Producers / Consumers
Producer/Consumer Story ** Example **
* Read the sample to the students and see if they can pick out the producer and consumer.
On a bright and sunny, summer afternoon, my family and I (consumers) went to Pete’s Country Market. Pete (producer) always has the best fruits and vegetables. I love when it’s tomato season! The tomatoes from the Pete’s Market are always so big and bright red. Oh boy, are they juicy! Pete says that they’re so juicy because of all the love he gives them when they’re growing. I think it’s because he takes good care of the soil and his plants get lots of sun and water. Whatever the reason is its working. I can’t wait to get home and make a nice big tomato sandwich!
* Goods – The things people make or grow to sell to others.
* Services – Jobs that people do for others.
I can earn money by…………
Washing Dishes
Walking the Dog
Taking out the Trash
Watering the Plants
Cleaning Your Room
Setting the Table
Sweeping the Floors
Help with the Laundry
Fold the Clothes
Feed the Pets
How Much Money Can you Earn?
$4.00 X 4 =______
$3.00 X 4 = ______
$5.00 X 5= ______
$3.00 X 6 = ______
Create a list of chores on the back. Assign an amount to earn then trade with a friend to fill out.
The Next Big Thing
Price:
Stores that will sell it:Description:______
Inventor:
Date:
Skittles & Candy Bars - Candy is a way to teach supply and demand. Choose several candies for this exercise, such as candy canes, Skittles and M&Ms, and separate them individually. You will want to get somewhere between one and three king-size candy bars.
Present all of the candy to students. Show that you have lots and lots of Skittles and M&Ms and that you have a small number of candy bars. Ask the students which they think is easier to acquire--the little candies or the candy bars. Then, ask the students what they think they would have to do to get the candy bars. Award the students as you choose, perhaps based on academic performance, tasks the students do that day or points the students have been saving up all year. Use this point to illustrate how in the "grown-up world" things that are "bigger" like candy bars cost more than little things and that we have to save up for them.
Fake Money - For this exercise, give each student the same amount of money, and select items that they can buy. Have pencils, erasers, calenders and other academic materials that students need. Limit some items to only one or two that the students must spend all of their points on to acquire. Convey to the students that certain items have a higher price because there are fewer of them while others cost less because there are more. You can also overprice certain items or have things for sale that they would have no interest in such as paper clips. Ask afterward why no one wanted to buy a paper clip. Explain that there was no demand for paper clips or whatever item you use to choose to extrapolate your point.
Auction - An auction is perhaps the most effective way to demonstrate supply and demand since the students set the prices for the items. Like the example above, give each student a set amount of money. Have certain items be more common such as pencils, and then have less common items such as stickers. Have the students bid on the items. Mark on the board how much each item ended at and then go into a discussion afterward as to why the items went for the prices that they did.
Student Economist:______Date:__ __ / __ __ / __ __
$ Economist Report $
Store Items in HIGH DEMAND / Store Items in LOW DEMANDStore Items that are SCARCE (In high demand, but not many left):
The Law of Demand states that consumers purchase more at low prices than at higher prices.
Write down some “low demand” items that you think consumers would buy if the item went on sale?
Did any students choose to save their money instead of shopping?
How many? ______
Who spent the LEAST amount of money? ______How much? ___
Who spent the MOST money? ______How much? ______
Total amount of money spent at the class store: $ ______
Was this amount GREATER or LESS than last month? (Circle one)
Was any store item advertised before the store opened? ______
If so, how many students bought the advertised item? ______
Costs
Cost means you will have to give up something from putting the money in the financial institution.
Benefits
A benefit means you get something from putting your money there.
Enterprise Day Project
This quarter the children are learning about our economy. They will be earning “School Bucks” for demonstrating the following:
- Showing Self-Control
- Owning a Positive Attitude
- Acting Responsibly
- Respecting Others
- Consistently Following Directions
- Acts of Kindness
Students will be spending the money they are earning on our class Enterprise Day. Enterprise Day will be on ______. The children will be taking turns being both producers and consumers. In order to make this possible, each student will be responsible for making a good. They will need to come up with an original product to “sell” to the class. Products should be simple, low cost, and creative as they’ll need to produce 20 of the same item to sell. The students may not sell food or candy!
Some examples of goods students can make include:
Popsicle picture frames
Decorated Pencils
Pet Rocks
Painted rocks for paperweights
Friendship Bracelets
Drawings
Greeting Cards
Noodle Necklaces/Bracelets
Please note that this is meant to be a fun, hands-on learning activity. You should not have to incur a lot of expense for this. If you have trouble coming up with a budget friendly product, let me know and I’ll suggest one.