Download Unequal Resources - Bessie B. Moore Center for Economic Education

Problem Solving: Unequal Resource Distribution
Grade Level:
Economic Concepts:
Middle/Secondary
Scarcity, Decision Making, Opportunity Cost, Productive Resources
(Natural, Human, Capital), interdependence, Specialization,
Technological Benefits
Skills:
Creative problem solving, Cooperation, Inductive thinking
Time Frame:
One Class Session
Objective:
The students will discover how resource allocation impacts the economies of countries by engaging in a simulation,
which creates a need for the development of interdependent, trading relationships between countries.
Overview:
Each country attempts to provide food, clothing, shelter and education for its citizens using
differing endowments of resources. Industrialized countries are able to provide wants not considered to be
necessities (such a recreation/entertainment) for their citizens. Each nation's tasks are described on the task sheets
accompanying the lesson. The resource allocations, populations, and wants are designed to simulate real world
situations.
Materials:
To be divided into three large manila envelopes:
3 task sheets, one for each of the 3 groups
3 large envelopes
2 pairs of scissors
20 paper clips
1 ruler
1 stick of glue
2 pencils
colored paper (8 1/2" x 11” sheets)
6 sheets red
6 sheets yellow
3 sheets blue
3 sheets green
3 sheets brown
Lesson Preparation:
Fill and number the 3 large manila envelopes as follows Note that each task card is different and should match the
numbered envelope.
Envelope #1 - 2 scissors. 1 ruler, 20 paper clips, construction paper: 3 red sheets.
Envelope #2- 1 stick of glue, 2 pencils, construction paper: 3 yellow sheets.
Envelope #3- construction paper 3 each of green1 yellow, blue, red, and brown.
Directions:
Before beginning the lesson students must totally clear their desks. They may use only the resources
given to them in the envelopes for this activity.
1.
Divide the class into three groups representing three different fictitious countries. Have each group create a
name, select a leader, and a title for the leader (i.e. president, queen, czar, premier). List the countries and
leaders on the board.
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UMKC Center for Economic Education
1994
Rita Littrell
M Duckworth
2.
Give each leader an envelope containing an endowment of resources to be used the meet the needs of its
citizens. Do not allow them to open the envelope until told to do so!
3.
Each county attempts to complete the task using the resources given. (Trading is allowed but students
should discover the need for it on their own.)
4.
Give the signal to begin. Production occurs for fifteen minutes. At the end of the production period,
compare quality and quantity.
5.
Observe the "countries" and student interaction while completing their tasks. Note interesting comments
made by citizens of the countries as they try to meet the wants of the citizens of their country using scarce
resources.
6
At the end of the fifteen minutes ask each country to share the ways in which they met the wants and needs
of its citizens. Some of the tasks allow students to be creative while other tasks are more definited and
designed to create a need for trade. (A note for the teacher: sometimes groups are exceptionally creative
and find ways to meet the wants and needs of their citizens without trade.)
7.
Debrief the students. Debriefing helps students label and define newly discovered learning from the
simulation. The use of economic language is important to future learning and to connecting learning to real
world applications. (Economic terminology and some possible responses are included as teachers'
prompts.) In total group, discuss questions provided with this activity. You may choose to emphasize some
understandings or concepts depending on the interests and abilities of your students and important
curricular ties. Many correct responses are possible
Discussion Questions:
After fifteen minutes most of the tasks should be completed. Use the following questions to focus the debriefing on
economic understandings. Expected answers are in parenthesis. Other observations will also be noted.
1.
What did you notice about the resource endowments in the different packets?
(They were unequally distributed.) How did you feel. when you realized that resources were unequally
distributed?
2.
Were the resources unlimited? (No, they were limited. This condition of limited resources is known as
scarcity.)
3.
What productive resources are represented by the materials in the activity? (Some students may became
confused when distinguishing between what the paper represents [natural resources] and what it actually is,
a capital resource.) (The natural resources are represented by the paper, capital goods are represented by
scissors, paper clips, ruler, glue, pens, and pencils, while the human capital is represented by the prior
knowledge the students bring to the activity, and labor is represented by the work the students put into the
activity.)
4
Could you have completed you tasks without getting resources from another country? Why or why not?
(Activity is designed to illustrate trade, however, some groups may be able to complete the task with little
or no trade using creative problem solving skills. If this is the case, other groups may experience more
difficulty completing the tasks)
5.
How did each country solve the problem of not having all the resources it needed to satisfy the needs and
wants of its residents? (Needs and wants were satisfied by trading resources with the other countries in a
mutually beneficial transaction.) How did the wants and needs of the third country differ from the wants
and needs of the first and second countries? (The wants and needs of the third country can be characterized
as basic to human survival while the wants and needs of the other two countries can be characterized as
more than the minimal amount needed for human survival.) How would you describe the difference
between wants and needs? (It basic needs are not satisfied, human survival becomes doubtful. Humans can
survive if needs are satisfied and wants are not. Examples of wants can be CD players, a new toy, a mink
coat, etc.)
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UMKC Center for Economic Education
1994
Rita Littrell
M Duckworth
6.
Were there any conflicts between countries? Why or why not? (Answers vary depending the trading
practices.)
7
Did the citizens of each “country” contribute resources other than the ones that were in the manila
envelopes? (Yes, the citizens provided the labor as well as a bank of knowledge.) Give some examples of
innovative or unusual ways in which countries completed their tasks. (Call to the students' attention that
this knowledge is possible due to previous investments in human capital, i.e. education, creative thought,
problem-solving skills.)
8.
How do diplomatic relationships between countries affect trade? Give some real world examples.
(Diplomatic policies can create barriers to trade such as quotas, tariffs, subsidies, and embargoes. Examples
are the current ban on Iraqi oil exports, agricultural subsidies, the Cuban trade embargo, the Haitian
embargo, etc.)
9.
Did some groups have resources that enabled them to more easily perform tasks? (Yes, they had scissors,
glue, paper clips, markers, and rulers. These represent capital goods.) If so, how did that affect their
performance? (Capital goods enhance production)
1 0.
If a decision was made to use their endowment of paper to produce a book, what alternative production
possibilities were forgone? (If the resource was used for "education" it could not be used for food, shelter,
and clothing. The next best alternative is called the opportunity cost.)
11
Did the countries with capital goods have advantages in quality and quantity of production in comparison
with countries lacking capital goods? (Yes, capital goods provide technological benefits that enhance
production.) Solicit examples of some advantages of capital goods.
12.
Did any countries benefit from specialization of labor? For instance, did any country have one person build
a chain while another worker put a book together? (Answers will vary, often times specialization will
occur.)
Extension Activities:
As a non-example of trading among nations, repeat the activity but do not allow the different nations to trade. Ask
the students if they were able to meet the needs of their citizens as easily as before? Was the previous trading
activity more beneficial to the citizens and the nations?
Develop trade blocks among the nations. Discuss any problems that arise. Note the real world examples of trading
blocks such as NAFTA and the European Community.
Incorporate into different periods of history. Use examples of when trade or the lack of trade provided the basis for a
major conflict. (i.e. World War II, the French - Indian War.)
Content Statements: Taken from the Economics What and When: Scope and Sequence, National Council on
Economic Education, New York, 1989.
Scarcity:
Scarcity is the condition of not being able to have all of the goods and services that you want.
Scarcity results from the imbalance between relatively unlimited wants and limited resources.
Like individuals, governments and societies experience scarcity because their productive resources are limited
and their wants are virtually unlimited.
Because federal, state and local governments have limited budgets, they must compare their revenues to the
costs of public projects their citizens desire.
Scarcity of resources necessitates choice at both the personal and the societal levels.
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UMKC Center for Economic Education
1994
Rita Littrell
M Duckworth
Economic wants are desires that can be satisfied by consuming a good or service.
Resources:
People who make goods and provide services are called producers.
Productive resources are all natural resources, human resources and human-made resources (capital) used in the
production of goods and services.
Natural resources (also collectively referred to as "land") are "gifts of nature"; they are present without human
intervention.
Human resources (also called labor) represent the quantity and quality of human effort directed toward
producing goods and services.
Capital resources are goods made by people and used to produce other goods and services.
Entrepreneurship refers to the human resources that assume the risk of organizing other resources to produce
goods and services.
The quality of labor resources (known as human capital) can be improved though investments in education,
training and health care.
Costs:
Opportunity cost is the highest valued alternative that must be forgone because another option is chosen.
Whenever resources are used to produce a particular good or a service, the opportunity cost is not being able to
produce the next most valued alternative.
Decision Making:
All decisions involve opportunity costs; weighing the costs and the benefits associated with alternative choices
constitutes effective economic decision making.
Specialization:
Economic specialization occurs when people produce a narrower range of goods and services than they
consume.
Technology:
Investment in human capital occurs when resources are devoted to increasing the quality of labor resources,
thus enhancing their productivity.
Technological change is a leading cause of long-run increases in productivity.
Technological change depends heavily on investments in research and development and in capital, and on
incentives to reward innovation.
Interdependence:
Greater specialization leads to increasing interdependence between producers and consumers
When interdependence is present,. a single economic unit is ultimately affected by many of the decisions or
events that initially affect its trading partners.
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UMKC Center for Economic Education
1994
Rita Littrell
M Duckworth
Task Sheet: Nation #1
Nation #1 is a developed nation with many capital and natural resources and a small population. The citizens of this
country all work together to determine how best to produce the things they need. Each one of them has specialized
skills to offer to the workforce. The country leader will facilitate the specialization with input from everyone. To
satisfy the wants of its citizens, the following tasks have to be completed:
Food:
a paper chain, representing the food chain, with four different colors must be made to meet the
citizens' wants and needs
Shelter:
a three dimensional shelter no less than 3” x 3” x 3” must be made for each citizen to meet the
wants and needs of the citizens
Clothing:
three articles of clothing per citizen must be made to meet the wants and needs of the citizens:
styles and fashions are up to you.
Education:
a four page book using four different colors of paper must be made to meet the wants and needs of
the citizens. The book must be a catalog representing the wants of the citizens.
Recreation/Entertainment: a 2" x 4" ticket stating the name of an event must be custom made to fulfill the wants
of each citizen, (Ask each citizen to name the sport/entertainment/recreation he/she desires the
most.)
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UMKC Center for Economic Education
1994
Rita Littrell
M Duckworth
Task Sheet: Nation #2
Nation #2 is a developing nation with many natural resources, limited capital resources, and a medium sized
population. You have a substantial workforce you would like to have employed. The country leader working with a
few key individuals will determine the best way to produce the wanted items and will organize production
accordingly. To satisfy the wants of its citizens, the following tasks must be completed:
Food:
a paper chain, representing the food chain, with three different colors must be made to meet the
citizens' wants and needs.
Shelter:
a three dimensional shelter no less than 2" x 2" x 2" must be made for every two citizens to meet
the wants and needs of the citizens.
Clothing:
two articles of clothing per citizen must be made to meet the wants and needs of the citizens.
Education:
a four-page book using two colors of paper must be made to meet the wants of the citizens. The
book must describe in writing the ethnicity of the country's citizens.
Recreation/Entertainment: a 1" x 3" ticket stating the name of an event must be custom made to fulfill the wants
of halt the citizens. (Ask each citizen to name the sport/entertainment/recreation he/she desires the
most.)
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UMKC Center for Economic Education
1994
Rita Littrell
M Duckworth
Task Sheet: Nation #3
Nation #3 is a less developed nation endowed with natural resources and no capital resources. Many of the citizens
are highly uneducated. The leader wants to employ as many human resources as possible so he/she organizes
production to accomplish this goal. Production is better if people are employed according to their skills. To satisfy
the wants of its citizens, the following tasks must be completed.
Food:
a paper chain representing the food chain with two different colors. must be made to meet the
citizens' needs
Shelter:
a tent must be made for every citizen to meet the needs of the citizens.
Clothing:
one article of clothing per person must be made to meet the needs of the citizens: fashion is not a
high priority.
Education:
a two page book using two colors of paper must be made to meet the wants and needs of the
citizens. The book must tell the history of the country.
Recreation/Entertainment: None - unless self-created.
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UMKC Center for Economic Education
1994
Rita Littrell
M Duckworth