This sub-organizer contains the following sections:
Prescribed Learning Outcomes
Suggested Instructional Strategies
Suggested Assessment Strategies
Recommended Learning Resources

PRESCRIBED LEARNING OUTCOMES

• analyse the effects of competition in the marketplace
• explain how factors of production including land, labour, capital, and entrepreneurship affect business decision making
• describe the effects of an information-based economy on business practices
• outline methods of resource allocation in various economic systems

To view the prescribed learning outcomes for Economics in other grades click on an icon below.

SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

• Form groups and give each a specific amount of resources (e.g., a selection of candies) to allocate in different ways. As a class, compare each group's method of allocation. Have students use information on various economic systems to draw parallels between these systems and their own methods of resource allocation.
• Supply a business resource allocation problem that includes ethical and environmental issues, freedom of choice, and government involvement. For example, ask students to generate options for a company that creates hazardous waste as a by-product of production, considering cost of proper waste disposal, potential fines for illegal dumping, and cost of upgrading production systems.
• Discuss changes in factors of production from the technological age to the information age. Have students suggest reasons for changes (e.g., piecework replaced by mass production) and predict their impacts on economic systems. Challenge them to explain why industry today uses both sweatshop labour and robotics assembly lines (considering NAFTA and the use of one country's labour for producing another's products).
• As a class, select examples of local economies. Have students construct comparative charts, recording for each economy its labour force size, goods and services produced, nature and size of markets, and the dollar amount contributed. Then ask them to speculate on future prospects for business and work in each economy.
• Have students speculate on a local business issue such as the possible short- and long-term effects of big-box retailers and wholesale outlets on a local economy. Discuss how the consumer creates and sustains competition in the marketplace. Invite students to role-play how businesses and consumers may be affected by competition over time.

SUGGESTED ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES

• Observe as students discuss allocation of resources and relate their proposed methods to various economic systems. Note evidence that they understand:
  • the impact of scarce resources on the economy
  • the four basic principles of an economic system (ownership of property, freedom of choice, degree of competition allowed in the marketplace, level of government involvement)

• Provide students with scenarios that demonstrate changes in the factors of production. For example:
  • A major employer in an area decides to move its plant to another city.
  • Half the staff of a company is away sick for a week.
  • A supplier is four days late with a delivery.

  Have students analyse the potential effects of these occurrences. Note the extent to which they can describe the impact of changes in technology, land ownership, labour, capital, and entrepreneurship on business and the local economy.

• Ask students to research businesses or industries of interest, focussing on the nature and supply of resources. After they complete their research, have them describe decisions a business owner or the industry as a whole would have to make if the resource supply dropped. For example, ask a student who is researching the commercial fisheries:
  • What can commercial fishers do if they don't catch as many fish as they had planned?
  • What effect does decreased catch have on fish-processing workers?
  • What does the fisheries industry do when the salmon run is half its usual size?

RECOMMENDED LEARNING RESOURCES

• An Introduction to the Stock Market - A Canadian Perspective

Video

• Credit Cards

Multimedia

• Exploring Business
• The Pacific Rim Dimension
• Personal Finance Portfolio

Note: It is anticipated that existing classroom and school materials will also be used to support the prescribed learning outcomes until additional learning resources are identified.

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