One Party, Multiple Choices

Objectives

• Make wise choices regarding needs;
• Justify one's consumer choices;
• Become aware of the need for a budget;
• Differentiate wants from needs;
• Develop the reflex of researching a purchase before deciding to buy.

Description

Based on a scenario that involves organizing a party, the students are asked to make consumer choices. They then learn how to develop a process for making better consumer choices based on their needs and the available budget.

Equipment

• List of Proposed Party Items document (one copy per team);
• Paper, glue, scissors.

Introduction

Remind students what they learned during The Fishing Trip activity, where they differentiated between essential and non-essential items.

Explain to students that they will now have to apply this knowledge. They will be responsible for organizing a fictional party for which they will have to make wise consumer decisions.

Instructions

Divide the class into teams of four students.

Give every team a List of Proposed Party Items, which are presented in random order. Go over the list with the students.

Ask the teams to cut out all the items on the list.

Explain that they have a limited budget and can choose only 15 items.

Ask the students to identify what they need for a party (for example: beverages, food, decorations, fun activities).

Ask the teams to associate each item with one of the four needs.

For each category of need, ask the teams to list the items by priority, that is, from essential to non-essential.

Next, tell students that their choices can reflect their tastes, but should meet the identified needs as much as possible.

Ask students to make a poster showing the 15 items they find most important to the party's success. After the students paste the 15 items selected, ask them to find a title for the poster, then write it down. Lastly, invite them to decorate the poster however they see fit.

Conclusion

Invite a spokesperson for each team to get up and present the poster.

On the board, jot down the choices that every team made.

Question students and get them to think about each team’s choices.

• Did they choose the same items?
• Do the selected items allow them to meet the four types of needs identified (beverages, food, decorations, fun activities)?
• Are some needs more important than others?
• Why are the choices similar or different from team to team?
• Was the limited budget a constraint in terms of this assignment?

To wrap up, tell the students that they cannot have everything and that a choice is always necessary. Through discussion, help the students realize that the best way to make a wise choice is to accurately determine their needs, then choose what is truly necessary.