Date: October 31, 1996

Grade Level(s): 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Subject(s):

• Health/Consumer Health

Description:

The class will be divided into groups of two or three students. The teacher will develop a grocery list for the students. The groups will be sent out to a different store to gather the prices and availability of each item. The students will then compare and contrast the data to find out which store has the best prices.

Background Information:

This activity can be used with students that range from the capability of computing numbers to students capable of computing sizes of items to their prices in order to determine the best buy. A teacher can increase the level of difficulty for the age or development of their students.

Goal:

The students will be able to make valuable financial decisions.

Objectives: The students will be able to:

• Become aware of the relationship between sizes of items and costs to choose the better value.

• Compare and contrast the generic brand name items and their prices.

• Be aware of sale items and shop wisely with that in mind.

Concepts: The students will be able to:

1. Relate the importance of looking for bargains yet buying what they need and staying within their budget.

2. Learn how fast money can be spent on food.

Materials:

A chaperone for each group of students if they are younger
Transportation to the store
Shopping List
Writing Utensil
Calculator

Procedure:

1. Talk to the grocery store owners and inform them of your activity and make sure it is all right to use their store for the price checks.

2. Inform the students about the topic being covered which is selecting the best value for the lowest prices.

3. Tell the students about the activity they are going to be doing.

4. Divide the students into groups of two or three and have them get into them at that time.

5. Give each group a grocery store assignment which includes the location and the number of days they have to do the assignment.

6. Let the students discuss ways of getting to the store whether it be by car pooling or each person getting there on their own.

7. Hand out the grocery lists to the groups along with a note to the parents explaining what you are doing.

Assessment:

1. Ask the students if they had bought what they usually eat or if they hunted for bargains.
2. Ask the students if the size of an item has any correlation to price.
3. Ask the students how the generic brands differed or were similar to the brand name items.
4. Ask the students why they bought the brands they did.