Oklahoma Social Studies 2.C.4.5
The Standard
- 2.C.4
- Understand basic economic concepts of a free market.
Explain that scarcity is a condition of not being able to have all of the goods and services that a person wants or needs.
Oklahoma Academic Standards for Social Studies (2026) · 2.C.4
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students explain why people cannot always get every good or service they want or need. They describe a choice someone makes when there is not enough to go around.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Given four glue sticks for six students, a student explains why two students must wait or share. Given $3 and a $3 bus ticket or a $3 snack, the student explains why a buyer must choose one.
Common Misconceptions
- Some students think a scarce item is gone forever, rather than unavailable to everyone who wants it right now. Others think only objects can be scarce, not services such as haircuts.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Four children want to use two basketballs at the same time. What is scarce, and what could the children do?
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Set out three crayons for five students who each need one now; have them distribute the crayons and explain the shortfall.
Ask, 'You have $4. A bus ride and a sticker pack each cost $4. Which would you choose, and why?'
Give pairs cards showing four chairs for six children, two lunches for five children, and apples for everyone; sort them into scarce and not scarce.
Show one library copy of a popular book and ask what happens when three students want to borrow it today.
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Printable 2.C.4.5 Worksheet
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Related Standards
- 1.C.4.1
Explain how citizens are free to make choices about what to buy and that choices are necessary because wants cannot always be met.
- E.C.1.4
Examine how producers and consumers respond to scarcity by making choices involving opportunity costs and tradeoffs.
- 7.C.2.4
Identify examples of scarcity and how the availability of natural resources impacts regional economies, potentially leading to both conflict and cooperation.
- E.C.3.2
Explain what causes shortages and surpluses (e.g., government-imposed price floors, price ceilings, and other government regulations) and describe their impact ...
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