Encourage tinkering with ideas, relationships, connections. Set up situations where students have to find information not readily available in school texts. Provide opportunity for students to design open-ended explorations of the concept. Provide multiple options so students can plan a unique "proof" of learning.

Finger-puppet dialogues

Objective: To extend what children have learned about "scarcity" and "opportunity costs".

Activity: Distribute finger puppets to each child. Working in partners, one child will be Sally or Sam Scarcity, and the other child will be Mr. or Miss Opportunity Cost. Guide the children into creating their own dialogue between their characters, with prompting such as: What would Sally (Sam) say to Mr/Miss Opportunity Cost? How does Sam (Sally) feel about always being scarce? Does Mr/Miss Opportunity Cost like having to make choices? How can Sally (Sam) and Mr/Miss O.C. work together?

Assessment: Teacher observation of student dialogues.