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Essential needs
Drinking, eating, sleeping, receiving healthcare, having shelter and being safe.
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Everything starts with our needs
Economics studies how people use limited resources to meet their needs and wants.
📖 Lina’s little story
A day full of choices
Lina is hungry, wants to go to school, dreams of a new game and would also like to give her friend a present. But she has neither unlimited time nor a bottomless bag of money. She must decide what matters most.
Economics often means choosing between several possibilities.
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Needs that help us grow
Learning, understanding, playing, creating, meeting others and feeling useful.
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Wants
They make life enjoyable, but they are not always essential.
Mini-game: need or want?
Click an item, then choose the correct column.
Choose an item to begin.
2
From exchange to money
No one can produce everything alone. People specialize, cooperate and trade.
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I produce
A market gardener grows vegetables.
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You produce
A craftsperson makes shoes.
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We trade
Each person obtains what they do not produce themselves.
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Money helps
It avoids the need to find a perfectly matching barter exchange.
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Measuring value
Money lets us compare prices, just as a ruler lets us compare lengths.
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Facilitating exchange
You can sell today and buy later from someone else.
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Storing value
We can set some money aside for a future project.
Remember: price and value are not the same
An old cuddly toy may cost almost nothing while holding enormous emotional value. By contrast, a very expensive object may be useless to you.
Price can be counted. Value must be understood.
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3
How is a price formed?
A price depends on factors such as the quantity available, the number of buyers, production costs and sellers’ decisions.
The strawberry market 🍓
Change the number of baskets available and the number of people who want to buy them.
Estimated price4.00 €
SituationEquilibrium
Signal⚖️
Prices
Quantity
Demand
Supply
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Many buyers, few products
The price tends to rise because the product is scarce compared with demand.
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Many products, few buyers
The price tends to fall because sellers want to clear their stock.
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Production means transformation
Production combines work, tools, knowledge, energy and raw materials to create a good or service.
The journey of a loaf of bread
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WheatLand, seeds and farm work.
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FlourThe mill turns grain into flour.
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BreadThe baker adds their expertise.
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Labour
Time, skills, care and sometimes creativity.
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Capital
The tools, machines, buildings and software used for production.
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Resources
Water, soil, minerals, energy and raw materials.
Remember:a service is also a form of production. A music lesson, a medical consultation or a bus journey is not an object, but it meets a need.
5
A budget: choosing before spending
A budget compares money coming in with money going out. It helps us plan, avoid unpleasant surprises and prepare projects.
Challenge: plan the class trip
You have20 coins. Add or remove expenses without exceeding your budget.
Remaining:20coins
🚌 Transport8
🥪 Lunch6
🎟️ Museum admission5
🍦 Ice cream4
🎁 Souvenir3
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Income
Money received through work, a sale, a gift or financial support.
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Expense
Money used to buy a good or service, or to pay an obligation.
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Savings
The part of income that is not spent today.
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What does a bank do?
A bank keeps money secure, facilitates payments, enables saving and may lend money to finance a project.
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Savers
They deposit some of their money.
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The bank
It organizes payments, holds deposits and grants certain loans.
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The loan
The bank provides money that must later be repaid.
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The project
A home, a work bicycle, a business or education.
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A payment card is not magic money
It gives access to money available in an account, or sometimes to credit that will have to be repaid.
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Borrowing has a cost
Most often, the borrower repays more than the amount received. This difference includes interest.
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Inflation: when many prices rise
Inflation is a broad and lasting rise in prices. The same amount of money can then buy fewer things.
The shopping basket
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Starting price:20 €
Price after the increase:
20.00 €
Purchasing power does not change.
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Higher costs
Energy, transport or raw materials may become more expensive.
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Very strong demand
Many people want to buy more than can be produced quickly.
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Money and credit
Rapid growth in money and credit can also contribute to rising prices.
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What we fund together
Taxes and social contributions fund shared services. Everyone contributes according to rules decided by society.
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Schools
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Hospitals
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Emergency services
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Roads
Why not leave everything to the market?
Some things benefit everyone even when it is difficult to charge each user separately: street lighting, emergency protection, justice or protection against epidemics.
Economics also studies cooperation and shared rules.
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9
The economy must respect the planet
Production and consumption use energy and resources. A sound economy therefore seeks to meet needs without destroying future living conditions.
The choice slider
Move the slider from a very wasteful lifestyle towards more sustainable choices.
You are already being careful, but there is still room for improvement.
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Repair
Extending an object’s life avoids producing a replacement too soon.
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Reuse
Giving, renting, sharing or buying second-hand reduces waste.
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Innovate
New techniques can produce better results with less energy and fewer materials.
🏆 Final challenge
Have you become an economics explorer?
Question 1 of 8
🎓 Badge: Economics Explorer
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For parents and teachers
A few simple ideas for continuing the learning experience in everyday life.
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At the supermarket
Compare two package sizes, find the price per kilogram and discuss the difference between a need, a want and advertising.
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With a pizza
Give the child 10 tokens and ask them to divide the budget among the meal, a drink, dessert and savings.
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At home
Choose an object and trace every necessary stage: materials, work, transport, shop and recycling.
Teaching tip:the aim is not to present economics as the science of money, but as a way of thinking about choices, cooperation, production, distribution and time.