3rd Grade Economics Fair
8:15 - 9:00am, Thursday, April 7th
The Economics Fair is Coming Soon
During the upcoming weeks of school, third graders learn about interactions. Students participate in activities that include the concepts of cooperation, dependence, and interdependence. Beginning on March 14th, students will begin their ELM over Economics. In this ELM, students will participate in an exciting culminating activity, in which they design and carry out a classroom economics fair. This classroom scale fair setting is designed to simulate the free enterprise system and demonstrate how interactions cause the system to work. It is a favorite third grade event that the students look forward to all year. The fair also reinforces our study of financial literacy in math. The class focuses learning around several essential questions. These questions include:
1. How do people solve problems using reasonable solutions?
2. How does our economic system work?
In this ELM students will not only learn about basic principals of economics and the free market system, but also learn to solve problems as they work cooperatively in groups. They complete tasks requiring goal setting and perseverance. Students will work in their ELM groups to learn about, and study the free market system. Each ELM group will create a themed store in which each ELM member will be responsible for creating and making 20 to 40 items to sell during the Economics Fair. Some themed store examples are school supply store, sports store, holiday store, game store, pet store, jewelry store, etc. For example, an Elm group may choose to have a school supply themed store. One member may make pencil toppers, one member may choose to make crazy pencils, another member may choose to make stress balls, etc. It will be up to the ELM group to decide their Store Theme, and up to each member to decide a product to make and sell in their store. Food products are not allowed. The ELM groups will sell their goods to our second graders. Each group will devise a business plan, budget and record their sales and profit. They will also take supply and demand into account when planning what they want to sell. Finally, each ELM team will be responsible for creating advertising for their store and goods. The most profitable ELM store will be named the Bennett Business of the Year.
Students will be responsible for choosing and locating the materials needed to create their product that they will sell in their ELM store. Students must have teacher approval of their product/good that they are creating for their themed store. We recommend that a student make 20 to 40 items of their product to sell during the fair. All products will be made at home and brought into the fair. Students will meet with their ELM groups on Monday, March 14th to choose a theme for their store and decide on what product they will make to sell in their store. The fair will take place on Thursday, April 7th.
Parents are encouraged and welcome to attend the fair! You will be amazed at all of the wonderful things the students create! Please see our attached ELM challenge brief about the economics fair. If you are in need of assistance in gathering materials or supplies for your child’s product, please let your child’s teacher know. Also, if you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to contact you child’s teacher.