What is value?

PROCEDURE

OPENING 

10 minutes

1. Find a location in the classroom suitable for a large art display. Ideally a flat, smooth surface. 
2. Clear the wall of any objects and clean the wall to ensure sticky notes can adhere to the wall.
3. Place any objects from your home on the table at the front of the class before students enter.

Note: Using a whiteboard at the front of the class can be suitable for the activity. However, for maximum impact, it is best to carry out this activity in a separate location in the classroom so the art project can be displayed for a longer period of time. 

PRE-ACTIVITY

5 minutes

1. Allow students to identify objects you have placed in front of them.
2. Discuss their price and value.
3. Introduce the two ideas:
   1. Price: how much something costs
   2. Value: how useful or important something is
4. Ask students to give their opinion on the object and if they agree or disagree.

Objective In Student’s Words

• “Find out what decides the price of things.”
• “Learn what things are valuable to us and why not everyone agrees.”
• “Talk about why expensive things aren’t always valuable, and cheap things can still matter.”

ACTIVITY

30-40 minutes

Setup

1. Ask students to list as many items as they can think of from their bedrooms or houses (toys, clothes, gadgets, books, etc.).
2.  Each student writes one item per sticky note.
   1. Prompt questions:
      1. “Which things are important to you?”
      2. “Which things don’t really matter?”
3. If possible, each student can have their own respective color of sticky note to easily distinguish items later in the activity.
4. Tape a long horizontal line across the board (See Appendix B).Label this axis:
   1. Left = “Low Price”
   2. Right = “High Price”
5. Then add a vertical line crossing the center. Label this axis:
   1. Bottom: “Low value”
   2. Top: “High value”

Model

1. Take one of the items from home and write the name of the item on a sticky note.
2. Demonstrate where to place it within the four quadrants.

Carry out

1. Students place their sticky notes along the axis where they think their item belongs.
2. Support students by encouraging them to add as many items as possible. If students have added all of their sticky notes, prompt them for new items. 

Reflection

• Guiding questions:
  • “Is this cheap or expensive?”
  • “Would most people agree on the price?”
  • “How useful is this?”
  • “Would everyone value this the same way?”
• Prompt discussion:
  • “Which items surprised you?”
  • “Why do some cheap things have high value?”
  • “Why do some expensive things feel useless?”
  • Optional perspective shift:
• Optional perspective shift:
  • Have students review another student’s items and discuss differences.
• Key takeaway:
  • Price is a number 
  • Value is a judgment

FOLLOW-UP

• Review:
  • Price and value are not the same
  • People disagree on value
  • Prices help people trade even when they disagree
• Bridge to money:
  • Money and prices help us trade when value is subjective

CLOSE

1. Identify any trends or patterns.
2. Congratulate students for their participation.
3. Take a moment for gratitude for the people, times and objects in their life.
4. Ask students to return all materials and equipment.
5. The project can be displayed or stored and can be added to later by the students.

NOTES

Classroom management

• Encourage respectful disagreement
• Reinforce that there are no wrong answers
• It can be more engaging to tape out and label the axes during the activity. This could also distract focus and lose concentration if the process is complicated.

Extensions & Sponge Activities

• Show and Tell
• Add a third layer: “Who decides the price?”
• Re-introduce auctions or trading games

Differentiation

• Younger students: pre-printed item cards
• ELL/Accessibility: drawing instead of writing
• Safety: supervise movement near walls