Engaging Economics

Day 1: Money/Bartering
Link Prior Knowledge:

• Ask students what is economics?
• Have students think, pair, share, what they believe they will be learning about.
• Introduce the economic definition: the study of how goods and services are produced and distributed

Instructional Activities:

• Tell students that we are going to be learning about money!
• Play the “Field Trip to the Money Factory” video.
• Ask students what is money?
• Listen to student responses.
• Next, ask students what different ways can we use money?
• Create an anchor chart with student answers.
• Discuss why we use money (to buy products that we want or need)
• Next, ask students “is money the only way that we can receive goods?
• Record different answers that students say (trading, doing jobs, etc)
• Students participate in bartering activity. For this activity, students will write down a good. There should be a range of worth for the items. You will collect the cards and then shuffle the deck. Hand out the cards and allow them to barter with other students for a good they want. They must decide which person they want to barter with and if the trade is fair.

Closing:

• Give students the daily accounting sheet.
• Go over expectations and routines with that sheet.
• Allow students to fill out the sheet.
• Regroup and allow students to share which items they started with and which they ended with.
• After, I asked students, “was your trade fair?”
• Ask students “would you rather use money or barter?”

 
Day 2:  Needs vs. Wants
•            Ask students what different items they believe are a need.
•            Ask students what are some items they want.
•            discuss the differences between the two lists. 
•            Students will watch the BrainPop Wants and Needs video.
•            discuss what they said were wants and what are needs.
•            Next,  tell students that it is their turn to determine the wants and needs that are most important to them.
•            Students will break into groups and participate in the stranded island simulation.
•            They will have multiple cards that have different items on them. They have to decide out of those items the five items they get to save.
•            Next, they get to pick three more items because luckily the rescue group that saved them has a few more spots on their boat.
•            Once the activity is over, tell students to come back to the floor to discuss the items they saved.
•            Groups will share the items they decided to save.
•            ask students, “is it difficult to decide what items you truly need?”
•            ask students to think, pair, share different wants and needs in their own lives.
•            What makes those a want or a need?
•            close by giving students an exit slip that reviews the information.
 
 
Day 3: Saving vs. Spending

• Review the information from the previous day about wants and needs.
• Discuss why we save and why we spend money.
• Created an anchor chart to show our different ideas.
• Watch Brain pop video about saving and spending money.
• Conduct saving spending simulation:

Day 4: Goods and Services

• Review information from the previous day (saving and spending)
• Tell students to think, pair, share, what they believe are goods and services.
• Write down their ideas on chart paper.
• Discuss what makes each a good and a service.
• Allow students to share more examples.
• Tell students they will move to one side of the room if the example is a service and the other side if it is a good.
• Regroup after activity and allow students to share different goods and services they need.
• Allow students to fill out the accounting sheet. *students only received half a day’s pay because it was early release day*

Day 5: Goods and Services

• Review by discussing the difference between a good and a service.
• Play Brain Pop Video for quick review as well.
• Tell students that they will be breaking into groups and deciding if they want to be a community member that provides a good or a service. They also must decide what good or service they are going to provide.
• Once they tell their good/service, they will create a poster that advertises the good or service they are providing.
  • They must include:
  • The name of the good/service they are providing
  • Whether it is a good or service
  • If it is a want/ need
  • They also may include a company name if they choose.
• Students fill out a budget sheet

 
Day 6: Consumers/producers

• Begin the lesson by reviewing goods/services as well as wants/needs.
• Write on the board: “farmer growing peaches” and “mom buying peaches at the grocery store”.
• Compare and contrast the two definitions.
• Allow students to then name/create the definitions for a consumer/producer. Some scaffolding may be needed.
• Students will then be given different scenarios. It could either be a consumer situation or a producer situation.
• Students must first find their match. (ex. A farmer growing corn and family eating corn at the dinner table)
• Next, they must decide which one is the producer in the situation and which is the consumer.
• Once they decide, they are going to act out the situation. Once they act it out, the class will then decide which one was the consumer and which was the producer. They must also provide evidence to why they came to that conclusion.
• I will close the lesson by discussing the difference between a consumer and a producer. I will ask students to give other examples of each.
• Students fill out a budget sheet

 
Day 7: Supply vs. Demand

• We will begin the day by discussing supply/demand.
• Tell students that we are buying class team shirts. We must vote on which team we want. The choices are Clemson, Carolina, and Grand Valley State University.
• Students will vote on which team they want.
• We will discuss why Clemson/Carolina won and there were no votes for Grand Valley State University.
• Discuss the demand for Clemson/Carolina is high; therefore, the supply for those team shirts are high.
• Also, discuss situations when the demand raises the price/lowers price. Ex.) Halloween candy the day before Halloween vs. the day after Halloween.
• Move into how buyers and sellers create pricing in the market.
• Students will get back their posters from day five.
• They must price their goods and decide what a reasonable price would be for their goods.
• Once, they decide on a price, they will receive a sticky note that gives them a situation on how their goods/services are selling.
• Based on that scenario, they must adjust the prices of their goods in order to sell them.
• Have students present their posters. They will read the card and explain how they decided on their new pricing.
• Have the two groups of “video games” come up and compare their products. Ask students which store they would rather visit. Discuss how other sellers can determine the price of goods. Ex.) gas stations
• Students will fill out budget sheets

 
Day 8: Review Day
 

differentiation: To differentiate, provide a pre-sorted list of items categorized as "Needs" and "Wants." Students can then focus on making choices within those categories instead of having to generate all the options themselves.

extension: Challenge advanced learners to design their own  model economy.  They can define the type of system (or a hybrid), establish "rules" or regulations, create their own currency, and determine how goods and services would be produced and distributed within their model. This encourages them to apply their knowledge and  creativity to build a functional economic system.

Use the documents located in the resource section to assess student learning outcomes.