Economics
Standard SS2.7, SS2.8, SS2.9
The student will describe natural resources (water, soil, wood, and coal), human resources (people at work), and capital resources (machines, tools, and buildings). The student will distinguish between the use of barter and the use of money in the exchange for goods and services. The student will explain that scarcity (limited resources) requires people to make choices about producing and consuming goods and services.
Essential Knowledge/Skills
– Natural resources: Materials that come directly from nature
– Human resources: People working to produce goods and services
– Capital resources: Goods made by people and used to produce other goods and services
– Barter: The exchange of goods and services without the use of money
– Money: Coins, paper bills, and checks used in exchange for goods and services
– Scarcity: Not being able to meet all wants at the same time because resources are limited
– Consumer: A person who uses goods and services
– Producer: A person who uses resources to make goods and/or provide services
Read Aloud BooksA New Coat for Anna by Harriet Ziefert
– scarcity
– barter or exchange without money
– economic choice
– natural, human, capital resources
– specialization
A Chair for My Mother by Vera Williams
– savings
How a Book is Made by Aliki
– human resources
– productions of a good
Sam and the Lucky Money by Karen Chinn
– economic choice
How Santa Got His Job: Stephen Krensky
– human resources
– community workers
Jacobs Jagonomics!
We have a Project Based Learning Unit (PBL) planned for our economics objectives. For more information on PBL units, visit the Buck Institute website.
Materials
Resources
Business Day 2015
Business Day was a project for students to use their knowledge of economics terms and concepts to provide real-time goods and services to their peers.
Students formed groups and decided on a product to create. Some products were goods and some were services. Students analyzed their products for natural, human, and capital resources. They also assigned a price to their product depending on the costs associated with the resources needed to produce the product.
Our class invited the class across the hall to be our consumers. They paid for their goods and services using Jag bucks. Stores included a nail salon, tattoo parlor, lemonade stand, face painting, dance performance, hand made bracelets, and arts and crafts projects.
Students experienced scarcity when some products were sold out. At the lemonade stand, all the cups were sold out, so the students could only provide refills. They capitalized on this and still charged a lower price for the refill.
Students also explored the laws of supply and demand. In the arts and crafts store, the price was very high (because it obviously took a lot of work for this student to make the crafts). Because it was so expensive, not many students chose to spend their Jag bucks at his store. His supply outweighed his demand, so he lowered prices to attract more consumers.
The student will describe natural resources (water, soil, wood, and coal), human resources (people at work), and capital resources (machines, tools, and buildings). The student will distinguish between the use of barter and the use of money in the exchange for goods and services. The student will explain that scarcity (limited resources) requires people to make choices about producing and consuming goods and services.
Essential Knowledge/Skills
– Natural resources: Materials that come directly from nature
– Human resources: People working to produce goods and services
– Capital resources: Goods made by people and used to produce other goods and services
– Barter: The exchange of goods and services without the use of money
– Money: Coins, paper bills, and checks used in exchange for goods and services
– Scarcity: Not being able to meet all wants at the same time because resources are limited
– Consumer: A person who uses goods and services
– Producer: A person who uses resources to make goods and/or provide services
Read Aloud BooksA New Coat for Anna by Harriet Ziefert
– scarcity
– barter or exchange without money
– economic choice
– natural, human, capital resources
– specialization
A Chair for My Mother by Vera Williams
– savings
How a Book is Made by Aliki
– human resources
– productions of a good
Sam and the Lucky Money by Karen Chinn
– economic choice
How Santa Got His Job: Stephen Krensky
– human resources
– community workers
Jacobs Jagonomics!
We have a Project Based Learning Unit (PBL) planned for our economics objectives. For more information on PBL units, visit the Buck Institute website.
Materials
Resources
Business Day 2015
Business Day was a project for students to use their knowledge of economics terms and concepts to provide real-time goods and services to their peers.
Students formed groups and decided on a product to create. Some products were goods and some were services. Students analyzed their products for natural, human, and capital resources. They also assigned a price to their product depending on the costs associated with the resources needed to produce the product.
Our class invited the class across the hall to be our consumers. They paid for their goods and services using Jag bucks. Stores included a nail salon, tattoo parlor, lemonade stand, face painting, dance performance, hand made bracelets, and arts and crafts projects.
Students experienced scarcity when some products were sold out. At the lemonade stand, all the cups were sold out, so the students could only provide refills. They capitalized on this and still charged a lower price for the refill.
Students also explored the laws of supply and demand. In the arts and crafts store, the price was very high (because it obviously took a lot of work for this student to make the crafts). Because it was so expensive, not many students chose to spend their Jag bucks at his store. His supply outweighed his demand, so he lowered prices to attract more consumers.