Are We Paying Too Much

Use this classroom activity to build financial literacy and explore the increasing costs of goods/services.

The activity is based on the article ‘America’s favorite family outings are increasingly out of reach’ (read here) by Zachary Crockett, published on The Hustle in July 2022.

1. Have students read the ‘Baseball Games’ section of the article.

2. Then, have students answer the following questions:
– How much did it cost a family of 4 to go to a baseball game in 1960? (ANSWER: $10.35)
– What is the ‘2022 equivalent’ of this cost in 1960? (ANSWER: $102.23)
– How much does it actually cost a family of 4 to go to a baseball game in 2022? (ANSWER: $204.76)

3. Have students read the ‘Movies’ section of the article.

4. Then, have students answer the following questions:
– How much did it cost a family of 4 to go to the movies in 1960? (ANSWER: $3.76)
– What is the ‘2022 equivalent’ of this cost in 1960? (ANSWER: $34.15)
– How much does it actually cost a family of 4 to go to the movies in 2022? (ANSWER: $68.73)

5. Have students read the ‘Disneyland’ section of the article.

6. Then, have students answer the following questions:
– How much did it cost a family of 4 to go to Disneyland in 1960? (ANSWER: $36.45)
– What is the ‘2022 equivalent’ of this cost in 1960? (ANSWER: $359.96)
– How much does it actually cost a family of 4 to go to Disneyland in 2022? (ANSWER: $1055)

7. REFLECT: What problem(s) does this article present?

8. IDEATION – Put a 3 minute timer on the board and advise students that the class is now transitioning into ideation conditions. Then, have students ideate ways that this problem could be solved in groups of 3-4. Reward the group with the most ideas!