Lesson 6: Supply & Demand

Teacher:

Kathleen Fuller & Rachel Polikaitis

Date:
Big Idea: Roles of the factors that make up market economy in
the context of Michigans economy
Thread:
Economy, ELA
I. Objectives
What is the main focus of this lesson?
The main focus of this lesson is to look in depth at supply and demand especially in
the context of Michigans market economy. The lesson includes videos and exercises
to better understand how supply and demand are used in real life situations.
How does this lesson tie in to your units Big Idea?
Supply and demand plays a big role role in a market economy, and in the context of
Michigans economy. People or companies that export goods must play close
attention to supply and demand, and the relationship between the two.
What are your objectives for this lesson? (As many as needed.) Indicate
connections to applicable national or state standards. Include any themes
or major concepts from the thread (themes of geography, Core Principles of
Economics, etc)
Standards:
4-E1.0.2: Describe some characteristics of a market economy
4-E1.0.7: Describe the exchange of goods and services and the role of money
4-G4.0.3: Describe some of the movements of resources, goods, people, jobs, and
information to, from, or within the United States, and explain the reasons for the
movements
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.1
Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and
teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 4 topics and texts, building on others'
ideas and expressing their own clearly.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.1.D
Review the key ideas expressed and explain their own ideas and understanding in
light of the discussion.
Objectives:
Students will be able to demonstrate the relationship between supply and demand.
Students will be able to participate in class discussions about how we see supply and
demand in our lives in Michigan today.
Students will be able to explain that the price of something will depend on the supply
and demand.
Students will be able to write their own definition of supply and demand in their
booklet and draw a picture to represent their definition

II. Before you start

Prerequisite
knowledge and skills.

Students should have knowledge of goods and services from

previous lessons.

Assessment
(formative and
summative)

Formal: Complete the supply and demand box of the

economy booklet. They will draw a picture of a fact they
learned about supply and demand and then write a description
of what the picture portrays.

Universal Design for Learning Networks/Domains (see UDL Guidelines)

RECOGNITION

STRATEGIC

AFFECTIVE

Multiple Means of
Representation

Multiple Means of
Expression (Action)

Multiple Means of
Engagement

Options for Perception

Options for
action/interaction

Options for recruiting

interest

Options for Language/Symbols

Options for Expression

Options for Sustaining

Effort & Persistence

Options for Comprehension

Options for Executive

Function

Options for Self Regulation

Materials-what
materials (books,
handouts, etc) do you
need for this lesson
and do you have
them?

Candy
Supply and Demand worksheet
Writing Utensil
Video links/Laptop

Do you need to set up

your classroom in any
special way for this
lesson? If so, describe
it.

The students should be sitting in table groups

III. The Plan

Tim Part
e
s
Motivatio
n
(Opening/
Introducti
on/
Engagem
ent)

The description of (script for) the lesson, wherein you

describe teacher activities and student activities
(indicate in parenthesis where you are addressing
standards and themes)

Present this to the class: In my hand are 10 pieces of candy

(individually wrapped: mini snickers, Hersheys kisses, etc).
Raise your hand if you want a piece? Wow, almost everyone
raised their hand. There is a high demand or want for these
candies! Do I have a lot of candies, enough for everyone? So I
dont have a lot which means my supply is low. Since so many
people want these, and there arent that many, youll do a lot or
pay a lot for them. Maybe someone will do 10 jumping jacks for
a piece. Maybe that price is too low, anyone willing to pay the
price of 20 jumping jacks?
As a class come up with a number of jumping jacks that is high
yet, reasonable. Have a few students come up and do jumping
jacks for the candy.
Explain to the students that they just saw one of the most
important lessons in economics called supply and demand.
Depending on how much there is of something, and how bad
people want it, the price will change.
Show video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ng3XHPdexNM
Ask the class questions about the video: What did you see in
this video? What was happening at the beginning? What was the
supply? Was it in demand? What changed toward the end of the
video? Why did this happen? How does this video connect to our
candy demonstration?

Developm
ent

Introduce vocabulary:
Supply is how much of something is available. For example, if
you have 9 baseball cards, then your supply of baseball cards is
9. If you have 6 apples, then your supply of apples is 6.
Demand is how much of something people want. It sounds a
little bit harder to measure, but it really isn't. To measure
demand, we can use a very simple numbering system, just like
the supply one. If 8 people want baseball cards, then we can say

that the demand for baseball cards is 8. If 6 people want apples,

then we can say that the demand for apples is 6.
Write on the board and go over:
When lots of people want something, demand goes up.
When a few people want something, demand goes down.
When there is a lot of something, supply is high.
When there is only a little bit of something, supply is low.
Explain that the price of something will depend on the supply
and demand. Imagine there is a new video game that everyone
is talking about. Everyone wants to get it, but the store is
running out. Demand is high, but supply is low. Well you will
start to worry you wont get one at all. You start feeling almost
like you would do anything to get it, right? Even pay more?
People are willing to pay more for things they want that are hard
to get. In this case, the store is going to charge more (or raise
the price) because so many people want something there isnt a
lot of.
The same is true in reverse, if demand is low (nobody wants it),
but supply is high (there are a lot to sell) the store is going to
lower a price and hope people buy it because its a bargain!
Show video about supply and demand in Frozen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4eVvk3xeH8
Write the following example on the board:
Mr. Newman has a big bag of M&Ms. He is selling 1 M&M at a
time to scholars. There is more than enough for everyone to get
an M&M. There is still a demand for M&Ms but not as many
people want them as the candies from before.

The supply is _________________. The demand is _______________.

As a class place the answer low or high in the correct blank.
Therefore the price can be:

Low

High

Write the next example on the board:

Ms. Marotta has a huge bag of dental floss. She is selling each
container of floss to scholars at AFBES. She has over 500
containers, more than all of the scholars and teachers combined.
It seems however that nobody wants to buy their floss from Ms.
Marotta.
The supply is __________________. The demand is ________________.
Have the students write down their answers and then share it
with their partner.

Therefore the price can be: Low

High

Go over the answers as a class.

Closure

Students will write their own definition of supply and demand in

their booklet and draw a picture to represent their definition.

Explain how this lesson supports your Big Idea. What is the takeaway?