Price mechanism

Demand and Supply in action - Bumper strawberry crop

Another great demand and supply in action story to help you revise. Here we see the weather affecting the supply of strawberries (W in PINTSWC). Due to the excellent weather in the UK in April there has been a bumper crop of strawberries already. This is excellent news for British firms as their sales have increased significantly.

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Super Starter Sunday - Supply and demand special

This has been a fantastic week to teach supply and demand as there have been so many stories in the news that could be used as examples. This super starter has bought them all together and would work as a great starter where the pupils have to guess the news stories using the pictures or could be used as the basis of a whole supply and demand lesson. I am going to ask my students to draw a supply and demand diagram for each example and show whether there is a shift in supply or demand.

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Stamps to go up by 3p - Price elasticity of demand

The Royal Mail has decided to increase the price of first class stamps by 3p due to a huge hole in their finances. They are hoping the proposal will rake in an extra £100 million pounds a year. Whether this tactic is successful depends on the price elasticity of demand for the stamp. Consumer Focus believe the new prices would drive away customers meaning demand would be price elastic where as the Royal Mail obviously believe demand is price inelastic as they expect to increase revenue with the price change. Click read more for some questions on PED that would suit both GCSE and A level students.

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Video starter for a lesson on the law of supply

Soon it will be time again to introduce the supply and demand diagram to your Year 10 students. I’ve always noticed pupils find the law of demand (as the price of a good or service increases, demand falls), much easier than law of supply (as the price of a good or service increases, supply will increase). This video from the BBC shows that oil producers have less incentive to extract new reserves when the price of oil is lower. It would be a great starter for the first lesson on supply.

Cash for gold

If, like me, you found yourself watching far too much daytime TV over the holidays, you may have noticed advert after advert imploring you to send your unwanted gold (even teeth!) to a company in return for cash. Interest in companies like this has soared during the recession as people struggle to cope. H. Samuel has just entered the market, hoping their recognised brand name will entice customers. Can any of your pupils think of other industries which will do well during a recession?

Are we ready for Wimbledon?

As the start of Wimbledon approaches not only will we be thinking of watching great tennis but also eating strawberries and cream (complementary goods).

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