores etc.

After the eight-color crayon box came out in 1903, later in 1949, the 48-color crayon box was introduced. Then, in 1958, one of the most famous box of crayons arrived: the 64-color box of crayons with a BUILT-IN SHARPENER!!!  That was the first time the crayons were arranged in tiers. Tiers are different assorted sections. Then, a few years later, Crayola made the 96-color crayon box and introduced 16 new colors. They held a contest, so the people could name the crayons. One name included macaroni and cheese. Crayola makes 8,500 crayons a minute, 13.5 million crayons a day, and almost 3 billion crayons a year! That is enough to go around the world SIX times!

Lately, Crayola is getting greener! One billion of the three billion crayons Crayola makes a year is manufactured by solar power. One study showed that if you blindfold a person and you put out a box of crayons for them to smell, they will recognize it. By the age of ten an average kid will wear down about 720 crayons. Crayons come in over 400 different colors! They also come in many different-sized boxes. Even Crayola is named after the crayon. You probably think that there are so many more things that make Crayola so successful. But after all of my research, site visit and interview, I learned that the crayon is the main reason Crayola is so successful.

I was SO happy on how it turned out.