Smart Consumer Start

Year Level

Year 6

Duration

45 minutes

Class Size

25 students

---

Learning Area

Humanities and Social Sciences — Economics and Business

Australian Curriculum Links

• Content Descriptor: AC9HS6K08
  Influences on consumer choices and strategies that can be used to help make informed personal consumer and financial choices
• Elaborations for Teaching include:
  • Identifying goods purchased and factors influencing consumer decisions such as personal preferences, social trends, budgets, advertising, peer pressure, legal and ethical factors.
  • Recognising the importance of consumers' decisions on family and local community (jobs and sustainability).
  • Exploring strategies such as research, price comparison and record-keeping for smart consumer decisions.

---

Learning Intention

Students will understand what it means to be a smart consumer by exploring the concept of consumerism and identifying characteristics of smart consumers and their role in the economy.

---

Success Criteria

• Explain what a consumer is and their role in the economy.
• Identify factors that influence consumer choices.
• Describe characteristics of smart consumers.
• Demonstrate group collaboration by brainstorming and presenting ideas clearly.

---

Resources

• PowerPoint: "Introduction to Smart Consumers"
• Whiteboard or butcher’s paper for brainstorming
• Markers or pens
• Projector and computer for PowerPoint
• Student notebooks for notes

---

Lesson Breakdown

1. Introduction (10 minutes)

• Engage: Start with a question: "What is a consumer?" Discuss everyday situations where students act as consumers (buying lunch, toys, books).
• Explain: Using the PowerPoint, introduce the concept of consumerism — the role consumers play in the economy by making choices about what to buy and why.
• Highlight factors influencing consumer decisions like advertising, price, needs vs wants, and peer influence—to set context for later discussion.
• Refer to content elaborations on consumer influence from the Australian Curriculum for specific content depth.

2. Explicit Teaching: Consumer Role and Smart Choices (10 minutes)

• Discuss with the class what being a "smart consumer" means (e.g., making thoughtful decisions, considering price, quality, ethical impact).
• Use examples: Choosing products that last longer, are better for the environment, or comparing prices before buying.
• Introduce how consumer choices affect families and local communities (jobs, environment, economy).
• Use simple scenarios for discussion: "If you buy one new toy, what else might your family delay buying and why?"

3. Group Brainstorm Activity (15 minutes)

• Task: Students form 5 groups of 5.
• Each group brainstorms and lists characteristics of a smart consumer on butcher’s paper or whiteboard. Suggestions can include:
  • Researches before buying
  • Compares prices
  • Thinks about need vs want
  • Checks product reviews
  • Considers environmental effects
  • Avoids impulse buying
  • Looks for sales but avoids buying unnecessary items
• Teacher circulates to prompt deeper thinking and note concepts like budgeting, advertising influence, ethical considerations.

4. Group Presentations & Class Discussion (8 minutes)

• Each group presents their list (approx. 1.5 minutes per group).
• Teacher records main ideas on a master chart visible to the class.
• Encourage students to ask questions or add to other groups’ points.
• Emphasise key qualities that make a consumer “smart” and connect back to the economic role of consumers.

5. Summary and Reflection (2 minutes)

• Recap the learning intention and success criteria, calling out the class’ understanding of a smart consumer.
• Ask a few students to share one new thing they learned about being a smart consumer.
• Explain that this is the first of 20 lessons, and they will explore these ideas in more depth.

---

Assessment & Feedback

• Formative Assessment: Observation of group discussions and presentations for understanding of smart consumer characteristics.
• Teacher notes contributions and checks for misconceptions.
• Provide timely feedback during group brainstorming to scaffold thinking where needed.
• The master list created during presentations acts as a formative tool to guide future lessons.

---

Differentiation

• Support: Provide sentence starters on cards for students who need help contributing ideas (e.g., "A smart consumer always…", "It is important to check…").
• Extension: Challenge advanced students to consider ethical or environmental factors influencing consumer choices and explain these ideas during presentations.

---

Cross-Curriculum Priorities & General Capabilities

• Critical and Creative Thinking: Students analyse consumer influences to develop smart strategies.
• Ethical Understanding: Consider ethical consumer behaviour like sustainability and fair trade.
• Personal and Social Capability: Collaborating in groups and communicating ideas.

---

This highly structured yet interactive lesson plan aligns with the Australian Curriculum (v9) content descriptor AC9HS6K08 for Year 6 Economics and Business. It focuses on foundational understanding of consumerism and smart consumer behaviour, using carefully scaffolded group activities and discussion for engagement and deep learning. This approach supports Year 6 students’ cognitive and social development, setting strong foundations for the remainder of the "Smart Consumers: Business Basics" unit.