Learning goals:

• Represent and interpret data on a line graph.
• Identify producers (the supply side) and consumers (the demand side) in the model.
• Articulate the role of price in a marketplace.
• Explain what happens to price when the supply is low and how that affects producers.
• Illustrate the path to market for a commodity.
• Compare large-scale farming to small-scale farming in terms of impact and practicality.

Student Challenge:

• As a journalist writing for the local newspaper, investigate small versus large-scale farming practices and report on the impact and practicality of different methods.

Curricular Connections:

• Math: Vary assumptions, explore consequences, and compare predictions with data.
• National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies: How people organize for the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services; scarcity of resources; and economic needs versus wants.
• Economics: Prices send signals and provide incentives to buyers and sellers.