Scarcity Activity

Today our second and third graders expanded their knowledge of scarcity, a term we have been studying in Social Studies, by participating in a group activity. In this activity, second and third graders were placed in groups of 3. In these groups, the students needed to build their own houses out of the materials they were given. Each of the five groups were given different building materials.

By participating in this activity, students better understand what the term "scarcity" means and how the Native Americans dealt with scarcity. Students understood that they had to "adapt to their environment", just as the Native Americans did, and they had to use what was given to them in order to build their houses. However, students soon figured out that they could also do something else that the Native Americans did when they didn't have something they wanted: trade. Groups quickly understood this "trading" concept and they began to trade with each other to get things that they wanted for their houses.

Though the finished products aren't extremely stable, I am very proud of how the students worked together in order to finish their houses. After participating in this activity, students discussed the difficulties they had and how trading was extremely helpful in their building process. Through this activity, students have a better understanding of scarcity and how the Native Americans had to survive and adapt according to their environments.