First Grade Indicators for 1-6

1-6.1: Explain the concept of scarcity and the way it forces individuals and families to make choices about goods and services to obtain. (E)

It Is Essential For Students To Know:

It is essential for students to know the relationship between scarcity and choice.
Students should understand examples of scarcity such as water, land, oil, etc.
Students should understand how scarcity forces individuals to make decisions about what goods and services are most important.
Students should understand that often these choices are between an individual’s needs and wants and are therefore, even more difficult to make.
It is essential to highlight the fundamental nature of scarcity; consumers cannot have everything they want.
All productive resources are limited.

It is not essential for students to know how to express economic concepts graphically.
The students do not need to know the relationship between scarcity and opportunity cost.

1-6.2: Explain methods for obtaining goods and services, including buying with money and bartering. (E)

It is essential for students to know the definition of bartering, the advantages and disadvantages of bartering, and different means of trading and producing goods and services.
Students should understand that the main function of money is as a medium of exchange and should understand the main benefits of using money for this purpose.
Students do not need to understand the historical evolution of money, however, examples of forms of money throughout history (shells, indigo, tobacco, etc) would be useful examples for students to know.

It is not essential for students to know the additional functions of money and the official definition of the money supply.
Students do not need to understand any of these issues relative to supply, demand, equilibrium pricing and/ or monetary policy.

1-6.3: Identify ways that families and communities cooperate and compromise in order to meet their needs and wants. (E, P)

It is essential for students to know that individuals and communities use productive resources to meet their needs and wants.
Students must understand that their needs and wants are met with goods and services.
It is important for students to understand how businesses also use productive resources to produce goods and service and to meet the wants and needs of the community.
It is essential for students to understand that it is through the interaction and interdependence of individuals, families, and businesses that communities decide how and what to produce for their society.

It is not essential for students to know the different forms of businesses and the advantages and disadvantages of each form of business.
Students do not need to provide examples of productive resources.
It is not essential for students to identify the resources necessary in the production of a good or service.

1-6.4: Recognize the roles of producers and consumers and the ways in which they are interdependent.

It is essential for students to know how families meet their wants and needs through the purchase and provision of goods and services.
It is essential for students to understand that they have important roles as consumers, or buyers, in the marketplace.
Students must understand that individuals serve as producers of goods and services in their role as workers and business owners.

It is not essential for students to know how to graphically illustrate supply and demand or to understand the law of supply or demand.
Students do not need to understand the characteristics that cause demand or supply changes.
It is not essential for students to understand conceptually or graphically the role of price in the interdependence of consumers and producers.