Tirohanga Whānui | Overview
This lesson sets the foundation for the entire unit. Using a highly visual "empty shelves" prompt, students explore the core economic concept of scarcity (Ngā mahinga ohaoha). They analyze how scarcity forces trade-offs and budgeting choices in households, reflecting on their own values and experiences before scaling up to global food networks in later lessons.
Ngā Whāinga Ako | Learning Intentions
- Understand what scarcity means and identify household examples.
- Connect food availability to seasonal and economic resource constraints.
- Recognize that scarcity forces trade-offs and budgeting decisions.
Ngā Paearu Angitū | Success Criteria
- Students can define scarcity using a household or food-system example.
- Students can complete a simple budget chart and explain one trade-off.
- Students can identify the opportunity cost of a food-budget decision.
1. Hook: What is Scarcity?
15 minsStudent Action
Project images of empty supermarket shelves, barren fields, or a sparse food pantry. Lead a Think-Pair-Share discussion asking: "What do you see here? How would it feel to walk into a shop with empty shelves? Why might these shelves be empty?"
Kaiako Guide & Prompts
Prompt students to connect these visuals with recent real-world events (e.g., severe weather causing crop shortages, supply chain blockages). Introduce the term scarcity (ohaoha) as a situation where human needs/wants exceed the resources available to meet them.
2. Concept Exploration: Vocabulary Sort
20 minsStudent Action
In pairs, students use the Vocabulary Sort Cards to match key terms (scarcity, abundance, trade-off, staple crop, innovation) with their definitions. Once matched, pairs write one example sentence using at least two of the terms.
Kaiako Guide & Prompts
Circulate to check understanding. Ask scaffolding questions: "What makes a crop a 'staple' (like kūmara or wheat) rather than a luxury? How does scarcity force us into making a 'trade-off'?" Post correct matches on the classroom vocabulary wall.
3. Applied Numeracy: Food Budget Pie Chart
20 minsStudent Action
Using the Food Budget Template, students estimate and chart the division of a weekly family food budget ($200) among three main categories: Staples/Grains (kūmara, bread, rice), Proteins/Vegetables, and Treats/Snacks.
Kaiako Guide & Prompts
Introduce a scarcity scenario: "A major crop failure causes the price of bread and kūmara to rise by 25%. What is the first thing your family has to cut from the pie chart?" Discuss the resulting opportunity cost (the value of the next best choice given up).
4. Synthesis: Scarcity Reflection
20 minsStudent Action
Students work individually to complete the Reflection Worksheet, writing a short paragraph describing a time when they wanted or needed something but couldn't get it because of limited resources (time, money, or availability). They must identify the resource constraint and the trade-off made.
Kaiako Guide & Exit Ticket
Review student responses to check understanding of trade-offs. Collect the reflections as a lesson exit ticket to inform groupings for Lesson 2's kūmara case study.
🎯 Curriculum Alignment
Verified focus statement: Personal budgets help people prioritise spending and make informed money decisions.
This lesson uses food-budget decisions to make scarcity visible and concrete before the unit scales up to historical and climate-related food systems.
📦 Materials & Resources
- Scarcity Vocabulary Sort Cards
- Food Budget Pie Chart Template
- Scarcity Reflection Worksheet
- Optional projected images of empty supermarket shelves, drought-affected crops, or a sparse pantry.
📊 Assessment Framework
Formative evidence: vocabulary matches, revised budget pie charts, and the final scarcity reflection.
- Check whether students can name the scarce resource, not just the emotion of missing out.
- Look for one clear trade-off and one opportunity cost in the budget task.
- Use the exit reflection to group students for Lesson 2's kūmara adaptation case study.
🚀 Extension Activities
Ask early finishers to compare two different household choices when prices rise: one that protects nutrition and one that protects convenience. They must explain the opportunity cost of each choice.
🔗 Unit Progression
Students leave Lesson 1 with scarcity and trade-off language. Lesson 2 applies that language to a specific Aotearoa innovation: rua kūmara as a storage system that reduced seasonal scarcity.
📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot
Learning intentions: define scarcity, connect food availability to resource constraints, and explain how scarcity creates trade-offs.
Success criteria: students can give two scarcity examples, complete the food budget chart, and identify a trade-off with its opportunity cost.
Scaffold support: offer pre-sorted definitions or sentence frames for the reflection, such as "When resources were scarce, I had to choose between... The opportunity cost was..."
ESOL / ELL: use illustrated vocabulary cards and allow home-language discussion before English writing.
Mātauranga Māori lens: keep the link precise: Lesson 1 introduces scarcity; Lesson 2 then shows how kūmara storage systems responded to seasonal scarcity through design, observation, and care.