Goods and Services Simulation

Student Activities

Students will create an economic system that produces raw resources to create products that their classmates will purchase from stores.

1. Students begin by creating a house in the starter world while playing in creative mode. As all blocks are available during this time, there is no concept of scarcity. Use this as an opportunity to compare creative mode to the real world. When resources are limited, we are forced to make decisions. Producers make decisions about what to produce, which in turn causes consumers to make decisions about what to consume.
2. Assign groups of students to work at the various production/service zones in the starter town. Students can be paid a wage for their work (choose some form of in-game currency, such as gold nuggets). This money can be used later in the simulation.
   • Students can work in the agricultural sector harvesting crops or tend to livestock. Here students experience the production of a variety of foodstuffs and maintaining the stock of animals and crops to ensure the future success of the farm. Students may decide to expand the farm as they make predictions about the needs and wants of the community.
   • Employment can be found at the lumber yard chopping down trees and processing the wood into planks. Here students can understand the environmental impact of deforestation and of managing a sustainable flow of lumber. Also, they can make predictions about the demand for different kinds of wood that may occur in the simulated community.
   • The community also includes a working mine. Here students experience the life of a miner as they prospect for various ore and rock resources. The miners will also process the ores into usable resources for the community.The town includes a central warehouse, as well as an automated delivery system. This automatic cart system delivers goods from the farm, lumber yard, and mine to the warehouse. Students that work here will sort the goods as they are delivered, making later distribution more efficient.
   • Students will study the available resources and their relationship to each other (see resources sections) and will decide on a product to create and sell to the community. Students will gather resources from the warehouse, and produce others that are not available if necessary.Students will create a store to sell their chosen good to the community. Students can take this opportunity to work in creative mode as the design and construct an eye-catching and persuasive presence in the downtown area of the community. Students will fill their stores with their produced good(s) and set a price. Finally, students can go on a shopping spree using the money earned during part 2 of the simulation, as well as money earned in their own stores.

Creative Credit:

• Inspiration taken from the book "How Did That Get In My Lunchbox?" by Chris Butterworth
• Barn design inspired by YouTube user "TheN11cK"
• Automatic loading/unloading cart system inspired by YouTube user "NanoRex"
• The creator of the original starter world