Teacher's Guide - The Curriculum Project

Supply and Demand (cont’d)PairworkPrice, Supply and Demand1. Put the students into pairs, and ask them to think about what is happeningin the two graphs. Give them 5-10 minutes. Then ask if any of the pairs canexplain the graph to the class.Graph A shows the Demand Curve for oranges. As the price of oranges decreases, morepeople want to buy them. When the price is 3 baht, only 100 are sold (demanded) but when theprice decreases to 2 baht, 400 are sold. So, a decrease in price leads to an increase in demand.Graph B shows the Supply Curve for oranges. As the price of oranges increases, sellers wantto sell more so that they can make more money. Therefore, they supply more oranges to themarket. If the price is too low, they may restrict supply to try and make the price increase.DiscussionPairworkDiscussionAdvertising and Demand2. Elicit some famous brand names from the students. If the students can’tthink of any, then suggest: Dove shampoo, Nivea body creams, Nike,Ovaltine, Chang beer, Milo, Nescafe, Coffeemate, etc.3. Give the students some newspapers and magazines. Give them about 5minutes to look through them in pairs and then ask each pair to demonstrateone good example of an advert to the class.4. Well known brands are often more expensive than other brands because:a) advertising creates more demand because more people know about the product, so theseller can raise the price,b) advertising persuades people of the higher status and higher value of a particular product,and so they agree to pay more for it,c) people recognise products which they often see advertised, and so they may trust that productmore and agree to pay more for it,d) advertising is expensive, so businesses raise the price of their products to cover costs.Nike wants to put their logo on Ronaldinho’s shirt because:a) Ronaldinho is popular with many people around the world, who may copy his clothinghabits and so buy Nike products.b) Nike wants people identify their brand with brilliance and success in sport. They may thenbuy a Nike product hoping that it will make them play more like Ronaldinho.c) Ronaldinho is very famous, and pictures of him appear everywhere around the world. If heis wearing Nike products it is good advertising for the Nike brand.Pairwork5. Ask students to do a quick advertising survey in their community. Ask themto walk around for about 10-15 minutes and record the adverts they see,which products they are for, and what the advertisement says about theproduct. Then ask the each pair to do a short presentation in class.Pairwork6. Ask the students to create a magazine advert for one good or service.They can choose anything they want. They should not copy an existingadvert, but think of a new idea. Give each pair a piece of paper on whichto design their advert. This activity may take a full lesson or more. Get eachpair to briefly present their advertisement to the class. Get the class to voteon which one is best (pairs can’t vote for their own advert).The Curriculum Project ECONOMICS: an introduction - Teacher’s Guide18