Lesson 4 · 50 minutes · Grades 9–12

10-K scavenger hunt: find the facts in Nike's annual report

The 10-K scavenger hunt is a free 50-minute lesson for grades 9–12, built on Nike's real annual report. Teams find ten facts in the report on the SEC's EDGAR site and cite the Item and page.

By Hardik Bhandare · Checked against filings: Nov 7, 2026. Editorial policy. Corrections

For learning only. Cityfort is not a registered investment adviser or broker-dealer and does not recommend buying or selling any security. Prices shown are dated and may be out of date.

Grade: High school, grades 9–12
Time: 50 minutes (splits into two 25-minute blocks)
Formats: Web page, student page, teacher guide (PDF), worksheet with exit ticket (PDF), answer key (PDF), slides (PowerPoint)
Companies: Nike, Costco
Data: Data from Nike's FY2026 Form 10-K, filed Jul 15, 2026 and Costco's FY2026 Form 10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026. Checked Nov 7, 2026.
Edition: 2026–27 first edition, v1.0
License: Free under CC BY-NC 4.0. No student logins.

It includes clue cards, a printed excerpt pack for offline rooms, a worksheet with an exit ticket, an answer key, slides and a teacher guide.

Students find basic facts in a real Form 10-K and cite where they found them. By the end, they can locate:

Every answer needs two parts: the fact, and the Item and page where it sits.

What's included?

Teacher guide (PDF)PDF · 285 KB
Student worksheet (PDF)PDF · 97 KB
Answer key (PDF)PDF · 95 KB
Slides (PowerPoint)PPTX · 58 KB

Student page (no login, no answers): cityfort.co/teachers/how-companies-make-money/10-k-scavenger-hunt/student

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https://cityfort.co/teachers/how-companies-make-money/10-k-scavenger-hunt

What will students learn?

Students can find basic facts in a real Form 10-K and cite the Item and page. The facts are the fiscal year end, the business description, segments, factory countries, competitors, employees, risk factors, revenue and net income.

the fiscal year end and the business description (Item 1)
the segments, the main factory countries, the named competitors and the number of employees (Item 1)
the company's own risk-factor headings (Item 1A)
revenue and net income on the income statement (Item 8)

How long does this lesson take?

50 minutes (splits into two 25-minute blocks)

Minutes	Step	What happens
0–7	What is a 10-K?	What is a 10-K? Who requires it? Where do you find it? Short slides.
7–40	The hunt	Teams of 3–4 solve 10 clues in Nike's 10-K. Each answer needs the Item and the page.
40–47	Answers	Go over the answers. Show how Cityfort's Nike page cites the same filing.
47–50	Exit ticket	Exit ticket: three clues from short Costco 10-K excerpts.

What do students need?

One device per team with sec.gov open, or the printed excerpt pack if the site is blocked.
One worksheet per student (it holds the exit ticket).
One set of clue cards per team.
The slides on a projector.
No student account is needed anywhere. The 10-K is free on EDGAR.

Discussion questions

Why does the SEC require companies to publish this? Sample answer: so anyone can read a detailed picture of the business, its risks and its results for the year.
Who reads a 10-K besides investors? Ideas students often raise: employees, job seekers, suppliers, customers, journalists, students, government agencies.
Why do risk factors exist? Are they predictions? No. They are the company's own list of things that could affect it. Nike's Item 1A says "The risks included here are not exhaustive" (page 9).
Why do we cite the Item and page, not just "the 10-K"? So anyone can check the fact quickly, the same as citing a page in a history essay.
Nike's year ends May 31. Costco's fiscal 2026 ended Aug 30, 2026 (its year ends on the Sunday nearest the end of August). Why does that matter when you read numbers? "FY2026" means different months for each company. Always check the date on the cover page.

How do I adapt it for ELL and IEP students?

English language learners: ELL and IEP: use the 6-clue card set. Each card names the Item and section to open, so students search one part, not the whole report. ELL: a word bank (10-K, SEC, EDGAR, fiscal year, Item, segment, risk factor, revenue, net income, employee) and one sentence frame: "The 10-K says ___ (Item ___, page ___)."
IEP and 504 plans: ELL and IEP: use the 6-clue card set. Each card names the Item and section to open, so students search one part, not the whole report. IEP: pair the excerpt pack with the device. The pack is shorter and printed in black and white.
Advanced students: Advanced: find one number in both the 10-K and Cityfort's Nike page, and check that they match.
Extension: Run the same hunt on Costco's FY2026 10-K: Costco's 10-K on sec.gov: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/909832/000090983226000093/cost-20260830.htm. Compare the two tables of contents. The Items are the same; the page numbers differ. Read How to read a 10-K in 10 minutes, which walks through another company's filing.

Which standards does it support?

We say a lesson supports a standard, never that it covers it fully.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.1 (Common Core states): Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.7 (Common Core states): Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem.
Investing 12-5a (Jump$tart / CEE National Standards), partly: Describe factors that influence the prices of financial assets.

The full standards table

Teacher background in 2 minutes

What a 10-K is

A company's annual report to the SEC, the US securities regulator. Most US public companies must file one each year. The SEC says it gives a detailed picture of the business, its risks and its results for the year.

Why every 10-K looks alike

SEC rules set the order of topics. Form 10-K has more than 20 Items, so students learn one map that works for every company.

Where to find it

EDGAR, the SEC's free filing system. Route: Company Search → type "Nike" → enter 10-K in "Filing Type" → open "Documents" on the row filed 2026-07-15 → open the main document, type 10-K.

This filing

Nike's 10-K for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2026, filed Jul 15, 2026 (accession no. 0000320187-26-000088).

Page numbers

Printed at the bottom of each page, after "2026 FORM 10-K." The cover page and the table of contents have none.

Where things are in Nike's filing

Item 1 (Business) runs from page 1 to page 8. Item 1A (Risk Factors) runs from page 9 to page 23. Item 7 (MD&A) starts on page 29. Item 8 (Financial Statements) starts on page 51. The income statement is on page 55.

Risk factors are not predictions

Nike's Item 1A says "The risks included here are not exhaustive" (page 9). They are the company's own list, and they do not say how likely each one is.

One number to know

Nike's FY2026 net income was $3,108 million (page 55). It includes a one-time $986 million pre-tax benefit for recovering tariffs paid (Item 7, page 30). Cityfort's Nike page notes this too. Students don't need it, but a sharp student may ask.

If your class runs a stock-market simulation, these lessons can come before it: they explain what a company does and how it reports results. They do not suggest which companies to choose, and Cityfort does not run, rank or judge simulation picks.

Splitting into two 25-minute blocks

For 45-minute periods, split it in two. Block 1: intro and clues 1–5. Block 2: clues 6–10, answers and exit ticket.

How does the lesson support each standard?

This lesson supports these national standards. It does not claim full alignment.

Common Core: © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved. National Standards for Personal Financial Education: Copyright © 2021, Council for Economic Education and Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy. All rights reserved. Reproduced for noncommercial educational purposes.

CCSS ELA Literacy RH.11-12.1 (Common Core states): Text: "Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole."; How the lesson supports it: Every answer cites the Item and page of a primary source, the 10-K.
CCSS ELA Literacy RH.11-12.7 (Common Core states): Text: "Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem."; How the lesson supports it: Students read prose, a table of contents and a financial table. The advanced task checks a filing figure against a Cityfort page.
Jump$tart/CEE Investing 12-5a (partial): Text: Standard 12-5: "The prices of financial assets change in response to market conditions, interest rates, company performance, new information, and investor demand." Outcome 12-5a: "Describe factors that influence the prices of financial assets."; How the lesson supports it: Partial. Students find where a company reports its performance (revenue, net income) and its own list of risks. The lesson does not discuss or predict prices.

5-minute prep

Open Nike's FY2026 10-K on sec.gov: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/320187/000032018726000088/nke-20260531.htm on a school device. It is a long page, so give it a few seconds to load.
If it is blocked or slow, print one excerpt pack per team.
Print the worksheets. Cut one set of clue cards per team.
Open the slides.

Where do the facts come from?

Every clue comes from Nike's Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2026, filed on Jul 15, 2026. The answer key gives the Item, page and exact words for each answer. Where Cityfort's Nike page shows the same fact, the key shows that too.

The exit ticket uses Costco's Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Aug 30, 2026, filed on Oct 7, 2026.

Where do the numbers come from?

Data from Nike's FY2026 Form 10-K, filed Jul 15, 2026 and Costco's FY2026 Form 10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026. Checked Nov 7, 2026. The lesson keeps these dated numbers until the next edition.

S1 Nike: Form 10-K for fiscal 2026 (year ended May 31, 2026) · NIKE, Inc. (SEC EDGAR) · Jul 15, 2026
S2 Costco: Form 10-K for fiscal year 2026 (year ended Aug 30, 2026) · Costco Wholesale Corporation (SEC EDGAR) · Oct 7, 2026

Questions teachers ask

How do I teach students to read a 10-K?: Lesson 4, the 10-K scavenger hunt, has teams find ten facts in Nike's real 10-K and cite the Item and page, in 50 minutes.
Is there a 10-K activity for high school that works without internet?: This lesson's printed excerpt pack quotes every page the ten clues need from Nike's FY2026 10-K. Teams can do the whole hunt on paper.
Do students need accounts or logins?: Students need no account anywhere. The 10-K is free on the SEC's EDGAR site, and the student page needs no login.
Does this lesson ask students to judge Nike or its stock?: No step asks students to judge Nike or its stock. Students find and cite what the filing says, and the score counts accurate citations only.
Can I use it in Google Classroom?: Every file works in Google Classroom as a plain link, PDF or PowerPoint file, and students need no Cityfort account.
Is it free to copy and adapt?: Cityfort's lessons are licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0. You may copy and adapt them for non-commercial use if you credit Cityfort, link to the license and note any changes.

Optional further reading

These pages are on the main Cityfort site, which has its own ads and sign-up options. No lesson step needs them.

How do I credit and share it?

Credit line to copy: "How real companies make money: Lesson 4 – 10-K scavenger hunt" by Cityfort (cityfort.co/teachers/how-companies-make-money/10-k-scavenger-hunt), CC BY-NC 4.0. Data from Nike's FY2026 Form 10-K, filed Jul 15, 2026 and Costco's FY2026 Form 10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026.

License: CC BY-NC 4.0. If you change this material, please remove the Cityfort name or mark it as modified; changed versions are not reviewed by Cityfort.

Company names are trademarks of their owners; Cityfort is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.

Questions or corrections: contact us.

What changed (1)

v1.0, Nov 7, 2026: First edition.

Last updated Nov 7, 2026.

Disclaimer

For learning only. Cityfort is not a registered investment adviser or broker-dealer and does not recommend buying or selling any security. Prices shown are dated and may be out of date.

Investing in securities involves risk, including loss of capital. Before making any investment decision, do your own research and consider consulting a registered investment adviser or other qualified professional.

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