This activity supports Module 32: Microeconomics- Explore economic factors that impact personal or community financial decisions. The attached presentation and handout outlines videos and questions to guide the student's learning about marginal cost, marginal benefit, scarcity, and opportunity cost. This content is meant to teach the student to explore these concepts about decision making, especially financial decisions. Considering what we "give up" to get something is very important when spending money. Giving up something is not just the amount of money you gave up; it includes time or the "next best thing" you could have done with that time and money.

This activity involves four scenarios where the students will uncover the opportunity costs for each scenario (every decision involves a trade-off). The opportunity cost is the profit lost (or total cost- financial and non-financial costs) when one alternative is chosen over another. A trade-off is understanding that you are going to lose something, in relation to time, money, or energy, when the decision to choose something else is made.  When you buy or do one thing with your money, you must give up the chance to buy or do something else. This is a trade-off: what you give up to get what you want. When you spend part of your income on certain things, you give up spending it on other things.

Students will answer the following multiple-choice questions regarding how microeconomic principles can really impact how individuals make financial decisions. A presentation is attached with some definitions and information that may assisst with completing this assignment. Answer key can be found in the Teacher Only Discussion section of the Resource Bank. https://resourcebank.ca/groups/financial-literacy-teachers/254/discussions/