BioEd Online
Bio Ed Online: Living Things and Their Needs: Need or Want?
Students learn the difference between wanting something and needing something in order to survive. The lesson can be downloaded in PDF format.
Other
Feeding America
At the online home of one of the largest hunger-relief agencies in America, find extensive reporting and analysis of the problem of hunger in the United States, along with information about its network of food banks, a quiz to test...
Other
Mcwdn: Needs and Wants Quiz
Answer five questions about needs and wants to test knowledge about this basic economic principle.
Utah Education Network
Uen: Lesson Plan: All I Really Need!
Lesson that helps students understand the difference between needs and wants. Students discuss the story The Bag I'm Taking to Grandma's by Shirley Neitsel and then decide which items they need to take to grandma's house and which items...
Utah Education Network
Uen: Lesson Plan: Do I Want or Need?
Lesson that reinforces the difference between needs and wants as students discuss the book Alexander, Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday by Judith Viorst. Includes link to discussion questions.
Council for Economic Education
Econ Ed Link: Trouble Is Brewing in Boston: "Colonial Voices Hear Them Speak"
It's December 16, 1773 and many of the citizens of Boston are furious with King George's new tax on tea. Young Ethan, a printer's errand boy, has been given the task of conveying information concerning an upcoming protest meeting. As he...
Council for Economic Education
Econ Ed Link: The Perfect Pet
Interactive activity in which students learn how to deal with scarcity and the difference between wants and needs as they choose what to buy for their new pet fish with $5.00.
Practical Money Skills
Visa: Practical Money Skills for Life: Road Trip to Savings
Arcade-style game introduces young learners to concepts of saving, spending, needs, and wants. Players have to keep their cars on the road by allocating their spending between needs (car insurance and gas) and wants.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Reflecting on Needs Versus Wants
By thinking about their own expenses, students explore how differentiating between needs and wants can inform daily financial decisions and rules to live by.
Louisiana Department of Education
Louisiana Doe: Louisiana Believes: Social Studies: Grade 1: Needs and Wants
First graders develop and express claims through discussions and writing in which they explore economy. Students engage with the sources to build their understanding of the content to distinguish are needs and wants. Students will also...
Louisiana Department of Education
Louisiana Doe: Louisiana Believes: Social Studies: Grade K: Needs and Wants
Students develop and express claims through discussions and writing in which they identify and provide examples of elements of an economic system, with an emphasis on wants and needs. Students engage with the sources to build their...
SMART Technologies
Smart: Wants and Needs
Use the SMART Table activity to identify the difference between a want and a need.
Council for Economic Education
Econ Ed Link: No Extra Room on the Mayflower
Choose what to bring on a voyage. Space is scarce, so choices must be made about what to leave behind.
Tutor2u
Tutor2 U: Economics: Scarcity and Choices
This website offers a simple examination of scarcity, finite resources, and needs vs wants.
HotChalk
Hot Chalk: Lesson Plans Page: Wants and Needs
Lesson plans for teaching the fundamental economic concept of needs and wants for grades 1 and 2 using the book The Rag Coat by Lauren Mills. Students work in groups to discuss and classify various images to illustrate the difference...
Other
I Grad: Wants vs. Needs: Secrets to Successfully Prioritize Expenses
Designed for late high school or for college students, this teaches students how to discriminate between wants and needs, and to budget successfully.