Suggested Target Age: Grades 1-4
Topics Covered: decision-making, opportunity costs, planning ahead
Time required: Approximately 25-30 minutes; may be longer depending on the size of the group. (NOTE: Some instructors may wish to do this lesson in two parts – completing steps 1-7 in the first session, then playing the School Trip Trek game at another session (perhaps preceded by a short review of the concepts of opportunity cost and scarcity).
What Will the Students Learn?
- That because of scarcity, choices must be made. The choice deferred is called an opportunity cost.
- That choice-making is empowering.
State Content Standards Key
California: History/Social Science 1.6, 2.4, 3.5; Math 2.0, 2.1, 2.5, 2.6, 3.0, 5.0
Florida: SS.D.1.2 (subpoints 1 and 2)
Indiana: Social Studies (Economics) 1.4.5, 2.4.5, 3.4.1, 3.4.8, 4.4.10; Math 2.2.2, 2.2.3, 3.2.8
Virginia: Economics 1.8, 1.9; 2.9; 3.9; Math 1.4, 1.8; 2.1, 2.6. 2.7
NOTE: This lesson can be done in a classroom, without access to the Internet & computers, or in a computer lab where students will be able to use computers with Internet access.
Materials Needed:
- Index cards or small pieces of paper
- Pens or pencils
- Computers with Internet access, OR the Board Game equivalent of the game, School Trek Trip (see Appendix below for instructions and links to materials to download and print out for creating the board game)
- Chalkboard or whiteboard to write on (or overhead projector or LCD projector to project images on)
Lesson Plan:
1. Gather students in the classroom or computer lab and hand each of them a blank index card or small piece of paper and a pen or pencil to write with.
2. Tell the students to pretend that they are going on a trip and they have to pack things to bring with them. They will be going away for 2 weeks and the weather where they are going will be both hot and cold (hot during the day and cold at night). They should plan to bring their favorite clothes and toys/games with them.
3. Have the students write down the 4 MOST IMPORTANT items they want to be sure to take with them on their trip. These might be a favorite shirt or pair of sneakers, or a favorite game or book they want to be sure to have with them on their trip. Tell them that there is no TV where they are going.
4. Once all the students have written down four items on their card/paper, tell them that they now have to cross off two things from their list. It turns out they will not have enough room in their suitcase and car to bring everything they want. They have to choose which two things from the list of four that they most want to keep with them; the other two have to be crossed off their list. This exercise should produce some difficult choice making by the students.
5. Once everyone has crossed off two things from their list of four, explain that the students have just experienced a common problem in life that we call “opportunity cost.” An opportunity cost is the term for the value of something given up in order to pursue something else. It is “the next best thing they would have chosen.”
6. Explain that the students also probably experienced the economic concept of “trade offs” in the midst of their choice making. For example, let’s say that they had a favorite piece of sports equipment, like a special baseball glove or football, on their list and they also had a favorite book. When they had to cut items from their list, they may have crossed out the football in order to retain the book. This is a trade-off: by keeping the book, the student will have something to do on the trip if he/she has to stay inside because of bad weather—he/she can read the book. But it also means that he/she will not have the football to play with outside when the weather is nice. Or perhaps the student decided to cross off the book in favor of keeping the football: the trade off is that they may be bored inside the house if the weather is bad and they have nothing to read, but they will have the football with them to play with outside when the weather is nice. Ask a few of the students to tell the class about their choices. Identify where “trade offs” were made.
7. Now write the word ECONOMICS on the chalkboard/whiteboard in large letters, easily visible to the students. Ask the students if they know what the word “economics” is about. (The most likely answer will be “money”). Tell them that although most people think economics is just about money, it is really about making choices. In fact, two of the most important principles of economics are these (write these 2 principles down on the board for all students to see):
- Principle #1 – We ALL Make Choices
- Principle #2 – Choices Have Consequences
Then discuss these principles briefly. For principle #1, ask students to give you some examples of choices they already made today (for example, they may have chosen what to wear, what to eat for breakfast, where to sit in the classroom, whether to walk or bike or ride the bus to your ministry center). One reason we make choices is because of SCARCITY – for example, think back to the opening exercise of the lesson. There wasn’t enough room in the students’ hypothetical suitcases for their trip, so they had to make a choice. They couldn’t bring everything they wanted, because there was not enough room –or there was a “scarcity” of room—so they had to make a choice.
For principle #2, help them identify the link between choices and consequences. You could do something silly, like deliberately spilling a little water on your shirt or pants. Say: “You see, if I choose to drop this water on my shirt, the result—or consequence—is that I get a wet shirt!” Get them talking briefly about some of the consequences of their choices. Again, you could get them laughing by talking about choosing not to take the dog out for a walk, and that resulting in the dog going to the bathroom on the kitchen floor. Or choosing to go outside on a cloudy day without an umbrella, and ending up getting wet. Help them see that choices have positive and negative consequences. If they study really hard for a test a positive consequence may be that they receive an “A” on it as a result.
8. If you have access
to a computer lab, have
students log into http://www.sorted.org.nz/life-stages/kids-and-money/for-kids/dollar-reef
and prepare them for
playing the School Trip
Trek Game. ). [NOTE—if
you lack a computer
lab, this lesson can
be done without computers
by creating a board
game version of the
“School Trip Trek
Game” game. See
the Appendix below.]
9. Explain that this is a game about making choices and decisions. The object of the game is to save enough money over the course of 6 weeks to be able to pay for the special school trip. The trip costs $50. Explain that each week, the students will be paid $10. A “week” is defined as one trip around the game board. In the online version of the game, when they pass the red “payday” square, they will get $10 automatically put into their savings and can see this by clicking on their “Cash Book.” As they move around the game board (advancing by clicking the roll dice icon), they will confront various choices. For example, on dark blue squares, they will choose whether or not to spend money on special weekend activities such as going to the beach or going shopping. On green squares, different events may happen to them—such as receiving money as a birthday present or losing money by breaking a friend’s possession. The students can monitor their cash balance at any time during the game by clicking the link at the left hand side of the screen labeled “Cash Book.” The students also own some “vouchers.” These are assigned to them at the start of the game and can be used in lieu of cash to cover different expenses. In the on-line game, typically the choice of a weekend activity is posed like this: “Do you want to go to the beach this weekend with your family? It will cost you $15, but you may get a voucher.” It’s worded like this because if the student decides to spend $15 for the trip, he/she will then be asked to roll the dice for a chance to win a voucher. The student wins one if he/she rolls an even number. In the online version, the student will compete again two cartoon characters whose movements are controlled automatically by the computer. The game is over when all players complete 6 trips around the board. Again, the object is for the player to have at least $50 in his/her account at the game’s end, in order to be able to afford the class trip.
10. For the BOARD GAME version…the game operates essentially the same way as the online version. One exception is that when using the board game version, students will need to keep track of their own cash balance. To do so they should use Cash Book sheets given to them – see Appendix.) Also, you will need to print out copies of Win/Lose Money Game Cards, vouchers, Weekend Activity Cards. Give students a few vouchers at the start of each game. You will also need to create board game pieces for each player to use to move around the board. (You could use checkers or chips or the game pieces from Monopoly, for example.) Players will take turns rolling the dice, and moving their game piece along the board.
Each player will take a turn rolling the dice:
- If she lands on a GREEN square, she will select a card from the Win/Lose Money Game Cards pile, read it, and take the action it indicates. (The game card might indicate an unexpected gain—such as “You just received $5 from grandma for you birthday!”—or an unexpected loss, such as “You were playing with friend and broke his toy. You have to pay $10 to get it fixed.”) The player should record the transaction immediately in her Cash Book.
- If she lands on a LIGHT BLUE SQUARE, no action is taken and the next person takes his turn.
- If she lands on a DARK BLUE SQUARE, she will select a “Weekend Activity Card” from the pile, read it, and then decide whether or not to spend money doing the activity. If she decides she does want to do the activity, she will record the expense in her cash book, then roll the dice again to see if she’ll win a voucher. (A roll of any even number wins a voucher.) When done, the next player takes his turn.
- Continue taking turns. As they round the board and pass the red payday square each time the players receive their $10 paychecks. These should be immediately recorded in the Cash Books as a deposit. The students should also calculate their running balance in the Cash Book so they always know how much money they have. The game is over when all players have gone around the board six times. Remember that the object of the game is for the students to have at least $50 in their Cash Book after six times around, so that they can go on the School Trip.
11. The concept of planning ahead is important in this game. For example, if a student has not yet saved enough for the class trip and is down to his last trip around the board, he will probably want to avoid spending money, or he may finish the game without a sufficient amount of money in his savings to pay for the class trip. Explain that the choice to forego spending money on a fun activity in order to have enough money saved to go on the class trip is a great example of an opportunity cost.
OPTIONAL CLOSING ACTIVITY FOR GROUPS ALREADY IN THE COMPUTER LAB, WITH INTERNET ACCESS
12. Have the students log into their Economis accounts and select “online shopping.”
13. Point out to them that there are inexpensive and more expensive items in your inventory. In Economis, they get to control how they spend their “credits” [whatever the name of your currency is]. They have the power to choose. But they should think carefully about their choices because of opportunity costs. If they buy a lot of snacks every week, they may never save up enough credits to be able to purchase a field trip or some special, more expensive product in your store.
14. Have the students log out of their accounts (or, depending on when you do this lesson and the amount of credits students will have earned by this time, you might use this time to allow them to do some online shopping.)
APPENDIX
Creating the School Trip Trek as a board game.
1. Download the Cash Book, Win/Lose Money Game Cards, Vouchers, and Weekend Activity Cards from the Ele:Vate site. Print them out and cut them up.
2. Make sufficient copies of the Cash Book so that each player has one.
3. Using a square piece of cardboard and the board game pieces you’ve printed out, create the game board to look like the diagram of it on the Ele:Vate website.
4. You will need a pair of dice for each game. |
