Lesson
3: Unlimited Wants and Limited Resources
In this lesson, students will learn to recognize and explain the economic concept
of scarcity and then explain how scarcity forces people, businesses, and the
government to make choices. First, students would do a warm up activity brainstorming
and answering questions about different wants and needs as well as things that
are scarce in the world. Then students would write down the definitions of key
terms. In the main activity (the Wedding Budget Activity where students figure
out the budget for a wedding based on their wants and needs ), students will
first complete the activity alone; then work with a partner as though they were
parents of the bride/groom. Afterwards, students will reflect and discuss the
activity with the following questions: what did you think of the activity? How
was that activity difficult for you and your partner? How does scarcity force
people to make choices? How does scarcity forces businesses, government to make
choices?
Modifications for....
a) hearing-impaired student
b) student
in a wheelchair
c) student
with attention-deficit disorder (ADHD)
d) student with emotional problem
e) student
with visual impairment
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Lesson 4: Everyone Pays Opportunity
Costs
In this lesson, students will learn to recognize and explain with examples the
concept of opportunity cost. Students will also identify trade-offs that take
place whenever a choice is made. Students would first watch a film clip from
Jerry Maguire that shows examples of opportunity cost and trade-offs. While
watching the movie, students are asked to think about and jot some notes on
these questions:
1) Identify people who made
a choice.
2)What choice did they make?
3)What choice did they give up?
4) What was the value of the choice given up?
5) Reasons for choice taken.
After a brief discussion about the film clip, students are asked to look up
and define opportunity cost, trade-offs. Students then link the different questions
about the movie to the concepts of opportunity cost and trade-offs.
Next, students are posed with the following or a similar scenario about opportunity
costs and trade-offs for individuals and businesses.
1) Worksheet- with the following mystery: "when it takes, at least, an
additional seven years of schooling, and over one hundred thousand dollars in
costs and lost earnings, why would a person want to graduate from college instead
of dropping out after the ninth grade?" [students will figure out the total
cost of going to college-direct costs+opportunity costs and compare that information
to the average earnings by educational attainment]
2)In your senior year, you inherit $10,000. You can decide whether or not to
go to college. What are the opportunity costs and trade-offs? What are the risks
faced and the incentives (motivating reasons) for each possibility? Show the
actual costs on the board.3) Chart Worksheet with four problems-should I buy
a $10,000 car or put it in a savings account with 2% interest? Should I study
for a final or go to a friend's birthday party? Should I spend $2,000 on a laptop
or $1,000 each on two desktop computers? Should I hire a younger person with
potential (@$7.00/hr) or an older person with experience (@$15.00/hr)? For each,
explain the choice made, the trade-offs, the opportunity costs, and the reasons
for the decision.
As the final activity, students will examine the opportunity costs and trade-offs
for a government decision while working as a group.
Students are divided into groups of four. Each of the groups will work on one
of the following problems which ultimately each will share with class:a) You
are a member of your state’s legislature, and there is a $500,000 surplus
in the state budget. How much of that $500,000 would you spend on each of the
following programs: aid to the homeless, money to retrain unemployed workers,
aid to schools in poor neighborhoods, improvement of state roads, or money for
the state society for prevention of cruelty to animals? Explain why you chose
to support certain programs and to spend no money on others. What are the trade-offs?
What is the opportunity cost of the choices that you made? [note: students should
pick the top two choices and allocate funds into them]b) A city council meeting
is called to allocate a budget of $100,000. The council would like to buy four
new police cars at $25,000 each, two senior-citizen centers at $50,000 each,
and build two new tennis courts at $50,000 each. Explain why a choice must be
made, decide how the city council should spend its money, describe how the city
council should spend its money, describe the trade-offs made, and identify the
opportunity cost of the decision. Each group will present in front of the class.
Ultimately students will vote on which group presented their explanation the
best for each question posed.
Modifications for...
a) hearing-impaired student
b) student
in a wheelchair
c) student with attention-deficit disorder (ADHD)
d) student
with emotional problem
e) student with visual impairment
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Lesson
5: From Resources to Products
In this lesson, students would learn to recognize and explain with examples
each of the factors of production-natural resources, labor, capital, and entrepreneurship.
Students will define the four factors of production on a diagram. Students will
then think of examples for them.
Students will be asked to choose a product that they use frequently. Students
will write down the answers to these questions regarding the product. What natural
resources were used? What types of skills did the workers need? What types of
tools were used? Describe the firm that made the product. Is it large? What
else does it make?
Students will then be split into groups or pairs and fill out a scavenger hunt
type worksheet. Each group will be assigned a company [by stock exchange name]
which they will research on the internet. Each group/pair will be responsible
for identifying the natural resources, labor, capital, and entrepreneurs involved
in their company (perhaps after picking a specific good or service).
Modifications for...
a) hearing-impaired student
b) student
in a wheelchair
c) student
with attention-deficit disorder (ADHD)
d) student
with emotional problem
e) student
with visual impairment
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