What am I Choosing?

Keystone Economic Principle™ #1 – We all make choices

Click here for a printable PDF version of this Monthly Teaching Theme Assessment

(Secondary Grades)

Name _________________________________ School________________________________

Date _________________ Grade______________

I. Vocabulary – Content

Match each word with its definition.

____ 1. Scarcity

_____2. Wants

_____3. Needs

____ 4. Resources

____ 5. Goods

____ 6. services

a. Activities performed by people, firms or government agencies to satisfy economic wants.

b. Desires that can be satisfied by consuming or using a good or service.

c. The condition that exists because human wants exceed the capacity of available resources to satisfy those wants; also a situation in which a resource has more than one valuable use.

d. Tangible objects that satisfy economic wants.

e. The basic kinds of resources used to produce goods and services: land or natural resources, human resources (including labor and entrepreneurship), and capital.

f. A good which is not willingly given up for any substitute.

II. Multiple Choice & Short Answer – Understanding & Skills

7. From the list below circle four items that are needs not wants.

8. One way of eliminating scarcity is to have fewer wants. Do you think this is possible? Explain why or why not.

9. Make a list of five things that you want (not necessarily what you need) and put them in order from what you want most to what you want least.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

10. A student has a goal of improving his/her grades for the semester. Mark only the choices below that would align with the goal of improving grades.
____ a. Completing all homework

____ b. Staying up late playing video games the night before a
big test

____ c. Copying answers from another student

____ d. Studying for quizzes

____ e. Skipping class on Mondays because the weekend was
too tiring

____ f. Reviewing notes from class

11. Which of the following people must deal with scarcity when they

make decisions during the day?

A. the richest person in the world

B. a homeless person living in New York City

C. a commuter living in the suburbs and working in the city

D. All of these people must deal with scarcity

III. Relevance – How much does this apply to me?

12. Where do you see yourself using the information you learned about choices and consequences as well as needs vs. wants in your life?

13. Please rate the impact that studying about choices has had on your life. Circle the number below:

0 – No Impact

1 – A little impact

2 – Moderate amount of impact – I might consider it

3 – Quite a bit of impact – I see how it fits and appreciated learning
about it

4 – Great Impact – I understand how important it is to my life and will
use the information I learned