Economics and Business

Resources
Lesson 1 – Needs and Wants - ‘The All New Must Have Orange
430’ by Michael Speechley
Students will be able to: - ‘Strongly Agree’ and ‘Strongly
- Differentiate between needs and wants Disagree’ laminated pages
- Small cards – 1 or 2 for each
Outside Lesson if weather permits student
- Markers
- ‘Needs’ and ‘Wants’ posters
Hook
- ‘Needs and Wants 1' activity to
Read ‘The All New Must Have Orange 430’ by Michael Speechley.
read information
- Camera/phone
Introduction
Prior Knowledge Continuum Activity.
Use an imaginary line in the class or outside and label one end Strongly Agree and the other end Strongly
Disagree. Students to respond to each statement by positioning themselves along the agree/disagree line.
Students to justify their decision.

Chocolate is a need Clothes are a want A new computer is a need Clean water is a want
Friendship is a need A holiday to Fiji is a need Sleep is a need

Main
‘Is it a need or a want’ activity.
Students work in groups to play.
Write down as many goods and services (confused students) as you can think of on small cards in 10
minutes. Swap cards with another group and as a group decide and place the product or service under the
appropriate heading on ‘NEED’ or ‘WANT’ (photograph and leave – do not make changes)

Read ‘Needs and Wants 1'.

Question “Have a look at our activity – are there any that you think should be changed? Why?”
Get students to move them if everyone agrees. (photograph with changes for comparison) (collect)

Reflection: Only completed lesson up to here due to in-depth discussions and confusion about goods and
services. Will follow on with next section for lesson 2 but let the students know “we are taking a step back
and focusing on needs and wants”. The changes/additions to the lesson plan are in red…

Lesson 2 – Needs and Wants

Students will be able to:

- Differentiate between needs and wants

Introduction
Revisit prior lesson discussions

Activity 1 -This activity is for you to do on your own because it is about YOU!
(Model) - Student to use a ruler to draw a line to separate the page: My wants – My needs –
things I would things I need
left: My wants – things I would like to have, like to have to stay alive
right: My needs – things I need to stay alive and healthy. and healthy
List at least 6 each.
Circle any that you think may be able to go on both sides.
Suggest reasons for any similarities or differences between students lists.
Does anyone disagree/agree?

Activity 2 - Distribute grocery shopping receipts.

Students to:
- use 1 colour to highlight items that are needs (essential for health and survival)
- a different colour to highlight items that are wants (not essential for your health and survival)
- make sure to use a key to show the difference so I will know what are needs and what are wants.
- Glue into book on the left side of the page
Discussion - Were any items difficult to classify? Why do you think this?

Activity 3 – Discussion – Consider the following – are they needs or wants? Under what situations could it be
a want/need?
- A hamburger
- New pair of shoes
- Education
- A mobile phone
What does this show – that one person’s need could be another person’s want.

Conclusion
Come up with our own definitions of ‘Needs’ and ‘Wants’ as a group.
Write on the board for students to transfer into books.

Needs: things we cannot live without – fresh water, clean air, food, shelter, love and warmth.
Wants: things we can live without but like to have – things that are not needed to survive.

Students to highlight the words ‘needs’ and ‘wants’ in their books.

Reflection: The students have a deeper understanding of needs and wants after completing these activities
and are able to differentiate between needs and wants. I know they have a deeper understanding through
the responses to Activity 3 and the different points students were able to share when creating our needs and
wants definitions.