Growing the Future by Teaching Children in the Gardens
www.GrannysGardenSchool.org / 20 Miamiview Drive, Loveland, OH 45140 / 513-324-2873
Finding Productive Resources
Grade Four
Lesson Summary
When to use this lesson
Use this lesson to test students’ understanding of productive resources.
Objective
Students look for productive resources in a garden area that are part of the resources
needed for a school garden program.
Materials



Clipboard for each student
Worksheet for each student
Pencil for each student
Estimated Duration
30 minutes
Ohio Learning Standards Connections
Social Studies – Economics
Entrepreneurs in Ohio and the United States organize productive resources and take risks to
make a profit and compete with other producers.
 Productive resources (i.e., natural resources, human resources and capital goods) are the
resources used to make goods and services.
 An entrepreneur is an individual who organizes the use of productive resources to produce
goods or services.
 Entrepreneurs are willing to take risks to identify and develop new products or start a new
business. Entrepreneurs recognize opportunities to use productive resources to make a profit
and accept the challenges involved in competing with other producers in the marketplace.
What Are Productive Resources?

What is economics? Economics is the study of the production, distribution, and consumption
of goods and services that satisfy our wants.
want
productive
production
good or
satisfaction
resources
service

An entrepreneur of an organization is the person who recognizes a want and takes the risk to
start a new business and makes decisions about what good or service to produce, and
organizes the productive resources needed for production.

Granny is the entrepreneur of Granny’s Garden School.

What is “the want” that Granny’s Garden School satisfies? Granny’s Garden School was
created to give students an opportunity to learn about classroom subjects using activities in
nature, to learn how living and nonliving things in nature work together, to learn how to grow
2/16 © 2016 Granny's Garden School, Inc. We encourage you to use these lesson plans and change them to fit your
specific needs. We ask only that you credit Granny's Garden School as your source.
Page 1
plants outside, and to taste a variety of fresh, healthy foods. Loveland teachers and
administrators want students to learn using a variety of methods.

What is the product of Granny’s Garden School? Is it a good or a service? Our product is
education, and it is a service. We use productive resources to bring our product to students.

What are productive resources? Productive resources are resources used to produce goods
and services that we consume.


Human resources, or labor, are the people who produce goods and services. Some
examples include teachers, doctors, factory workers, police, cashiers, secretaries,
custodians, cooks, and waiters.

Natural resources are resources that are found in nature, like land, sunshine, water, soil,
plants, animals, coal, oil, and minerals that can be used without altering the resource.

Capital resources are man-made resources that are used to produce goods and
services. Capital resources are not consumed or used up. They are used repeatedly to
produce other goods and services. Some examples include machinery, tools, factories,
warehouses, books, vehicles, stores, tools, chairs, tables, desks, and equipment. Money is
not considered a capital resource. While money is used to acquire a productive
resource, it does not directly result in the production of a good or service.
Intermediate goods are goods that are produced previously by people. Intermediate goods
are used up in the production of goods and services. They are part of the production of a
good or service. Some examples include sugar, paper, lumber, paint, nails, pencils, markers.
Looking for productive resources

Discuss the kinds of activities that happen to bring Granny’s Garden School to students.
Some examples include creating and maintaining gardens, planting, teaching, watering,
weeding, building, finding and organizing supplies, planning activities.

In the garden area, there are resources that are needed for the school garden program to
be successful.

Students walk through the garden to list resources they find and categorize them as a
natural resource, human resource, capital resource, or intermediate good. Remind students
that intermediate goods are used up to make another good or service and that capital
resources can be used over and over.

Save plenty of time at the end to review students’ lists.

Here is list of some resources students may find:
Natural Resources
Seeds, soil, leaves,
water, plants, animals
to pollinate plants,
logs, sunlight, land
Human Resources
Garden teacher,
volunteer, student
Capital Resources
Hose, shovel, trowel,
barn, wheelbarrow,
buckets, clipboards,
bug box, fence, table,
bench, water faucet,
picket fence,
clipboard
Intermediate Goods
Lumber, nails, paint,
worksheet, pencil
Sources
2/16 © 2016 Granny's Garden School, Inc. We encourage you to use these lesson plans and change them to fit your
specific needs. We ask only that you credit Granny's Garden School as your source.
Page 2

Britt, Billy, lesson author, 2012. Book: Messy Bessey’s Holidays by Patricia and Fredrick
McKissack. The Federal Reserve Banks of St. Louis and Philadelphia, 10 Feb 2016,
https://www.stlouisfed.org/education

Turner, Lis and Angela Gimby, lesson authors. Lemonade for Sale by Stuart J. Murphy, The
Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, 10 Feb 2016,
https://www.richmondfed.org/education
2/16 © 2016 Granny's Garden School, Inc. We encourage you to use these lesson plans and change them to fit your
specific needs. We ask only that you credit Granny's Garden School as your source.
Page 3
Growing the Future by Teaching Children in the Gardens
www.GrannysGardenSchool.org / 20 Miamiview Drive, Loveland, OH 45140 / 513-324-2873
Finding Productive Resources – Grade Four
Name: _____________________________________
Natural Resources
Human Resources
Capital Resources
Intermediate Goods
In social studies, students learn that production of goods and services is dependent on an
entrepreneur and productive resources. Today we categorized productive resources found in a
garden area that help to bring Granny’s Garden School to students. Ask your student how these
items are used. Email [email protected] to join us for our next gardening
experience!
2/16 © 2016 Granny's Garden School, Inc. We encourage you to use these lesson plans and change them to fit your
specific needs. We ask only that you credit Granny's Garden School as your source.
Page 4