LESSON 4: WIDGET PRODUCTION:
Producing More, Using Less
(A lesson extension for "Widget Production" from Master Curriculum Guide in Economics: Teaching Strategies 5-6)
Teachers' Version

Grades 4-6

Introduction

Productivity is a measurement of output resulting from the use of an input. Today, we frequently hear about the productivity of American labor compared to the productivity of workers in other countries. How is productivity measured? The most commonly reported statistic is average product-a ratio of total output to the units of input (in this case, labor) for a specified time period.

Producers are continually interested in increasing the productivity of labor and other inputs. An increase in productivity occures when a given amount of inputs can produce more output. An increase in productivity also occurs when fewer inputs produce the same output. Three methods of increasing productivity are specialization and division of labor, investment in capital resources, and investment in human capital (education and training). Throughout history individuals have identified problems and created inventions that would increase productivity and ultimately benefit consumers and producers.

Content Standard: 15

Investment in factories, machinery, new technology, and the health, education, and training of people can raise future standards of living.

Concepts:

• Craftsperson
• Specialists
• Productivity
• Increasing productivity
• Division of labor
• Specialization
• Investment

Objectives:

• List different strategies for increasing productivity.
• Explain how increases in productivity have improved the production process.
• Explain the impact of increasing productivity on consumers and producers.
• Identify a situation where an increase in productivity could alleviate a problem.
• Identify various industries that have emerged due to a new invention.

Lesson Description

In the first part of the lesson students take a quiz to review the major concepts taught in Lesson 7, "Widget Production," from Master Curriculum Guide in Economics: Teaching Strategies 5-6. Students then search the web for examples of the many ways productivity has been increased over the years. Students can listen to an interview with Adam Silver about increasing productivity and its importance to them. Finally, they identify a situation where an increase in productivity could alleviate a problem and create a way to solve this problem analyzing the costs and benefits.

Time Required:

Two to three class periods

Materials:

Access to computers and the Internet.

Procedures

Part I

1. Teach Lesson 7, "Widget Production," from Master Curriculum Guide in Economics: Teaching Strategies 5-6.
2. Have students review the concepts learned in the lesson by taking the productivity quiz.
3. Review the answers to the quiz. (1-d, 2-c, 3-a, 4-e, 5-b, 6-b, 7-a, 8-b, 9-a)

Part II

1. Point out to students that in "Widget Production," they participated in a simulation to learn about different ways to increase productivity. Now they will learn about some actual methods and inventions used to increase productivity throughout the 1800's and 1900's.
2. Divide students into groups of three. Assign each group one of the following inventors:
   • Alexander Graham Bell
   • Henry Ford
   • John Deere
   • Eli Whitney
   • Elijah McCoy
   • Chester F. Carlson
   • Grace Murray Hopper
   • Tim Berners-Lee
   • Jacob Rabinow
   • Bette Nesmith Graham
3. Direct students to http://web.mit.edu/invent/www/archive.html.
4. Instruct groups to use the Internet to locate answers to the following questions for their assigned inventor.
   1. What did your inventor invent?
   2. What problem did this invention solve?
   3. How did this invention increase productivity?
   4. What was the impact of increasing productivity?
   5. What new industries or businesses evolved as a result of this invention?
5. Allow time for groups to share information about their inventors and the answers to the discussion questions.
6. Have students write a generalization about the impact these inventions had on productivity and the impact on consumers and producers.
   [All the inventions increased productivity which decreased cost of production of additional units of output which usually leads to larger profits for producers, higher wages for workers, and lower prices for consumers.]
7. Instruct students to listen to an interview with Adam Silver to learn more about productivity.

Part III

1. Help students see that sometimes inventions never become marketable products. To learn about one of these inventions, The Self-Waiting Table, direct students to the web site: http://colitz.com/site/wacky/wackyold.htm for a picture of the self-waiting table and http://colitz.com/site/55677/55677f.htm for a description.
2. Discuss the following:
   • What was the purpose of the self-waiting table?
     (Individuals could serve themselves and food would be kept hot by a lamp. Dirty dishes would be carried off into the kitchen.)
   • How would this invention increase productivity?
     (Only two servants were required to serve 150 people. More people served with less workers.)
   • What would be a cost of using the self-waiting table in your home or a restaurant today? What would be a benefit?
     (It was large and dinner guests would find it hard to talk with each other. Less workers would be needed and guests could select the food they wanted.)
   • Restaurants today do not use the self-waiting table. What do they do that is similar to increase productivity?
     (Self-serving buffets, take-out food)

Part IV

1. Divide students into pairs.
2. Instruct pairs to identify a situation where an increase in productivity could alleviate a problem in their school, home, or community and create a way to increase productivity to solve this problem.
3. If students need guidance, suggest the following productivity problems:
   • How to make your bed faster in the morning.
   • How to speed up the long lines of students waiting to buy lunch in the cafeteria.
   • How to wash dinner dishes in less time.
   • How to eliminate traffic jams on the highways during morning rush hour traffic.
4. Tell students that they are to prepare a final written report that includes the following information:
   • Statement of the problem
   • Explanation of how their invention solves the problem and increases productivity
   • Model or drawing of their invention and description of how it works
   • List the costs and benefits of implementing their invention to solve the problem
5. Allow time for students to share their inventions and present their reports.

Extensions

Rube Goldberg Inventions

1. Tell students that Rube Goldberg was a Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist, sculptor, and author. Through his 'inventions', Rube Goldberg discovered harder ways to achieve easy results. He believed that there were two ways to do things, the simple and the hard way, and that many people preferred doing things the hard way.
2. Direct students to the Rube Goldberg web site:
   http://www.rube-goldberg.com/html/gallery.htm
3. Tell students to look at examples of Rube Goldberg's inventions.
4. Challenge students to select one of Rube Goldberg's inventions and create a more efficient solution for the problem.
5. Tell students that a Rube Goldberg Machine Contest is held yearly. To see past problems and information on the contest go to:
   http://www.rube-goldberg.com/html/contest.htm

Homer Price, a Literature Connection

1. Have students read the chapter, "The Doughnuts," in Homer Price by Robert McCloskey.
2. Discuss the following:
   • What machines did Uncle Homer buy for his luncheonette? (automatic toasters, automatic coffee maker, automatic dish washer, and an automatic doughnut maker) Point out to students that these inventions are commonplace today but when the book was first published in 1943, they were not products used in homes or businesses.)
   • Why was he interested in all these machines? (These machines saved him time.)
   • How did these machines increase productivity in the luncheonette? (He and his workers were able to serve more customers in less time using the labor saving devices.)
3. Teach the lesson on "The Doughnuts" in Economics and Children's Literature (SPEC Publishers, Inc., St. Louis, MO, 1993).