Food for Thought - Foundations in Personal Finance

7
CHAPTER
Activity: Individual, pairs
or small group
ž žH O M E - 3 0 M I N .
Materials: Students will
need the activity handout
and a calculator.
Objective: The purpose of
this activity is for students
to compare name brands
to generic brands when
shopping. It also allows
students to assess the
difference in price when
buying generic brands.
S TA N D A R D Planning and
Money Management
Standard 4: Apply
consumer skills to
purchase decisions.
•A pply comparisonshopping skills to
purchasing decisions.
Food for Thought
Procedure
Hand out student activity sheet. This assignment can be done individually or in groups.
If possible, send students to different stores. If generic items can’t be located, have
students write down the other brand name of the item found.
Make sure students total the columns at the bottom of their page to calculate their
total savings.
As a class, discuss several of the items and compare which stores had the lowest
prices (if different stores were visited). Assign different stores for different students.
Next, take the total savings—which will represent a week’s worth of grocery
shopping—and multiply the amount by four (a month’s savings) and invest for 40
years at 12% to see how much of your retirement you are eating by purchasing only
name brand items.
Activity Extension
Discuss how “unit price labels” work and how to use the labels to identify the best
buy on grocery items.
Foundations in Personal Finance High School Edition
N A ME:
DAT E:
Name____________________________
Food for Thought
Date_____________________________
CHAPTER 8
STUDENT ACTIVITY SHEET
FOOd FOR THOugHT
Directions
Go
to a store in your area to “price shop” for the items listed on the mock grocery list. Compare the name
brand with generic prices by listing them in the columns. (Some items might not have generic so compare it to
to a store
in your area to “price shop” for the items listed on the mock grocery list. Compare the name
aGo
different
brand.)
brand with generic prices by listing them in the columns. (Some items might not have generic so compare it to
a different brand.)
item name
Microwave popcorn
Bread
measure
1 loaf
1 gallon
Eggs / large
1 dozen
Bacon
1 pound
Potatoes
10-pound
10
pound bag
Canned tomatoes
28-ounce
can
28 oz. can
Sugar
5 pound bag
5-pound
Cola
2 liter
Chicken breast
Cornflakes
Cheese
Ice cream
7-ounce
tube
7 oz. tube
1 pound
12–14
box
12-14-ounce
oz. box
24-slice
24 slice pack
1/2 gallon
Tortilla chips
8-ounce
bag
8 oz. bag
Salad dressing
8-ounce
8 oz. jarjar
Toilet paper
generic name / price
3 pack box
Milk (2%)
Toothpaste
brand name / price
4 pack
TOTAL PRICE
Store name and address: ________________________________________________________
FOUNDATIONS in PERSONAL FINANCE
CH A P TER 7
Foundations in Personal Finance High School Edition