NZQA
Approved
Internal assessment resource Economics 3.3A for Achievement Standard 91401
PAGE FOR TEACHER USE
Internal Assessment Resource
Economics Level 3
This resource supports assessment against:
Achievement Standard 91401
Demonstrate understanding of micro-economic concepts
Resource title: Dairy boom
5 credits
This resource:

Clarifies the requirements of the standard

Supports good assessment practice

Should be subjected to the school’s usual assessment quality assurance
process

Should be modified to make the context relevant to students in their school
environment and ensure that submitted evidence is authentic
Date version published by
Ministry of Education
December 2012
To support internal assessment from 2013
Quality assurance status
These materials have been quality assured by NZQA.
NZQA Approved number A-A-12-2012-91401-01-6085
Authenticity of evidence
Teachers must manage authenticity for any assessment
from a public source, because students may have
access to the assessment schedule or student exemplar
material.
Using this assessment resource without modification
may mean that students’ work is not authentic. The
teacher may need to change figures, measurements or
data sources or set a different context or topic to be
investigated or a different text to read or perform.
This resource is copyright © Crown 2012
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Internal assessment resource Economics 3.3A for Achievement Standard 91401
PAGE FOR TEACHER USE
Internal Assessment Resource
Achievement Standard Economics 91401: Demonstrate
understanding of micro-economic concepts
Resource reference: Economics 3.3A
Resource title: Dairy boom
Credits: 5
Teacher guidelines
The following guidelines are supplied to enable teachers to carry out valid and
consistent assessment using this internal assessment resource.
Teachers need to be very familiar with the outcome being assessed by Achievement
Standard Economics 91401. The achievement criteria and the explanatory notes
contain information, definitions, and requirements that are crucial when interpreting
the standard and assessing students against it.
Context/setting
The task requires students to prepare a report on different aspects of the dairy
market boom.
Conditions
You will need to determine how long students need to complete each task and what
processes they will follow. These will need to be clearly outlined in the student
instructions following.
Resource requirements
Internet access.
Additional information
None.
This resource is copyright © Crown 2012
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Internal assessment resource Economics 3.3A for Achievement Standard 91401
PAGE FOR STUDENT USE
Internal Assessment Resource
Achievement Standard Economics 91401: Demonstrate
understanding of micro-economic concepts
Resource reference: Economics 3.3A
Resource title: Dairy boom
Credits: 5
Achievement
Demonstrate understanding
of micro-economic concepts.
Achievement with Merit
Demonstrate in-depth
understanding of microeconomic concepts.
Achievement with
Excellence
Demonstrate comprehensive
understanding of microeconomic concepts.
Student instructions
Introduction
This assessment activity requires you to write a report on two different aspects of the
dairy market boom, incorporating micro-economic concepts.
You will be assessed on the extent to which you identify the implications of the dairy
market boom on consumers, producers, and/or the government, and on your ability
to use models, and data or other information, to support your explanations.
You have four weeks of in-class and out-of-class time in which to individually
complete your report.
Teacher note: This context could be changed to reflect the current economic
situation, with careful consideration of how different micro-economic concepts
could be applied to the new context. Students could complete different aspects as
each micro-economic concept is taught. For example, students complete the
“Impact of high milk prices on consumer demand” as a formative assessment of the
elasticity concept. When the micro-economic content is completed, students could
be given further time to rework the task, taking into account feedback.
Task
Select two aspects of the dairy boom from the following list:

impact of high milk prices on consumer demand

impact of high dairy prices on the sheep farming industry

impact of high dairy prices on milk fat production over time

retail milk market structure and methods of competition used

impact of increased milk production on production costs.
Teacher note: A list of the possible micro-economic concepts that have been
covered could be added here. These would need to be a selection from the
micro-economic concepts listed in explanatory note 3 of the standard.
This resource is copyright © Crown 2012
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Internal assessment resource Economics 3.3A for Achievement Standard 91401
PAGE FOR STUDENT USE
Identify a different micro-economic concept for each aspect.
1. Prepare a brief outline (one for each aspect), which covers how the microeconomic concept is relevant to the aspect, what data or information is needed,
and what economic models you could use to predict the likely implications for
consumers, producers, and/or the government.
2. Submit your two outlines to your teacher for feedback, making adjustments as
required.
3. Write a report on the impacts of the dairy market boom. Each of the two aspects
should include:

a detailed explanation of the micro-economic concept involved, supported by
relevant economic models, and data or information

justification of the implications for the consumers, producers, and/or the
government.
This resource is copyright © Crown 2012
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Internal assessment resource Economics 3.3A for Achievement Standard 91401
PAGE FOR TEACHER USE
Assessment schedule: Economics 91401 Dairy boom
Evidence/Judgements for Achievement
Evidence/Judgements for Achievement with
Merit
Evidence/Judgements for Achievement with
Excellence
The student has demonstrated understanding of
micro-economic concepts.
The student has submitted a report on two
different micro-economic concepts that relate to
two aspects of the dairy market boom.
The student has demonstrated in-depth
understanding of micro-economic concepts.
The student has submitted a report on two
different micro-economic concepts that relate to
two aspects of the dairy market boom.
The student has demonstrated comprehensive
understanding of micro-economic concepts.
The student has submitted a report on two different
micro-economic concepts that relate to two aspects
of the dairy market boom.
In the report the student has:
In the report the student has:
In the report the student has also:

provided an explanation of two micro-economic
concepts using an appropriate economic
model(s)

provided detailed explanations of two microeconomic concepts using an appropriate
economic model(s)


processed and/or presented data or
information to support the economic analysis.

used data or information that supports the
economic analysis.
Example of possible student response:
Example of possible student response:
One aspect of the dairy boom is the impact of
high dairy prices on the sheep farming industry.
One aspect of the dairy boom is the impact of high
dairy prices on the sheep farming industry.
The economic concept I am exploring is the role
of prices and profits in determining resource
allocation (explained using the PPF model).
The economic concept I am exploring is the role
of prices and profits in determining resource
allocation (explained in detail, supported with the
PPF model and demand and supply model for the
market for lamb meat).
A rush of dairy property transactions in December
has helped lift the median farm sale price to the
highest level of the year in the latest Real Estate
Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) rural market
statistics.
Purchases of grazing and dairy support blocks
were lower than last year, but Peter McDonald
expects buyer interest to improve as a
consequence of the upswing in the market for
dairy farms.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1101/S00238/d
ecember-dairy-farm-sales-revive-rural-propertymarket.htm
This resource is copyright © Crown 2012
A rush of dairy property transactions in December
has helped lift the median farm sale price to the
highest level of the year in the latest Real Estate
Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) rural market
statistics.
Purchases of grazing and dairy support blocks
were lower than last year, but Peter McDonald
expects buyer interest to improve as a
consequence of the upswing in the market for
dairy farms.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1101/S00238/d
provided a detailed explanation, supported by
models and data and/or information that justify
the identified implications for consumers,
producers and/or government.
Example of possible student response:
One aspect of the dairy boom is the impact of high
dairy prices on the sheep farming industry.
The economic concept I am exploring is the role of
prices and profits in determining resource allocation
(explained in detail, supported with the PPF model
and demand and supply model for the market for
lamb meat).
For sheep farmers, the cost of farmland and other
resources that are common will increase, resulting
in decreased profits, so supply will decrease.
An implication for the consumer is likely to be
higher prices for lamb as well as dairy products
because the land and resources will be switched
away from sheep farming, resulting in a reduction in
supply and an increase in prices.
For example, lamb prices in Jan 2010 were 412
c/kg and rose to 639 c/kg to April 2011.
www.interest.co.nz
Farm expense index rose from 0.1213 in Dec 2009
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Internal assessment resource Economics 3.3A for Achievement Standard 91401
PAGE FOR TEACHER USE
This data shows that dairy farming is
experiencing a boom. This is likely to result in a
shift of resources from sheep farming to dairy
farming.
The examples above relate to only part of what is
required, and are just indicative.
ecember-dairy-farm-sales-revive-rural-propertymarket.htm
to 1.877 to Dec 2010.
This data shows that as dairy farming is
experiencing a boom, grazing land that would
have been suitable for sheep farming will be
purchased and converted for use as dairy farms.
A rush of dairy property transactions in December
has helped to lift the median farm sale price to the
highest level of the year in the latest Real Estate
Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) rural market
statistics released today.
The examples above relate to only part of what is
required, and are just indicative.
Purchases of grazing and dairy support blocks were
lower than last year, but Peter McDonald expects
buyer interest to improve as a consequence of the
upswing in the market for dairy farms.
www.interest.co.nz
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1101/S00238/dec
ember-dairy-farm-sales-revive-rural-propertymarket.htm
This data shows that as dairy farming is
experiencing a boom, grazing land that would have
been suitable for sheep farming will be purchased
and converted for use as dairy farms. This shifts the
overall price of farmland upwards as reported. Also
the farm cost index has shown an increase. The
impact of this on production costs for sheep will be
higher prices of lamb, as shown by the lamb prices
rising from 412 to 639 c/kg.
In conclusion, using the PPF and demand and
supply models the implications for consumers and
producers are likely to be …
The data above clearly supports this since …
The examples above relate to only part of what is
required, and are just indicative.
Final grades will be decided using professional judgement based on a holistic examination of the evidence provided against the criteria in the
Achievement Standard.
This resource is copyright © Crown 2012
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