Economics and Geography Lessons

For Rent

MCPS Status of Book as of 4/4/96:
Approved as Library Book for Grade 2

Title: For Rent by Charles E. Martin (Greenwillow Books, William Morrow & Co., Inc., New York, NY, 1986)

Lesson Developed by Barbara S. Yingling

Literature Annotation: Some island children have been given a present--the little shed in the cove. They spruce it up and make it into a rental property. But being landlords is hard work. The rent from the shed helps pay for a class trip to Washington, DC.

Grade Level: 2-4

Duration: 60 minutes

Economic Concepts: Production, Opportunity Cost, Decision Making, Scarcity

Geography Themes: Place, Relationships: Humans and Environment

MSPAP Outcomes and Indicators:

Economic Outcome: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the historical development and current status of economic principles, institutions, and processes needed to be effective citizens, consumers, and workers in American society.

Indicator:

• Describe the relationship between available resources and the production of goods and services.

Geography Outcome: Students will demonstrate an understanding of geographic concepts and processes as needed to examine the role of culture, technology, and the environment in the location and distribution of human activities.

Indicators:

• Explain the factors influencing the size, location, and population of communities.
• Explain the relationship between the physical setting of a community and its ability to satisfy the wants and needs of its people.

Objectives: Students will be able to:

• Use a Decision Tree to analyze an economic problem.
• Identify resources used in the production of a product.
• Identify the opportunity cost of a choice/decision.
• Examine the importance of location in a real estate transaction.
• Examine how people use the resources in their environment.

Vocabulary: production, opportunity cost, Decision Tree, rent, resources, headlands, exhibition, land lords, fog horn, tenant

Materials:

• Book: For Rent
• Decision Tree - either a large classroom chart or individual copies
• 1 sheet of 11" x 14" construction paper for each pair of students
• Transparency, "The Tenants"
• Post card worksheet, 1 copy for each student

Teacher Background: Producers combine natural, human and capital resources to make goods and services. Producers must choose what goods or services to produce, what resources to use and in what combination to use them. Sound decision-making skills help us make informed, satisfying decisions or choices. Opportunity cost is the single most valuable opportunity give up when a choice is made.

Lesson Development:

Motivation: Pose the following situation to the class: Suppose our class received a letter in the mail which said, "When I was a little girl, my family gave me the small shed on the cove. My friends and I spent a lot of time there. It was our clubhouse and our second home. Now I want you to have it. Clean it up, take good care of it, and be as happy with it as we were." Discuss with the students what they would do next, how they might use the gift, and whether there other ways to use it besides as a clubhouse. Make a class list of ways to use the shed.

Activities:

1. Show the book to the class. Point out that the setting of the book is on a small island. Show the students the illustration that faces the first page of the story and the illustration that faces the page which begins. "He was never at home when they went to see him." Ask the students what physical characteristics of the island they can identify from these illustrations? (Surrounded by water; rocks around the cost of the island; no sandy beach at the shore line; pine trees along the rock bluffs; some of the rocks are cliffs at the edge of the water; grass and wild flowers; rocky paths) Ask how living on an island affects the people who live there. (They have to use boats for transportation; space might be limited; they might be isolated from other people; some of the jobs of the people who live there might depend on the sea; it might be a slower pace of living)

2. Read to page 3 and stop after the line that says, "You could rent a parrot cage on this island in the summer." Ask students what the expression means. (Remind the students that a parrot cage is very small. The expression must mean that people would want to rent even a very small place on the island in the summer.) Ask why people would want to rent a place on the island in the summer. (This would be a good time to talk about the scarcity of summer vacation homes, how that puts the homes that are available in higher demand and in what kinds of environments summer vacation homes are in demand.) Ask what they would decide if the class had this same choice of renting the shed.

3. Introduce the Decision Tree as a way of working out the good and bad points about any decision. As a class, list the pros and cons of renting the shed to someone for the summer. (Examples: Pros: You earn money; you meet new people; you can still have the clubhouse in the winter; you learn about a career of being a landlord. Cons: You can't have the shed for a clubhouse in the summer; you have to be responsible for keeping the shed in good condition; you have to spend your playtime working on the shed.)

4. Explain that opportunity cost is the single most valuable opportunity given up when a choice is made. Ask the students what the opportunity cost of deciding to rent the shed for the summer might be. Help them to think about the opportunity cost as "If we didn't rent out the clubhouse, we would have __________________________ ." (A year-round clubhouse and free time to play instead of working to get the shed ready for rentals.)

5. Read the remainder of page 3 starting with the words, "Everyone agreed it was a good idea." Ask what would happen if the students all did not agree about renting the shed to a tenant for the summer and how they could make a fair decision about the use of the shed. (They could let the teacher make the decision; they could write back to Mrs. Burton and ask her to make the decision; they could vote on the decision) Tell the students that the decision to rent out the shed could be made by taking a class vote. Explain that, in our kind of government, called a democracy, each citizen gets an equal vote on an issue. When people feel strongly about an issue, they try to persuade other voters to vote on their side of the issue. Sometimes people give persuasive speeches to get more votes that reflect their viewpoint. Write the following two sentences on the chalkboard:

   I think we should rent out the shed to a tenant for the summer.
   I think we should not rent out the shed to a tenant for the summer.

   Divide the students into a "should rent" group and a "should not rent" group. Match up a "should rent" student with a "should not rent" student. Have the pairs practice giving persuasive speeches to each other. Remind them to include reasons to support their point of view. As you circulate, listen to the speeches to select one student to model a speech for each side of the issue. Have these two students present their speeches for the class. Have the students vote on the issue of whether to rent out the shed to a tenant.

6. Read to the end of the story. Distribute a large sheet of construction paper to each of the pairs of students from activity 5. Have the students fold the paper into thirds, making three sections. Direct the students to title the three sections: "Natural Resources". "Human Resources", and "Capital Resources". Have the pairs of students draw and label pictures to identify the resources used in the preparation of their "product", the shed. (Examples: Natural Resources: water, land, air; Human Resources: the children, Sam's father; Capital Resources: paint, hammers, cart, scythe, paintbrush, hoe, ladder, rake, broom) Review the charts generated by the pairs of students.

7. Show the transparency "The Tenants" on the overhead projector. Ask the students to reread parts of the story to find out how the tenants used the resources of the island and how they felt about living in the shed on the island. Complete the chart with student responses.

8. Have the students take the viewpoint of one of the tenants. Distribute the post card worksheet. Have each student write to a friend from the viewpoint of one of the tenants, telling the friend about his/her stay on the island. On the other side of the post card the student should draw and color a picture that shows an aspect of life on the island.

Conclusion/Closure: Summarize these important ideas from the story:

• The children in the story were able to produce a product that was in demand.
• The geography of the area enhanced the value of their property.
• They used the resources available to them to improve their product.
• They solved an economic problem by using a decision-making model.

Thoughtful Application:
Distribute a copy of the "Decision Tree" to each student. Pose the following situation: "Suppose a neighbor whose property connects to our schoolyard has offered to give a small plot of land to our class to use. Some students in our class want to use the land for an extra play space. Other students suggest using the plot of land for a garden. Use a Decision Tree to show the good and bad points of each choice. Then make your decision based on your decision tree."

Extension:

1. Use the Decision Tree to help solve classroom decisions or make choices that occur throughout the year. Post these trees around the room as examples of responsible decision-making.
2. Have the students find out more about a resort area like Ocean City, Maryland. Discuss how the specialization of resort communities affects their population and their community services.

Return to the Economics and Geography Lessons introduction page .

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Last updated on April 1, 1997
Maintained by John L. Day

<jday@umd5.umd.edu>