Social Studies: Economics Supply and Demand
How supply and demand affect prices and choices
Social Studies: Economics Supply and Demand
How supply and demand affect prices and choices
Social Studies - Grade 4-5
- 1
A store has 50 notebooks for sale before school starts. Many students want notebooks, and the shelves begin to empty quickly. Is demand for notebooks high or low? Explain your answer.
Demand means how much people want to buy a product.
Demand for notebooks is high because many students want to buy them and the store is selling them quickly. - 2
A farmer brings only 10 baskets of strawberries to the market, but 40 people want to buy them. Is the supply high or low? Explain your answer.
The supply is low because there are only 10 baskets available even though many people want strawberries. - 3
A toy becomes very popular during the holidays, but stores have only a few left. What will most likely happen to the price of the toy?
Think about what happens when many people want something that is hard to find.
The price will most likely increase because demand is high and supply is low. - 4
A bakery makes 200 muffins, but only 20 muffins are sold by the end of the day. Is demand for the muffins high or low? Explain.
Demand is low because the bakery made many muffins but only a small number were bought. - 5
Write a short definition of supply in your own words.
Think about how much of something is offered in a store or market.
Supply is the amount of a product that sellers have available to sell. - 6
Write a short definition of demand in your own words.
Demand is how much people want to buy a product or service. - 7
A video game store has many copies of an old game, but very few customers want it. Should the store raise the price or lower the price? Explain why.
Stores often change prices to match how much people want an item.
The store should lower the price because supply is high and demand is low, so a lower price may help sell more copies. - 8
An apple orchard has a great harvest and produces far more apples than usual. If demand stays the same, what will most likely happen to apple prices?
Apple prices will most likely go down because the supply has increased while demand has stayed the same. - 9
Explain what scarcity means in economics.
Think about what it means when a resource or product is limited.
Scarcity means there is not enough of something to meet everyone's wants or needs. - 10
A town has only a little water during a drought. Why is water considered scarce in this situation?
Water is considered scarce because there is a limited amount available and people still need to use it. - 11
At a school fair, one table is selling lemonade. The line is very long, and the lemonade is almost gone. Describe the supply and the demand.
Use both words, supply and demand, in your answer.
The demand is high because many people want lemonade, and the supply is low because there is very little left to sell. - 12
A clothing store has too many winter coats left at the end of spring. What sale might the store have, and why?
The store might have a discount or clearance sale because demand for winter coats is low in spring and the store wants to sell the extra supply. - 13
Choose the better example of high demand: a product that few people want or a product that many people want. Explain your choice.
Focus on the number of buyers interested in the product.
A product that many people want is the better example of high demand because demand means how much people want to buy something. - 14
A concert sells out in one hour because many people want tickets and there are not enough seats. Which is higher, supply or demand? Explain.
Demand is higher than supply because many people want tickets, but there are only a limited number of seats available. - 15
Describe one real-life example of supply and demand that you might see in your community.
Think about stores, food, tickets, or school supplies.
One real-life example is a local ice cream shop on a hot day. Demand is high because many people want ice cream, and if the shop starts running low, the supply becomes low.