Blackline Master A1
4.
3.
2.
Career
(List careers here)
1.
Name
Does this career provide a service?
If so, what is it?
Does this career create a
product? If so, what is it?
Date
Other ways this career helps
our community.
Blackline Master A2
8.
7.
6.
Career
(List careers here)
5.
Name
Does this career provide a service?
If so, what is it?
Does this career create a
product? If so, what is it?
Date
Other ways this career helps
our community.
Blackline Master A3
12.
11.
10.
Career
(List careers here)
9.
Name
Does this career provide a service?
If so, what is it?
Does this career create a
product? If so, what is it?
Date
Other ways this career helps
our community.
Name
Date
Scarcity – What’s That?
Definition of Scarcity
Draw a Picture to Show the Effects of Scarcity
Scarcity
Examples of Scarcity
Non-examples of Scarcity
Blackline Master B
Scarcity
Think of a thing that you like to have.
You might have a favorite food, like ice cream. You might have a favorite game or toy, like an Xbox. Or you
might enjoy a favorite hobby, like reading Harry Potter books.
What would your life be like if you suddenly couldn’t get any more of your favorite thing?
People deal with this kind of problem every day. It’s called scarcity. It comes from the word scarce, which means
there isn’t enough of something.
Can you think of something that we like but there may not be enough for everyone to have one of their own?
Economists, people who study businesses and how we spend money to buy and sell things, would say that anything that costs money and is hard to get is scarce.
Supply and Demand
Supply is the amount of something we have available to sell or trade. Selling or trading something you have to
someone that wants it is called distribution, which comes from the word distribute. So, if you have five comic
books available to distribute, your supply is 5.
Demand is how much of something people want. If someone wants to buy two of your comic books, the demand is 2.
For how much could you sell each comic book?
What if five people each wanted two comic books? What would the demand be?
Would this change the price of your comic books? How? Why?
So how does scarcity relate to supply and demand?
If we do not have enough supply to distribute, our supply would be scarce. We would not have enough to distribute to people demanding what you have.
Blackline Master B1
Sometimes this might be because the item is not available at that time. Some fruits and vegetables are not always available all the time because they grow at different times of the year. Strawberries are grown most from
the months of April through June. We have many farmers providing a supply of strawberries. People love to eat
strawberries in the Summer so demand is high too. Supply and demand are probably about equal at this time.
But, what happens if you want to have strawberries in December?
What do you think happens to price when we have more supply than demand? What if you have 5 toys to sell
but have someone interested in buying only 1 toy? Would your price go up or down?
What if you have more demand than supply? What if you have 1 toy to sell and 5 people want to buy it? Would
your price go up or down?
People might pay $1 for your toy, but if they can buy the toy somewhere else for less, you might have to bring
your price down.
However, if the toy is scarce, you might be able to increase the price. If someone can get the toy many places, the
price might have to decrease.
If supply and demand are almost the same or equal, then the price is neither too high or too low for distribution.
Adapted from the article Scarcity and Choices: www.socialstudiesforkids.com
Blackline Master B2
Name
Date
Just Imagine …
Circle which career you would like to explore:
• Accountant
• Environmental Engineer
• Radiologic Technologist
• Chemical Plant Operator
• Geologist
• Registered Nurse
• Computer Software Engineer
• Plumber
• Secondary School Teacher
• Electrician
• Police Patrol Officer
• Welder
Think about how your career helps the community. What does it provide? Is that a product or service?
My career provides:
Circle if that is a product or service.
_____________________________________
Product /
Service
_____________________________________
Product /
Service
_____________________________________
Product /
Service
Now, imagine what would happen if no one wanted to have that career anymore. Think about what scarcity is.
What would be scarce in our community if no one wanted to do your job?
What would happen to our community if no one wanted to have your career?
Blackline Master C
Dear Parents:
At school, we have been learning about the economic idea of scarcity in relation to jobs. For example, when a career has only a few people enter into it, the career is forced to offer higher compensation.
Now, we would like to see how scarcity affects materials. For this School-to-Home Connection Project, your child will need to choose a material found in the world around them. Feel free to choose
from the list below, or choose another material. Then, your child will need to imagine what would
life be like if that material became scarce.
Each project should be a shoebox display showing this altered world and should include a paragraph explaining how the scarcity of this material affected life. Your child will be graded on how
thoroughly he/she delves into this changed world, how creatively he/she shows how scarcity will
affect our world, and demonstration of the understanding of scarcity.
Materials to consider:
• oil or gasoline
• gold
• cotton
• corn
• water
• a specific type of fruit or vegetable
• farm land
• your idea!
Thank you for your support.
Your child’s teacher,
Blackline Master D