Government decisions and trade-offs
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Introduction
By playing a game, students develop an understanding of the trade-offs that governments make when they allocate resources and the complexities involved in deciding how to allocate limited resources to serve community needs.
Achievement standard
By the end of Year 7, students describe how decisions are made to allocate limited resources to individuals and communities in an economy. They describe the reasons businesses exist and types of businesses, and identify how entrepreneurial characteristics contribute to the success of a business. They describe the reasons individuals choose to work, how they may derive an income and the types of work that exist. Students identify the rights and responsibilities of individuals and businesses in terms of products and services.
Students develop questions to investigate an economic and business issue. They locate, select and organise data and information from sources. They interpret information and data to identify economic and business issues, trends or effects. They develop a response and identify potential costs and benefits. Students use economic and business knowledge, concepts, terms and sources to create descriptions and explanations.
Content descriptions
Economics and Business Knowledge and Understanding
Why opportunity cost exists as decisions are made to allocate limited resources to meet unlimited needs and wants. (AC9HE7K01)
Economics and Business Skills
Develop a response to an economic and business issue, identifying potential costs and benefits. (AC9HE7S04)
Create descriptions and explanations, using economic and business knowledge, concepts and terms, and referencing information and data from sources. (AC9HE7S05)
Teacher resources
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Government decision cards
Writing paragraphs in Economics
Student learning resources
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Government decisions game
Government decisions game
Writing paragraphs in Economics
Suggested activity sequence
This sequence is intended as a framework to be modified and adapted by teachers to suit the needs of a class group.
- Use a grouping strategy to organise students into groups of 6.
- Give each group a set of cards.
- Each group will also need one recording sheet.
- Use the game instructions to explain to students how to play the game.
- When students have finished playing the game, decide on the winning team.
- Debrief with students. Possible discussion prompts include:
- Was it difficult to make decisions on how to allocate resources?
- Which resources or services did you spend more money on? Why did you choose these?
- When governments make spending decisions, there are trade-offs. What were your team’s trade-offs? What did you spend less money on? Why?
- Which teams ran out of money to spend?
- What does this tell you about the decisions governments have to make?
- Why can’t citizens have everything they want?
- Students write a paragraph explaining why trade-offs are associated with government decisions.
If necessary, refer students refer to the writing paragraphs in Economics model, or teach them explicitly using writing paragraphs in Economics visualiser.