There was lots of wheeling and dealing to be done at the Rochester Memorial School gym on Friday as sixth graders bartered their goods in an “Asian Market.”

Teams were each assigned an Asian country, tasked with researching its imports and exports, and told to come up with a product to sell. The goal was to move all of a country's product by the end of the market.

Teachers Danni Kleiman and James Sullivan planned the activity, and the kids took to the idea. They each dressed in clothing somewhat reminiscent of the country they represented and carried around spreadsheets to keep track of their inventory.

Occasionally, Kleiman announced news bulletins that affected trade.

“They're going to have a couple of embargoes, too, and they're not going be happy,” she joked.

For example, China and Taiwan relations strained trading for about five minutes.

The kids weren't too put off by the unexpected shifts in the market though.

Students continued to traverse the gym selling their wares.

In Japan, fish were on the menu, in Qatar it was cotton, and in Mongolia, Josephine Eleniefsky sold yak while bartering for oil from Middle Eastern countries.

Eleniefsky said her team's research revealed how important yaks are to the Mongolian economy, and so they decided to sell the whole animal to their neighboring countries.

“Yak can do more than a lot of things can do,” she said, citing their usefulness for meat, milk and other products.

Wearing reflective sunglasses and waving an Iranian flag, Joseph Bacchiocchi was a cool customer with lots of oil to barter. He said the market project was fun.

“We got to really explore Asia and what it's like to be part of a business,” he said.

In preparation for the market, Kleiman said they discussed the state of the countries, including terrorism and their economies. Then the kids were set loose in the market to put their knowledge into action.

“It's the whole idea behind free trade,” said Kleiman.