Carolina K-12
Comparing Economic Systems
How do people make decisions in a world where wants are unlimited but resources are not? How do individuals and governments utilize scarce resources (human, natural, and capital) in different economic systems? Introduce your learners to...
Federal Reserve Bank
Choices Are Everywhere: Why Can’t We Just Have It All?
Here is a resource covering a range of terms and concepts regarding scarcity, opportunity cost, and government debt in economics.Â
Sharp School
Real Life Economics 101
Your learners will take key economic concepts, such as identifying needs versus wants and the four factors of production, and design a video to explain their topic choice to the class. Rather than have one person in charge of dispensing...
Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Education
Popcorn Economics
Scarcity of resources is a fundamental economics concepts that kids need to understand. You'll use a large bag of popcorn to demonstrate this concept. Have the class come up row-by-row to fill their snack bags with popcorn. By the last...
Curated OER
Rachel's Life is in a Hole
Explore how lack of access to water impacts peoples' lives in poor countries. Through text reading and discussion, middle schoolers are presented with the story of a young girl who lives and functions with limited water resources. They...
Curated OER
Econ in a Bag
Here is a nice idea, have your young entrepeneurs form their own companies. Each company is given a paper bad to locate and place resources in that they can use to create products their businesses sell on Sale Day. They identify and...
Curated OER
Chapter 2: The Economizing Problem
It doesn't take a lecture on economics to convince teenagers that one's wants often exceed one's means, but this presentation will hopefully help them to understand the discrepancy. Using an example of pizza and robot arms, the slides...
Curated OER
Chapter 1: The Nature and Method of Economics
If the extent of your class' economic knowledge is the five-dollar bill they spent on lunch, then this presentation will be a good introduction to economics. From the basics of policy economics versus theoretical economics, to the...
Curated OER
Values, Wants, and Needs
Build a basic understanding of four fundamental economic principles. Defined here are the concepts of value, scarcity, want, and need. All of these terms are very important to understand when discussing economic choices or cost/benefit...
Curated OER
Make a Choice
Students investigate the Underground Railroad to determine the choices that people made. To help, to stay, to do nothing, to break the law to enforce the law, to feed runaways are some of the choices that made a difference. This...
Curated OER
Scarcity of Water Throughout the World
Learners identify the various forms of fresh water on the earth. They observe a demonstration aand read articles that show them the importance of water conservation. They write a journal about their opinion regarding paying for water.
Curated OER
Location of Resources in Early Civilizations
Sixth graders define scarcity and opportunity costs.
Curated OER
Economics Study Guide
Use this resource as a basic review of economic principles. There are six questions relating to the factors of production, opportunity costs, wants and needs, tangibles and intangibles, and more.
Curated OER
Hurricane causes Scarcity
Assign this PowerPoint to your students to give them a place to explain how a hurricane can cause "scarcity" in a community or area. The directions instruct students how to save their slide. Tip: Instead of completing this on the...
Curated OER
Sharing is Caring
Learners sharpen their problem solving skills. In this service learning lesson, students work collaboratively to solve a problem involving scarcity.
Curated OER
Jamestown's Economy
Students identify items made in Jamestown and draw conclusions about their economy. For this Jamestown economy lesson, students use the internet to complete a worksheet which required them to look at photographs of goods made in and...
Curated OER
Economics during the Civil War
Students synthesize the concepts of scarcity, supply, and demand, pertaining to the Civil War time period. In this economics lesson, students gain understanding of economic terms through read-alouds, Venn diagrams, (comparing lifestyles...
Curated OER
Distribution of Goods
Students study the concept of scarcity and that it requires people to make choices when trying to satisfy their unlimited wants. Groups are given bags of items and must distribute the items in the bag in a way that is acceptable to...
Council for Economic Education
Tapped Dry: How Do You Solve a Water Shortage?
Students, after evaluating different allocation methods for water, determine the costs and benefits of each method.
Council for Economic Education
A Perfect Pet
Students read the story "The Perfect Pet". They examine how scarcity is a problem in society when people can not have everything they want which forces them to make (economic) choices.
Curated OER
The Mitten
Students read the book, The Mitten and make a list of animals that moved into the mitten. For this literature lesson, students discuss why we like to have nice, warm places to live, and what happens when there isn't enough space for...
Curated OER
Popcorn Economics
Young scholars examine the concept of scarcity. For this economics lesson, students define scarcity and take part in an activity that illustrates the concept as it relates to goods and services.
Curated OER
Do You Think Like an Economist?
How can you tell if your students think like economists? Test their knowledge with this worksheet, which provides ten opportunities for your students to exercise critical thinking in the subject of economics. Each question could...
Curated OER
Economic Decisions
Students practice decision-making skills by planning vacation, including all proposed expenses. Students distinguish between needs and wants, identify difference between goods and services, and describe economic resources used in...