Students in the Economics elective began the year with an activity to demonstrate some of the most important concepts of economics: choice, scarcity, and opportunity cost. Students were tasked with creating food, shelter, education, and clothing out of the supplies that they were given. Groups had to decide how to use the resources to best meet their needs while considering the requests of other teams. The task was completed with mixed success (as judged by their peers).

Students then moved on to learn about the possibilities production frontier and specialization with a series of memorably ridiculous videos about the superhero “Jack of All Trades.” As Jack guided the students towards the benefits of trade, they participated in a hands on activity in order to see the benefits of trading. They each received a piece of candy and had to rank their satisfaction before and after the possibility of trade was introduced. Students discovered that overall satisfaction went up and then analyzed individual rankings and what they can reveal.