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grade level:
3-5
curriculum standards:
1
author:
Judy Shull-Hiebenthal
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posted on:
September 24, 1999
State Standards
Teacher's Version
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EconomicsMinute
Hey, Mom! What's for Breakfast?
Key Economic Concepts:
- Consumers
- Economic Wants
- Goods
- Producers
- Productive Resources
- Services
Description:
In this lesson students working in cooperative groups will: 1.Discuss food items they consume for breakfast. 2.Investigate elements of foreign culture, particularly food. 3.Use map skills to locate selected foreign nations. 4.Increase their knowledge of the these definitions: Economic wants are things people would like to have. Goods and services are provided to fulfill these wants. Those who create the goods and provide the services are producers. Those who use them are consumers. Consumers found in different parts of the world may have differing wants. Foods for satisfying hunger are a common economic want. Foods can vary greatly from one part of the world to another
Lesson Objectives:
Students will:
- Distinguish between goods and services.
- Identify economic wants.
- Distinguish between producers and consumers.
Introduction:
In this lesson students working in cooperative groups will:
- Discuss food items they consume for breakfast.
- Investigate elements of foreign culture, particularly food.
- Use map skills to locate selected foreign nations.
- Increase their knowledge of the these definitions:
- Economic wants are things people would like to have.
- Goods and services are provided to fulfill these wants.
- Those who create the goods and provide the services are producers.
- Those who use them are consumers.
- Consumers found in different parts of the world may have differing wants.
- Foods for satisfying hunger are a common economic want.
- Foods can vary greatly from one part of the world to another.
Helpful prerequisites:
*Students will need some experience opening Internet sites.
*Students will need familiarity with definitions and examples of goods, services, producers, consumers, economic wants, and ingredients.
It would be helpful if these vocabulary words and their definitions were written on chart paper to be hung around the room. Students can refer to them as needed and charts can be used again in a later lesson.
Resources:
- Pencils for each child
- Large squares of paper for each group, 18" -24"
- A box of markers for each group
- A box of crayons for each group
Process:
1. Divide students into cooperative learning groups of 3-4 members each. Also, discuss/review aspects of multiple intelligences with your students. Ask boys and girls to write their names IN PENCIL on their square sheets. Position the paper in the middle of the group so that students are able to write simultaneously. Corners might be a good place to start. Each child is then to jot down his/her favorite breakfast foods. Share within each group, then choose one child from each group to share the list with the entire class. Discuss similarities and differences among group choices.
2. Ask the committees to return to their papers and determine what ingredients were used to make these products. For instance, are breakfast cereals made from wheat, oats, rice, fruit, etc... Using a CRAYON, write the name of the ingredient in color next to the food item. Example: Cheerios (in pencil) Oats (in crayon.); Toast and jelly (in pencil) wheat for bread (in crayon) jelly (fruit) in crayon.
After reviewing the vocabulary words (key words) from the lesson objectives, ask each group to create labels with COLORED MARKERS on their sheets.
Who are the CONSUMERS? (the students) Label with marker.
What words indicate INGREDIENTS? (wheat, fruit, oats) Label with marker.
Are any PRODUCERS listed? (PRODUCERS could be cereal manufacturers and farmers who produce the grain.) Label with marker.
Can you find examples of ECONOMIC WANTS? (Foods satisfying hunger are common wants). Label with marker.
Where are GOODS and SERVICES? Label with marker if they can be found, some lists may not have samples for each label.
Point out to students that it's possible that not all labels will be found on their pages. The teacher could return to the vocabulary charts to review the examples for those words not found in student lists. Cooperative discussion will help groups get labels in the correct places. In addition, learners should be able to explain why a label cannot be found among the words on their square sheets. Referring to the posted charts in the room will help guide student discussion and decision-making.
3. Have the students locate the site: Breakfast Around The World and then open and print the following worksheet.
Breakfast Around The World worksheet.
Have your students use the following web site Breakfast Around the World and explore the following countries and decide what would be the basic breakfast food that you would find there. Enter the description of the food in the space provide.
Once you have completed this form then go to the following interactive activity and discover how well you research the breakfast foods of these countries. Match the breakfast foods with the correct country. What nation would you expect to have spaghetti for breakfast? [New Zealand]
[Answers to the interactive activity:
- Argentina - Argentine breakfast beverage is the sub-marino, which is a glass of steamed milk with a bittersweet chocolate bar melted into it.
- China - Rice, dried port, pickles, and soybean juice - with chopsticks.
- Russia - A variety of breads, blini, sausages, fried eggs, and cucumber pickles are also typical breakfast items.
- Australia - Toast, topped with either spaghetti or baked beans and bacon, is a popular morning dish.
- Italy - Fresh rolls with chocolate butter spread, hot milk with a little coffee in it - and you thought it was pasta.
- United States - Cereal, milk, juice, and toast - sound familiar?]
[An alternative activity: Internet Challenge Quiz.Look at the nations shown here. What things can you learn by using this site? Your teacher will assign a country for you to study. Be sure to read about the foods children in this nation eat.]
4. Assign nations to each group. Some might be countries you have already studies or will study in the near future. Designate one student to find that nation on a wall map. Another option is to locate their nation using the following site:
www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/atlas/index.html
The map readers should be able to share something of interest about their country with the class.
5. Discuss why there is variety in the foods. Note climate differences. How does climate affect production? Are some foods familiar to students? Some totally unfamiliar? Dictionaries can be used if students have no idea what a particular food is.
6. Broaden the conversation to include ethnic foods students have eaten in their homes, those available in your community, restaurants that specialize in preparation of foods we think of as "borrowed" from foreign lands. Some may even have been served in the school cafeteria.
7. Again ask groups to locate a web site:
www.kidshealth.org/kid/stay_healthy/food/breakfast.html
Then when students are finished they can check out some of the delicious breakfast ideas at: www.kidshealth.org/kid/recipes/index.html
Conclusion:
Review key vocabulary words, checking for understanding:
- goods
- consumers
- ingredients
- services
- resources
- producers
- economic wants
Review might include samples from the paper squares or any the students can verbalize. Select grade-appropriate words to add to students' spelling lists.
Extension Activity:
A variety of activities are available for the teacher to assign to capable learners or for interested individuals or groups to choose from.
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(For Linguistic learners) Student narratives about experiences eating ethnic foods. Reading story books from the library telling of ethnic foods. Creating a display of ethnic cookbooks.
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(For Visual, Spatial learners) Sketches on paper plates or magazine cut-out collages to represent foods featured in the lesson.
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(For Bodily/Kinesthetic learners) Read this for more research. Allow extra credit to students who can share additional information in a creative, unusual way. Use this site to complete some of the activities provided there. Or choose a nation not listed on the site and create an illustrated report similar to those provided.
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(For Interpersonal/Intrapersonal learners) Groups or individuals may wish to visit the Campbell's Soup web site. It shows a world map and commercials, products, and information about this company and its operations in different parts of the world. "FUN FACTS" trivia found there could be used by students to investigate the concepts of markets and prices. www.campbellsoup.com/default.aspx
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