Bargain Hunters

Financial understanding
In this activity, the students are learning that how they spend their money today has consequences for how “well off ” they will be now and in the future.
The Murphy family will all have different preferences and therefore may have different ideas on which are the best deals at the supermarket.
In this activity, students work out the unit price of a muesli bar to see which packet is the best value for money and discuss other factors besides price that may influence which products consumers buy. In the process, the students learn that how they spend their money today has consequences for how “well off” they will be now and in the future. Supermarkets offer many choices to customers, who therefore need to make decisions as to how they will spend their money. Having clear criteria helps shoppers not to get distracted by “freebies”, bulk discounts, advertising, and so on.
The students will negotiate with and influence others when they discuss and put forward their ideas on the benefits and risks of the various supermarket “deals”.

Mathematics and statistics
For question 1, you could use diagrams such as those on the next page to help the students visualise which calculations they need to do to work out the cost of one muesli bar (the unit price). Encourage the students at stage 7 to solve the problems using mental strategies. Those at stage 6 may need the support of place value materials, such as sticks bundled into groups of ten, beans and canisters, or money.

From these diagrams, expect responses such as “I need to divide the cost of the whole packet by the number of bars in the packet.” Using partitioning: “I partitioned the $3.24 into $3 and 24 cents. I divided $3 by 6 and then 24 cents by 6. $3 ÷ 6 is 50 cents each, and 24 cents ÷ 6 is 4 cents each. So each Muesli Munchers bar must cost 50 + 4 cents, which is 54 cents.” Making proportional adjustments: “I halved and halved again. $4.16 ÷ 8 gives the same answer as $2.08 ÷ 4, which can be halved again to $1.04 ÷ 2, which I know is 52 cents.”

Financial understanding
In question 2, the students would benefit from canvassing a wider range of opinions and information for these discussion points than can be generated from their classmates alone. It’s worthwhile to start by discussing it in your class but then to give them the opportunity to research the topics more widely and to share those extra ideas at a later time.
To familiarise the students with the vocabulary used in the questions, give each pair or small group a term from the list below and challenge them to write a definition for it in their own words that the rest of the class can easily understand and, if relevant, to give an example. Display the terms and definitions as a reference.
Terms: brand-name product, fair-trade products, bulk buying, second-hand items, online shopping, environmentally friendly products, organic products.
Get the students to work through the list in discussion groups of 3–4, thinking of their own pros and cons first. They could then choose one aspect that they would like to explore further and interview other people about their opinions and ideas. Encourage the students to find people who would be knowledgeable about the aspect they are researching, for example, the person who does the grocery shopping for their family, an organic greengrocer or farmer, or a fair-trade shop worker. If they choose to look on the Internet for ideas, talk about the sorts of key words they could put into a search engine to help them find relevant sites, for example, “fair trade”.

Mathematics and statistics
As a follow-up, you could offer the students a bargain-hunting challenge: Next time they are going to the supermarket with their families, get them to take a calculator to work out the unit prices. Some shops put the unit price in small writing on the bottom of the price label on the shelf. Their challenge is to find three items that are good bargains compared to other, similar items on the shelf and to report back to the class.
Students could pose survey questions based on the issues in question 2 to generate information to display graphically, for example: “How much cheaper would a product have to be to convince you to buy it if it was … a muesli bar that you didn’t like as much? ... a packet of muesli bars in plain packaging?”
The students could conduct an investigation based on a question generated from question 2, probing the reasons why people choose particular items when they are shopping.
For example: “Do you think that it is better to buy a brand-name product that you know is popular or a generic label that is cheaper when you are buying … cornflakes? … a pair of shoes? … a car or bike? Do factors like age and gender make a difference to the results?”

Social Sciences Links
Achievement objective:
• Understand how people make decisions about access to and use of resources (Social Studies, level 3)
The students could investigate what decisions need to be made at school about products the school is thinking about buying. Who makes these decisions? How are they made? What impact do these decisions have on students?

Other Cross-curricular Links
English achievement objective:
• Ideas: Select, form, and communicate ideas on a range of topics (Speaking, Writing, and Presenting, level 3)
Students could write a speech or a letter to the editor persuading people to consider their point of view on one of the issues in question 2. The students could debate a couple of more contentious issues about which the class is split in its opinions. You could challenge them to argue for the opposite side to that they really agree with.

Answers

1. Fruit + Fibre Bars are the cheapest: $4.16 ÷ 8 bars = $0.52 a bar.
Muesli Munchers: $3.24 ÷ 6 bars = $0.54 a bar
2. Answers will vary. Ideas may include:
a. Advantages: it costs less money.
Disadvantages: it may be an inferior product that doesn’t work as well, last as long, or taste as good; it may be made using dubious practices such as unfair wages for the people that made it (sweatshop labour); it may not have the “cool” factor of a more expensive brand.
b. Advantages: it may be a more reliable or superior product, with better after-sales back-up if something goes wrong with it; it may make you look cool to your friends.
Disadvantages: it may cost more than a similar, unbranded product that is just as or even more healthy or efficient.
c. Advantages: you know that the people who are making the product are being paid a fair wage for what they do instead of perhaps working in bad conditions for very little money.
Disadvantages: the product may cost more to buy; it may be harder to find; there may be a smaller range.
d. Advantages: the package catches your eye and makes you take a look at the product when it’s in the shop, so you might find products you didn’t know about before; it looks nice in your home, and you get something free.
Disadvantages: you probably pay more for the cost of the packaging; the price may in fact cover the cost of the “free” extras; the extra packaging may not be environmentally friendly.
e. Advantages: bulk products are often cheaper; you can stock up on items when they are on special; you have less packaging, which is environmentally friendly; you won’t run out of things as often.
Disadvantages: you might only have enough money to buy what you need for that week rather than buying ahead, so you have to go without something else; you might not have enough room to store large amounts; you might not use it before it expires or goes bad; it might be difficult to use, for example, a huge catering tin of tomato paste; or it might encourage you to use more than you normally would because you have a lot in your cupboard.
f. Advantages: they are usually cheaper, and it is environmentally friendly to recycle and reuse.
Disadvantages: you wouldn’t get the latest design or technology; the item might not work as well or might break down; you probably won’t have a warranty as you would with a new product.
g. Advantages: you can shop from the comfort of your home at any time of day; you may save time (especially if you live in a rural area or a long way from shops); you could compare prices at a range of shops easily; it may be easier to stick to your budget this way if you aren’t distracted by the sight of lots of other products around you.
Disadvantages: sometimes it’s hard to work out whether you want a product or not if you can’t see it and touch it in person; you might not find out about new products that you would see displayed in a shop; it might be harder for you to stick to a budget online, especially in online auctions when you are bidding; you might get caught out with people not sending you the things you have paid for.
h. Advantages: the products won’t have as much negative impact on our world and its resources, for example, by not using toxic chemicals or non-biodegradable packaging that fills up landfills or by using renewable resources such as specially planted pine trees instead of native rainforest timber.
Disadvantages: they may cost more; there may be less of a range to choose from; they may not work as effectively.
i. Advantages: food that is labelled as organic has to conform to certain standards and rules regarding the sorts of fertilisers and pesticides that can be used; if a product is certified as being organic, you know that it has met these standards and you can be sure about what you are eating; some people believe that organic food is healthier and tastes better.
Disadvantages: it may cost more; there may be less of a range to choose from; there may be more imperfections in organic fruit and vegetables (because they haven’t been sprayed with chemicals).

Reflective question
Answers will vary. “Shopping around” means not buying an object from the first place you see it advertised or available. It means comparing prices, quality, warranties or guarantees, availability of replacement parts, and so on. There are consumer websites that help you to do these comparisons.
Advantages: you can choose the best deal, product, or price out of those you have compared; you can get an overview of the product range available so that you can choose the one that is best for your needs; sometimes you can use information that you find out to get a better deal somewhere else if you ask them to match a competitor’s price; you can compare and weigh up other factors that are important to you, like the product being organic or made using fair-trade principles.
Disadvantages: shopping around is time-consuming and takes a lot more effort than just buying the first one that you see (which might turn out to be the best value and quality after all that searching around!); you might take so long doing it that you miss out on a special deal or sale; the product might be sold out when you go back to buy it.