Objectives (5 - 7 minutes)

• The teacher will introduce the topic of Basic Economics: Concepts, providing students with an overview of what they will learn in the lesson. The objectives of the lesson will be clearly stated to ensure students understand what they are expected to learn.

• The teacher will explain that by the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

  1. Define key economic concepts such as supply, demand, scarcity, and opportunity cost.
  2. Explain how these concepts interact to influence decision-making in the economy.
  3. Apply these concepts to real-world economic scenarios to demonstrate understanding.

• The teacher will also communicate any secondary objectives, such as encouraging critical thinking about economic issues and fostering an interest in the subject matter.

  Secondary Objectives:

  • Encourage students to think about how economic principles apply to their daily lives.
  • Foster an interest in economics as a field of study and potential career path.

Introduction (10 - 12 minutes)

• The teacher will start the lesson by reminding students of the basic definition of economics as the study of how societies allocate scarce resources to satisfy unlimited wants. This will set the stage for the introduction of the key concepts of supply, demand, scarcity, and opportunity cost. (2 - 3 minutes)

• The teacher will then present two problem situations that can serve as starters for the development of the theory. For example, "Why do you think the price of a popular toy increases during the holiday season?" and "What would you do if you only had $5 to spend on a snack and you wanted both a bag of chips and a candy bar, but each costs $3?" These scenarios will help students to understand the real-world applications of the economic concepts they will be learning. (3 - 4 minutes)

• The teacher will contextualize the importance of understanding these concepts by explaining how they apply in everyday life. They might explain that these principles can help us understand why prices change, why people make certain choices, and why some resources are more valuable than others. For example, they could say, "Understanding supply and demand can help you make better decisions as a consumer. If you know that the price of a product is likely to go up because the demand is high and the supply is low, you might decide to buy it now before the price increases." (2 - 3 minutes)

• To grab the students' attention, the teacher will share two interesting facts or stories related to the topic. One could be about the scarcity of certain resources in the world, such as the water shortage in some parts of the world leading to the rise of water as a commodity. The second could be about how the law of supply and demand can sometimes lead to unexpected outcomes, like the case of the "Beanie Babies" craze in the 1990s, where the limited supply of certain stuffed animals led to a huge increase in their price. (3 - 4 minutes)

• The teacher will round off the introduction by explaining to the students that economics is not just about money, but about making choices in a world of limited resources. They will emphasize that understanding these basic economic concepts can help them make better decisions, both as individuals and as members of society.