LESSON: TAKE ME OUT TO THE BAT AND BALL FACTORY

Lesson Summary

Hank, the owner of a factory that produces bats and balls, takes the reader on a tour explaining how bats and balls are made, marked, and used.

Concept: Productive Resources

Definition: Productive resources are the natural, human, and capital resources that are used to produce goods and services.

Comprehensive Questions

Identify the goods being produced in this story.
Baseball bats and baseballs

What natural resource is used to make most wooden bats?
Northern white ash trees

What capital resource is used to dry the wood to make the bats?
Kilns

List the workers (human resources) and each one's specialized skill needed to produce bats.

Human Resource Specialized Skill lathe operator shapes the wood sanding operator smoothes the wood and cuts off the handles hoop flame operator darkens the wood grain swager operator shapes the aluminum into a bat shape saw operator cuts excess metal from bats filler operator places foam and gel into the aluminum bats grinder grinds the bat's handle smooth welder welds the knob buffer buffs the bats wrappers wrap grips onto the handles / drop finished bats into a card

What capital resources are used to produce the balls?
Molds, carousels, sprayer, clicker (cutting machine), scissors, stapler, needle, winches, washer, stamping machine.

Describe how labor is divided to produce a ball.
Different workers are assigned to do the following jobs: make the molds, spray the molds to pop out the cores, cut out the leather covering, stitch the covering, transport, wash, stamp, pack, and box

Explain the benefits of dividing the labor among the different workers in the bat and ball factory.
Greater productivity - more bats and balls produced each day

Extra Questions on Productivity

What is the productivity of the wooden bat factory?
900 bats in ½ day = 1800 bats per day

What is the productivity of a beginner ball "stitcher”?
One ball every 45 minutes = 10.6 balls per 8 hour day

What is the productivity of an experienced ball "stitcher?"
One ball every 8 or 10 minutes; assuming the 10-minute rate, the productivity is 48 balls per eight-hour day.

Other Concepts: Goods and Services, Producers, Consumers, Natural Resources, Human Resources, Capital Resources, Specialization, Interdependence, Productivity

  Productive Resources 

  Home | Literature Connection | Title List 1 | Title List 2 | FAQ  
  Order Policies | Pricing Requests | Order Books | Contact Us  

KidEconBooks© Copyright 2002 by ICEE and The School Book Center, Inc.