Basic Economics for Elementary

Basic Supply & Demand

1. ECONOMICS
For Kids

2. #1 Want vs. Need
A need is something you have to have,
something you can't do without.
A want is something you would like to
have. It is not absolutely necessary,
but it would be a good thing to have.

3. Needs…
•Healthy Food
•Water
•Shelter
Wants…
•iPod Touch
•Ice Cream
•New Toy

4. Want vs. Need Quiz
•Is a house a want or a need?
•Is a car a want or a need?
•Do you want or need a new toy?
•How about medicine? Is it a want or need?
Click on want or need to answer!

5. 1.
A house is a need.
People need shelter.
Back to
Quiz

6. 2.
A car is usually a want.
A car will take us to work, school, or
anywhere we need to go.
But we can also take a bus
or ride a bike.
Back to
Quiz

7. 3.
You might think you really need
a new toy – but it is only a want.
Back to
Quiz

8. 4.
Medicine is usually a need.
Very Good! You have completed the Quiz. Click on the blue arrow.

9. #2 Supply and Demand
What do you think this means?

10. What is Supply?
Supply is how much of something is
available.
For example, if you have 6 apples,
then your supply of apples is 6.

11. What is Demand?
Demand is how much of something
people want.
If 6 people want apples, then we can
say that the demand for apples is 6.

12. Demand
6 people want an apple
there are only 2 apples
the demand is greater then the supply
>

13. Scarcity
Think of a thing that you
like to have.
What would your life be like
if you suddenly couldn't
get any more of it?

14. #3 Scarcity…
People deal with this kind of problem
every day. It's called scarcity.
It comes from the word scarce,
which means there isn't a lot of it or it
isn't always available.

15. Scarcity is a measure of supply.
When strawberries are ‘out of season’
or scarce, then the supply of
strawberries is low.
And if many people want to buy
strawberries when none are available,
then demand is high because of a
low supply caused by scarcity.

16. When things are scarce, we have to
make choices.
A choice you might have to make is
how much you are willing to pay for
something.
If strawberries are normally a low price,
then they might have a higher price
when they are scarce.

17. #4 Interdependence
What do you use in your daily life?
Do you listen to a radio?
Do you watch TV?
Someone made that radio and TV and
your family bought them.
If you want to listen to the radio, watch
TV, or read a book, you are
dependent on someone else to make
those things.

18. Interdependence means that you as
a person depend on other people for
certain things.
The same is true of families, towns,
and even countries. People like you,
get different things from different
people. In other words, you can't
produce everything you need.

19. #5 Goods and Services
A good is something that you can use or
consume, like food, CDs, books, a car or
clothes. The idea is that you will use it,
either just once or over and over again.
A service is something that someone does
for you, like give you a haircut, fix you
dinner, or even teach you Social Studies.
You don't really get something solid, like a
book or a CD, but you do get something that
you need.

20. The one thing that sets goods
and services apart is the ability
to touch them.
You can touch a good, but
you can't touch a service.
You can touch the result of
a service but not the
service itself.

21. Assignment:
2.Take a class
‘blind survey’ of
Supply &
Demand.
3.Create a column
chart depicting
the data collected
in the survey.

22. Sources
•www.soscialstudiesforkids.com
•http://www.kidsbank.com/
•http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/games/calculator/
•http://ecedweb.unomaha.edu/lessons/lessonsK-5.cfm
•http://www.frbsf.org/education/activities/drecon/askecon.cfm
•http://www.econedlink.org/lessons/index.php?lesson=13&page=teacher