Unit Plan 30 (Grade 4 Social Studies): Why People Work

Focus: Connect earning, saving, spending, and budgeting to personal and community goals, and show how people’s work and money choices link to trade and interdependence in the local/state economy. Students explore why people work, how they set goals, and how their decisions as workers and consumers affect businesses, jobs, and supply/demand for goods and services.

Grade Level: 4

Subject Area: Social Studies (Economics)

Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 45–60 minutes per session

I. Introduction

Students investigate why people work—to meet needs, satisfy wants, support families, and contribute to the community. They learn that work provides income, which people can earn, save, spend, share, and plan through simple budgets tied to goals. The class also looks at how people’s spending supports local and state businesses, and how workers and consumers are part of trade and interdependence. The unit concludes with a “Work & Money Goals Plan” where students design a simple budget and show how their choices connect to the wider economy.

Essential Questions

• Why do people work, and how does work help them reach personal and family goals?
• How do earning, saving, spending, and budgeting help people make good decisions about money?
• How do our choices as consumers affect businesses, jobs, and trade in our community and state?
• What does it mean to say that workers, businesses, and consumers are interdependent?
• How do supply and demand help explain why some goods and services are easier to get or cost more than others?

II. Objectives and Standards

Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:

1. Explain several reasons why people work (meeting needs, wants, supporting family, helping the community, personal interests).
2. Describe how earning income connects to saving, spending, and budgeting for short-term and longer-term goals.
3. Create a simple budget plan for an individual or class goal that shows income, saving, and spending choices.
4. Describe how people’s work and spending are connected to local and state businesses through trade and interdependence.
5. Use simple supply and demand examples (e.g., popular vs. less popular items) to explain why some goods/services may be in short supply or change in price.
6. Complete a “Work & Money Goals Plan” that links a job or source of income, a goal, a budget, and how their spending supports producers in their community/state.

Standards Alignment — 4th Grade (C3-based custom)

• 4.C3.Econ.3 — Describe why people work; connect earning, saving, spending, and budgeting to goals.
  • Example: Plan a simple class budget for a field trip.
• 4.C3.Econ.4 — Explain trade and interdependence within/beyond the state; use simple supply/demand ideas.
  • Example: Trace how a state crop moves from farm to market to consumers.

Success Criteria — Student Language

• I can explain at least two reasons why people work and how work helps them reach goals.
• I can describe how earning, saving, and spending are connected and why a budget is helpful.
• I can make a simple budget plan that shows income, saving, and spending for a goal.
• I can explain how my spending supports workers, businesses, and jobs in our community or state.
• I can describe a simple supply and demand situation and how it affects what is available or how much it might cost.
• I can create a Work & Money Goals Plan that connects work, goals, and interdependence.