|
Subject Matter:
|
Economics - Supply and Demand, Scarcity
and Opportunity Costs
|
|
Grade Levels:
|
11-12
|
|
Time Allotment:
|
Five 45-minute class sessions
|
Overview
More than anything else, supply-and-demand economics created the
America we know today. The study of economics is too complex to
cover in one or two lessons, but the concepts of supply and demand,
and scarcity and opportunity costs, can be introduced and explored.
Understanding these concepts and how they function in our lives
today is the scope of this study.
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to:
- Explain how supply and demand affects their purchase options.
- Explain how scarcity and opportunity costs affect business decisions.
- Explain how business decisions, based on scarcity and opportunity
costs, affect their ability to get and keep a job in a particular
industry.
Oregon Standards Available at:
http://www.ode.state.or.us/cifs
Social Sciences - Economics
- Understand how consumer demand and market price directly impact
one another.
- Understand how government can affect the national economy through
policy.
- Understand the purposes and functions of major international
economic organizations and the role of the United States in them.
National Economic Standards From the National Council on Economic
Education
(http://www.economicsamerica.org/standards/cs1.html)
Content Standard 1
Content Standard 2
- Marginal benefit is the change in total benefit resulting from
an action. Marginal cost is the change in total cost resulting
from an action.
- As long as the marginal benefit of an activity exceeds the
marginal cost, people are better off doing more of it; when the
marginal cost exceeds the marginal benefit, they are better off
doing less of it.
- To produce the profit-maximizing level of output and hire the
optimal number of workers and other resources, producers must
compare the marginal benefits and marginal costs of producing
a little more with the marginal benefits and marginal costs of
producing a little less.
- To determine the optimal level of a public policy program, voters
and government officials must compare the marginal benefits and
marginal costs of providing a little more or a little less of
the program's services.
Media Components
Video
Check the link at http://www.opb.org/edmedia/trs/
to find access to the video(s) from unitedstreaming™ referenced
in this lesson plan.
- "Fundamental Economic Concepts" (29:16)
- Clip: "Economics: The Foundation of Survival"
(01:00)
- Clip: "Scarcity" (03:27)
- Clip: "Opportunity Cost" (03:01)
- Clip: "Free Market Economy" (17:34)
Web
Prep for Teachers
Prior to teaching this lesson, bookmark all of the Web sites used
in the lesson on each computer in your classroom.
Download the video clips onto the computer you will use to project
the clips. Be certain each computer in the classroom has a copy
of the free Windows Media Player installed (some clips aren't available
for use with QuickTime Player). Also download Flash and Shockwave
at http://www.macromedia.com/downloads/.
Download the following PDF files:
When using media, provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction,
a specific task to complete and/or information to identify during
or after viewing of video segments, Web sites or other multimedia
elements.
Materials
Per Class:
- Transparency of Overhead 1-B
- Overhead projector
- 20-30 old magazines that can be cut up
- Scissors for each group of 4 students
Per Student:
Introductory Activity
Step 1: To introduce this material, explain to students that
you have made an error and only have enough M&M's for part of
the class. Ask students: "Who would be willing to forgo the
M&M's?" Explain that there are no more M&M's (the shipment
got lost) and this is a "one time only" offer. After the
inevitable discussion, distribute the M&M's. Make note of the
interactions among the students and the redistribution of the M&M's.
Explain to students that they just experienced economics in action.
Economics is not a subject matter, but a set of principles to explain
behavior - the choices people make. The first principle of economics
is that of supply and demand. Here in this classroom, the demand
for M&M's was greater than the supply. We will be viewing a
video clip in a moment. During the video, it is stated that there
is an economic element to almost any problem in the world. As a
Focus for Media Interaction, students should write down one
problem that they think the world has today and the economic component
of that problem. Play the video clip, "Economics: The
Foundation of Survival" (01:00), from the video, "Fundamental
Economic Concepts" (29:16). Upon completion of the clip, have
students list what they have decided are the economic components
of a problem in the world. Direct students to a specific issue or
two if students don't introduce them (i.e., Gulf War 2).
Learning Activities
Activity 1
Step 1: Using the overhead transparency 1-B created from
the Web site at http://www.practicalmoneyskills.com/english/students/lesson.php?id=44&
ids=44:45:46:47:48::49:50:51:52 (page 1 or 5), discuss
factors that can influence a decision:
- Ask students to think about times in their past that they have
acted a certain way because of the people around them. For example,
how do teens behave around adults versus how they behave around
other teens? How much influence does the peer group have on one's
behavior in specific settings? Have students compare the discussion
of a football game in the locker room versus that same discussion
at the family dinner table. Divide the students into groups of
four and have students list words that they would use in each
circumstance. List each group's conclusions and discuss as a whole
class.
- Ask students to cross their arms; then have students cross their
arms in the opposite direction. This can illustrate the concept
of a "comfort zone" or a habit. Tell students that we
all have habits and we form many of our habits because they are
comforting or something we can control. Assign students to observe
one habit in every family member at home and make a chart of the
habits and the reasons for the habits.
- Ask the students if they have ever told another person of the
opposite gender that they like them. Ask each student to think
about the reaction they got and if they could relive that moment,
would they have said the words aloud or not. Conversely, have
they ever experienced a situation when they regretted not saying
something? Discuss with students why not making a decision is
just as powerful as making a decision in some cases. Create a
list and post it in the classroom, referring to it in class and
adding to it as the need arises.
- Have students write a short essay (one page) about an action
that a family member took that influenced their decision. Ask
a student volunteer to read their essay.
- Divide students into groups of four and distribute several old
magazines and scissors to each group. Have each group create a
collage of risks and consequences using pictures they find in
the magazines. Each collage should be accompanied with a short
written explanation with the group names on the bottom. Post on
the classroom walls and have each group explain their collage
to the whole class.
- Have students compile a list of five issues that have different
consequences for adults versus minors. Have each student pick
another student as a partner and compare lists. These two students
then partner with another group and combine their lists until
there are a total of four or five lists. Have students create
a master list on the whiteboard, making sure not to duplicate
others' ideas. Discuss with the class the influence age can have
on decision-making.
Step 2: Remind students of the M&M's and explain that
they had experienced another principle of economics, that of scarcity.
As a Focus for Media Interaction, have students identify
on paper two areas of scarcity that affect their lives. Play
the video clip, "Scarcity" (03:27), from the video,
"Fundamental Economic Concepts" (29:16). Upon completion
of the areas of scarcity in their lives, ask students to identify
if the reason for the scarcity is time, geography, personal decisions
or some other factor.
Step 3: Explain to students that now that they have experienced
some economic factors and have discussed and identified decision-making
factors, we are going to work through a decision-making process.
Using the downloaded PDF file Activity 1-1 from http://www.practicalmoneyskills.com/english/students/lesson.php?id=49
(page 4 of 4), have students:
- Identify the problem or goal.
- Where to live when you graduate from high school/college
(suggested goal)
- Obtain information and think about possible courses of action
or possible alternatives.
- Live at home
- Live at home and pay rent to parents
- Rent an apartment
- Live alone
- Share an apartment
- Live in college dorm
- Live in fraternity or sorority house
- Live in trailer park or mobile home
- Consider the consequences of each choice (action) and evaluate
the alternatives.
- Select the best course of action.
- Evaluate the results.
Step 4: Have students log on to the Internet and as a Focus
for Media Interaction, have students complete the online, interactive
quiz at
http://www.practicalmoneyskills.com/cgi-bin/english/quiz3/disp_quiz.pl?lesson=01.
Activity 2
Step 1: Remind students that they have experienced scarcity
with the M&M's and they have practiced decision-making principles
concerning their future. They are now going to view a video clip
concerning opportunity costs. As a Focus for Media Interaction,
have students write down their predictions about what they think
the phrase "opportunity costs" means. Play the
video clip, "Opportunity Cost" (03:01), from the video,
"Fundamental Economic Concepts" (29:16).
Step 2: Tell students that they are now going to experience
decision-making and opportunity costs in an online game. Have students
log on to the Internet at http://www.escapefromknab.com/.
Read the instructions for the game aloud to students before they
begin. As a Focus for Media Interaction, have students play
the game, checking to see which students made good enough decisions
to return to earth.
Step 3: Using the online version of the Wall Street Journal/Classroom
Edition at http://www.wsjclassroomedition.com/../index.html,
have students write an essay on an example of a scarcity in today's
headlines, decision-making concerning that scarcity and the opportunity
costs that it represents.
Culminating Activity
Step 1: Explain to students that they have experienced a
few basic principles of economics. What are some of the other principles
that affect our economy? As a Focus for Media Interaction,
have students list some of the principles or examples of principles
(i.e., banking, specialization, etc.). Play the video clip,
"Free Market Economy" (17:34), from the video, "Fundamental
Economic Concepts" (29:16), and pause at 06:00.
Step 2: Have students interview their parents or another
adult to learn about the forces that shape work experiences today.
Interview questions could include:
- What does your job involve?
- How did you develop the skills necessary to do your job?
- Do you belong to a union? If so, how does the union affect your
work life?
- How has this kind of work changed since you first joined the
work force and why?
- How has technology affected your work life?
- What similarities or differences do you see between your work
life and your parents' or grandparents' work lives?
- Have students share their interviews with the class in a PowerPoint
presentation. Discuss similarities and differences in the presentation.
Cross-Curricular Extensions
History
- In the 1800s, many settlers came to Oregon. What economic conditions
existed before their arrival in contrast to the economic conditions
that resulted from their arrival? Create a graph that charts the
historical changes that white settlement brought to Tillamook
County.
Science
- Tillamook, Oregon is dairy country. Create a PowerPoint presentation,
using a digital camera, reviewing the scientific changes in milking
that have occurred in a diary in Tillamook County. Provide examples
of the economic principle that helped to bring about these scientific
changes.
Business
- Have students develop a business plan for a new product that
they have just invented. The plan should include marketing, investment
sources and issues, product production, transportation, fees and
licenses.
Community Connections
- Invite the local grocery owner to discuss the economic principles
that impact food distribution and how that affects their business.
Specifically, how do transportation requirements affect cost and
product selection?
- Schools are currently experiencing very difficult financial
times. Invite the superintendent or president of the school board
to your class to discuss the economic issues schools are facing
and possible solutions to the current economic problems.
|
