LESSON: THE BIG BUCK ADVENTURE

Lesson Summary

A little girl learns that there are many ways to spend her dollar. For example, she could buy a hundred jawbreakers, twelve gummy bears, six night crawlers, twenty dill pickles, or three neon guppies. What does she finally buy?

Concept: Price

Definition: The price is what people pay when they purchase a good or service, or what they receive when they sell a good or service. Market prices are determined by the buying and selling decisions of consumers and producers.

Comprehension Questions

Name the goods the little girl could buy with a new green bill?
She could buy tutti-frutti tongue twisters, gummy bears, creepy night crawlers, hot apple pie, beef jerky, leg o'turkey, a plant that eats flies, a fuzzy white rat, guppies, ants and a hill, fish, giant pickles, etc.

What were the different prices of these goods?
Answers will vary.

What was the price of the "funny stuffed bunny"?
$5.00

Why didn't she buy the bunny?
The price was too high. She had a scarcity of money, so couldn't afford the bunny.

If she decides to buy the guppies, what is her opportunity cost?
Answers will vary. It depends on what is the little girl's next best alternative.

Why were the storekeepers willing to receive her dollar in exchange for the goods in the store?
The dollar is money. It is widely accepted as final payment for goods and services. The storekeepers can use the money to buy the goods and services they want.

When her father came back to get her at the store, the little girl laughed. Why did she laugh?
She recognized that she had a choice about what to do with her money.

What did she do with her dollar?
She saved the dollar in her piggy bank. This gave her the ability to buy other goods and services in the future.

What was her opportunity cost for deciding to save her dollar?
Her opportunity cost was what she would have bought. By saving for the future she gave up the opportunity to buy in the present.

Other Concepts: Consumers, Goods and Services, Opportunity Cost, Trade and Money, Saving

   Price 

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