EGP 335

Michelle Blazofsky Lesson Plan

Lesson Title: Free Market Economy
Day Number: 8
Author: Harcourt
Unit: Unit 6 Working in Communities
Grade Level: 3rd Grade
Background Information
Expected Duration: 60 minutes
Concepts
o Free market economy
o How supply and demand affect pricing
o Supply and demand
Vocabulary
o Profit
o Free Market
o Competition
o Demand
o Supply
o Scarcity
Skills
o Comparing
o Contrasting
o Analyzing
1.1 Integration of Learning Outcomes/Objectives
Students will compare and contrast how supply and demand affect pricing through
discussion.
Students will demonstrate respectful competition when creating a free market economy
within the classroom.
Students will create products and practice selling and buying other products.
1.2 Standards
PA Standards Economics
6.1.3.A: Define scarcity and identify examples of resources, wants, and needs.
6.1.3.D: Identify reasons why people make a choice.
6.2.3.A: Identify goods, services, consumers, and producers in the local community.
6.2.3.B: Identify competing sellers in the local market.
6.2.3.D: Define price and how prices vary for products.
PA Standards CC Math

M03.A-T.1.1.2: Add two- and three-digit whole numbers (limit sums from 100
through 1,000) and/or subtract two- and three-digit numbers from three-digit whole
numbers.
M03.D-M.1.3.2: Make change for an amount up to $5.00 with no more than $2.00
change given (penny, nickel, dime, quarter, and dollar).
NCSS Standards Economics
D2.Eco.2.3-5. Identify positive and negative incentives that influence the decisions
people make.
1.3 Anticipatory Set
The teacher will begin by reviewing the ideas of workers and consumers and how businesses
work from previous lessons. The teacher can then say, Boys and girls, today we are going to
put what we have been learning about workers and consumers within our community into
practice. We will be using the products we created to sell within our classroom! The teacher
will then discuss how each pair of students will be given a starting amount of $20 in fake
money. (This money can be purchased from the dollar store.)
1.4 Procedures
The students will work in pairs to finish creating the items to sell within the classroom
economy that they have worked on for homework and during morning work.
The teacher will move around the classroom and ask students how much work it is taking
them to make their product and how much money they think they are going to sell their
product for and how many copies of their product they are going to make/ will be able to
make within the allotted time.
The teacher will bring the class together and have a quick discussion on the vocabulary
words for this activity.
o Free Market: people can make and sell any product or service allowed by
law- the teacher will have the students discuss the idea of a free market, the
pros and cons, and will have the students decide why or why not their
classroom economy is a free market economy.
o Profit: the money left over after all the costs of running a business have been
paid- The teacher will discuss how prices are decided upon to help businesses
to make the biggest profit. She/he will then provide some examples such as if
it costs $0.50 for a piece of white paper and $1 for scissors, plus an additional
$2 for manual labor, it would cost $3.50 to make a paper snowflake. She/he
will then ask the students what price the snowflakes should be sold at that
would create a profit. (Keep in mind that the price must also match the quality
of the product, i.e. $100 would make a profit but would be unreasonable.)
o Competition: the contest among businesses to sell the most goods or
services- this example problem lend into the idea of competition and how if
one company is selling the paper snowflakes for $4 and another is selling
them for $50 both companies are making a profit and they are in competition
since they are selling the same product, however the company selling the

snowflakes for $4 will have more business because their price is more
reasonable.
o Demand: willingness to buy goods and services- the teacher will explain to
the students the definition of demand and then ask the student why they chose
to make product they did. Do they think there will be a high demand for their
product? Why or why not?
o Supply: the products and services that businesses provide- the teacher will
ask the students how many copies of their products they had made. They will
then ask if they think that will be enough for all their classmates who might
want their product to get one? Why or why not?
o Scarcity: the supply of a product is not enough to meet the demand for it- the
teacher will explain the concept of scarcity and will tell the students to keep
the idea in the back of their mind and that they will discuss this more after
they have the chance to sell their products.
The teacher will then prompt the students to move their desks around to form a U shape
in the room. The students will then write on a piece of paper what they are selling and
how much they are selling it for (example: Hand cut paper snowflakes $2 each).
Each pair of students will start with $20 of fake money. They will be able to decide how
they spend that money and how they split the money between the two partners.
The students will be able to go around and buy items from other classmates as well as sell
their own product to their classmates. (Partners will take turns staying at the table to sell
while the other goes around shopping)
After every student has had the chance to go around and buy items the students will then
come together on the carpet to discuss their experience.
The teacher can ask questions such as:
o What was the most popular item?
o Was your supply able to meet the demand for your product in the classroom?
o Do you feel the prices of the items were reasonable/ why did you price your item
at the value you did?
o Was there any competition within the classroom/ were there any groups that
made the same product? How did that affect the selling of your product?
o Did anyone make a profit from selling their products?
o Did any group come across the problem of scarcity?
The teacher should facilitate the discussion to make sure every group participates and
shares their experience.
1.5 Differentiation
For students with disabilities: These students will be paired with a typically developing
student or be allowed to work in a group of three (with two other typically developing
students) to have a buddy to walk around and shop with as well as stay at the table with
to sell their product. Students will be asked a direct and specific question during the
group discussion to ensure inclusion in the conversation and understanding of the
conversation.

For ELL students: These students will be paired with a typically developing student to
help them understand the directions and expectations for the assignment. Students will be
encouraged to create a product that has some element of their culture to help them to
understand and connect to the assignment better.
1.6 Closure
Once the students have all participated in the discussion and shared their experience, the
students will take a picture with their products they bought and the products they sold to hang
around the classroom and to aid in assessment. The students will then be given an index card
to write down what they experienced from this activity including things such as supply vs.
demand, competition and profit.
1.7 Formative/Summative Assessment of Students
Formative Assessment: through teacher observation and discussion after the activity.
Summative Assessment: pictures and reflection index cards will be entered in the unit
portfolio
1.8 Materials/Equipment/Resources
Art materials for students to finish creating products to sell
Fake money
White paper and marker to create sign of product title and price
Index cards for closure activity
1.9 Technology
The students will be using technology, cameras, by taking photographs of the products they
bought and the products they produced during this activity.
1.10 Reflection on Planning
This activity was a lot of fun to plan. My one concern would be spending too much time on
the students making their products and not enough time on actually going around and
buying the items and having the discussion. I had originally had it as the students being
introduced to the idea of even making products during this lesson. Then after discussion
with my group members I thought it would be a better idea to have the students work on
creating the products for homework and during morning work time. Then they would only
need to finish up their products during the activity and not have to start from scratch. I
think this will work out better and allow the students to create more complex and a greater
quantity of items to sell in the classroom.
1.11 Content Outline
Lesson 2: Free Market Economy
Lesson 2 Vocabulary
o Profit: the money left over after all the costs of running a business have been paid
Integrate math here (i.e. word problems)
o Free Market: people can make and sell any product or service allowed by law

Have students discuss whether they think this is a good thing or a bad
thing. Have them brainstorm ideas/a list of pros and cons to support their
point of view.
Competition: the contest among businesses to sell the most goods or services
Have students brainstorm how competition affects the prices of goods and
services
Have students compare and contrast the prices of the same goods/products
sold by different producers/suppliers (i.e. grocery circulars from different
local grocery stores; circulars from different local department stores;
online sales from two different websites)
Demand: willingness to buy goods and services
Supply: the products and services that businesses provide
Supply, demand, and prices facilitate a discussion, and have students
brainstorm how each of these things are related to one another
Incorporate the use of data tables and graphs, etc.
Scarcity: the supply of a product is not enough to meet the demand for it
What can happen to the price of a product when it becomes scarce? Have
students think about this, and support their ideas.
Look for examples found in the news to share with students

o
o

Lesson 2: Beyond the Vocabulary

A. A Free Market Economy
a.The United States government does not tell businesses what goods to provide
b. Competition in a Free Market
i.

Businesses are usually in competition with one another in order to make a profit = prices
are lowered when competition is high

ii.

Competition affects the prices of goods and services: must be high enough to make a
profit, but low enough to attract consumers
B. Supply and Demand
a. Teaching It: Introduce this topic by showing this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lPMoyzDiNo (Supply and Demand for
Kids)
b. The wants of consumers dictates what businesses make
i.

Incorporate a discussion relating to wants versus needs

ii.

Look for appropriate resources that may help with such a discussion

1. BrainPOP for Educators Needs and Wants:

http://educators.brainpop.com/bp-jr-topic/needs-and-wants/
b. There can be a high demand for certain products and those businesses must meet
those demands (cost increases also)
i.

Supply and demand affects the prices of goods

ii.

Swatch, a watch brand that was very popular 30+ years ago, was in high
demand then. It now is not as popular, which makes the demand go down.

iii.

Some products, such as Sperry, were popular in the past then were not in
demand, and are now in high demand again. It is an always changing
market.

b. Scarcity of products
i.

When there is a scarcity of a product, the cost increases

ii.

Scarcity affects the prices of goods