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Economics and Business

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  1. 5-6
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Levels 5 and 6

Levels 5 and 6 Description

In Levels 5 and 6, students explore the importance of economic and financial decision-making in everyday life. They consider the concept of opportunity cost and examine why decisions about the ways resources are allocated to meet needs and wants in their community involve trade-offs.

Students examine the choices made by consumers and businesses arising from the concept of scarcity. The limited...

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Levels 5 and 6 Content Descriptions

Resource Allocation and Making Choices

  1. Describe the difference between needs and wants and explain why choices need to be made (VCEBR001)
    Elaborations
    1. listing all the items individuals would like to have and categorising these items as a need or a want
    2. explaining why individuals cannot have all the items they want and therefore must make a choice (scarcity)
    3. discussing whether one person’s need is another person’s need or want
  2. Explore the concept of opportunity cost and explain how it involves choices about the alternative use of limited resources and the need to consider trade-offs (VCEBR002)
    Elaborations
    1. explaining why when one choice is made about how to use a resource, the next best alternative is not available (trade-off). For example, if a student chooses to spend their time (resource) riding their bike after school, they cannot go for a swim (trade-off)
  3. Identify types of resources (natural, human, capital) and explore the ways societies use them in order to satisfy the needs and wants of present and future generations (VCEBR003)
    Elaborations
    1. brainstorming resources that are used in their school and categorising them as natural (water, coal, oil), human (workers, business owners, designing, making, thinking) and capital (tools, machines, technologies)
    2. listing the needs and wants of a local community and exploring the ways resources are allocated to meet these needs and wants

Consumer and Financial Literacy

  1. Identify influences on consumer choices and explore strategies that can be used to help make informed personal consumer and financial choices (VCEBC004)
    Elaborations
    1. identifying examples of goods and services purchased and listing and explaining the factors that influenced their decision, for example, price, fashion, peer pressure, advertising, taste
    2. identifying the variety of selling and advertising strategies used by businesses, for example, television and internet advertising and email promotions
    3. exploring the strategies that can be used when making consumer and financial decisions, for example, comparing prices, keeping a record of money spent, saving for the future
  2. Consider the effect that the consumer and financial decisions of individuals may have on themselves, their family, the broader community and the natural, economic and business environment (VCEBC005)
    Elaborations
    1. exploring how a decision to buy an item affects the family, for example, ‘Did the family have to put off buying another item to have this one?’ or 'Does what my family buys in the supermarket affect what businesses might sell or produce?'
    2. explaining the benefits to themselves and their family of having savings and/or a strategy for saving
    3. investigating whether buying at the local supermarket helps the local community
    4. considering if their actions have an effect on the environment, for example, does choosing to use recycling shopping bags have an effect on the natural environment?

The Business Environment

  1. Identify the reasons businesses exist and investigate the different ways they produce and distribute goods and services (VCEBB006)
    Elaborations
    1. identifying why businesses exist and investigating the different ways that goods and services are produced, for example, hand-crafted, large and small scale businesses, and distributed, for example, through shopping centres, local markets, online, small independent stores, remote community stores
    2. explaining the difference between not-for-profit and for-profit businesses
    3. identifying different industry sectors, such as agriculture, information, tourism, telecommunications, and discussing what they produce or provide

Work and Work Futures

  1. Explore the nature and meaning of work and why individuals choose to participate in work (VCEBW007)
    Elaborations
    1. exploring types of work, for example, full-time, part-time, casual, paid, unpaid, volunteer
    2. investigating the reasons people work, for example, by conducting a class survey of parents’ and/or friends’ reasons for working
  2. Investigate the influences on the ways people work and explore factors affecting work now and into the future (VCEBW008)
    Elaborations
    1. investigating the effect factors such as online shopping, technological change or outsourcing of labour, have on the way work is conducted
    2. mapping the trend of the ageing population and predicting possible future effects on the workforce
    3. exploring changing societal values on work and the work environment such as work-life balance and working from home

Enterprising Behaviours and Capabilities

  1. Investigate the nature and explain the importance of enterprising behaviours and capabilities (VCEBN009)
    Elaborations
    1. investigating behaviours that are considered enterprising and why, for example, taking initiative in classroom activities to help propose actions to economics or business issues or events
    2. brainstorming the reasons why enterprising behaviours and capabilities are important for individuals and businesses
    3. using a mindmap to plan how they might use their enterprising behaviours and capabilities in classroom or school activities
    4. developing an innovative response when faced with a challenge or problem
    5. practising a range of enterprising behaviours in setting up a class activity, for example, the class running a lunchtime disco to raise money for their school

Economic and Business Reasoning and Interpretation

  1. Make decisions, identify appropriate actions by considering the advantages and disadvantages, and form conclusions concerning an economics or business issue or event (VCEBE010)
    Elaborations
    1. weighing up options involved in a decision, for example, purchasing a phone by comparing the advantages and disadvantages of each available option
    2. making an individual purchasing decision based on an analysis of the trade-offs involved
    3. identifying the effect of consumers purchasing items from a range of sources on local businesses, for example, ‘What is the effect on the local shopping centre if consumers purchase more goods online rather than in local shops?’
    4. taking action to share their findings with audiences beyond the classroom, such as presenting at a school assembly, writing a letter to the editor of the local newspaper or their local member of parliament

Levels 5 and 6 Achievement Standard

By the end of Level 6, students distinguish between needs and wants and recognise that choices need to be made when allocating resources. They recognise that consumer choices and financial decisions are influenced by a range of factors and describe the effects of these choices and decisions on themselves, their family, others, the economy and the natural, economic and business environments. Students identify strategies that will assist in making informed consumer and financial decisions. They explain the purpose of business and recognise the different ways that businesses choose to provide goods and services. Students outline the many reasons why people work and describe the changing nature of work. They describe the nature of enterprising behaviours and capabilities and explain why these behaviours are important for individuals and businesses. Students outline the advantages and disadvantages of proposed actions in response to an economics and/or business issue or event and identify the possible effects of their decisions on themselves and others.