D2.Eco.2.6-8: Weighing Solutions to Economic Issues by Their Benefits and Costs
In plain English: D2.Eco.2.6-8 is the C3 Framework economics indicator for grades 6-8 that asks students to evaluate alternative approaches or solutions to current economic issues in terms of benefits and costs for different groups and society as a whole. Students compare options side by side, ask who gains and who pays, and judge which choice is best overall.
Evaluate alternative approaches or solutions to current economic issues in terms of benefits and costs for different groups and society as a whole.
C3 Framework for Social Studies (NCSS) · Dimension 2: Applying Disciplinary Concepts and Tools · Discipline: Economics · Economic Decision Making · Official standard
D2.Eco.2.6-8 asks students to evaluate two or more ways of dealing with a current economic issue by comparing their benefits (gains) and costs (what is paid or given up) for different groups and for society as a whole. Students learn that an approach can be good for society overall and still hurt one group, and that two approaches with the same total can spread gains and losses very differently (Diagram 1).
The issue in this lesson is wasted food, a real and current economic issue: food that people paid to grow, ship and buy ends up in landfills, which towns pay to use. Students read part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Wasted Food Scale (Source 1), which ranks ways to handle wasted food by their environmental effects, and then compare four invented approaches for a fictional town (Source 2 and Diagram 2) by cost, results and who gains and pays.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
Define benefits, costs, groups and society as a whole, and use them to describe an economic issue
Identify the benefits and costs of each alternative approach for at least three groups
Compare approaches with simple numbers, such as cost per ton or total savings
Explain how an approach can help society as a whole while costing one group
Make and defend a recommendation that weighs benefits and costs for groups and for society
Prior Knowledge Required
Students should already be comfortable with:
Explaining how economic decisions affect individuals, businesses and society D2.Eco.1.6-8
Dividing to find a unit rate, such as dollars per ton 6.RP.A.2
Citing evidence from a source to support an answer RH.6-8.1
"Think about the food that gets thrown away at your home or at school in one week. Who paid for that food? Who pays to haul it away? Write down one idea for wasting less."
List students' ideas on the board. For each idea, ask, "Who would gain? Who would pay or do extra work?" Tell students that an economic issue is a problem about how people use scarce resources such as money, food, land and time. D2.Eco.2.6-8 asks them to compare different solutions to such an issue by their benefits and costs for different groups and for society as a whole.
Direct Instruction15-20 minutes
Key terms for D2.Eco.2.6-8 (working definitions)
Term
Meaning
Example
Alternative approaches
Two or more different ways to deal with the same problem
Fix an old bridge, or build a new one
Benefit
A gain: money saved or earned, time saved, better health, a cleaner place
Shorter waits for customers
Cost
Anything paid or given up: money, time, work, comfort, an opportunity
Taxes, extra chores, lost sales
Group
People affected in the same way, such as buyers, sellers, workers, taxpayers or neighbors
Families who shop downtown
Society as a whole
Everyone together: all the benefits minus all the costs, added across groups
A town's total gain from a new park
Cost per unit
Total cost divided by the amount achieved, used to compare approaches fairly
Dollars for each ton of trash removed
Part 1: A four-step evaluation. (1) Name the issue and the approaches. (2) List the groups affected. (3) For each approach, list benefits and costs for each group, with numbers where possible. (4) Judge: which approach is best for society as a whole, and is it fair to every group? Show Diagram 1: two plans can give society the same total and still treat groups very differently.
Part 2: Worked examples. Work these with the class. All four are invented.
Two approaches to a shortage of summer jobs (invented)
A town worries that teens cannot find summer jobs. Approach 1: pay local businesses $500 for each teen they hire; officials expect 60 hires. Approach 2: the town hires 20 teens directly for park work, 200 hours each at $12 an hour. What does each cost the town, and who gains or pays?
Result: Approach 1: 60 x $500 = $30,000 for 60 jobs. Approach 2: 20 x 200 x $12 = $48,000 for 20 jobs. Approach 1 reaches more teens for less money, and businesses gain cheaper help; but some businesses might have hired those teens anyway, and adult workers might lose hours. Approach 2 costs more per teen but also gives the town cleaner parks. Taxpayers pay for both.
Two approaches to rising school-supply prices (invented)
Families complain that a school-supply list now costs $40. Approach 1: a free supply swap run by volunteers. Approach 2: the parent group buys supplies in bulk and sells kits at cost, which saves 30% for each of 400 students. How much do families save with Approach 2, and who pays a cost?
Result: 30% of $40 = $12 a student; $12 x 400 = $4,800 saved by families. Volunteers give their time to pack kits, and local stores lose some back-to-school sales. The swap costs no money, but it depends on families donating supplies in good condition and on volunteers' time.
Society as a whole compared with groups (Diagram 1, invented)
A town wants more people to shop downtown. Plan X, free Saturday parking: shoppers gain $6,000 a year, shops gain $5,000 in profit, the town budget loses $9,000 in parking fees. Plan Y, a monthly street fair: shops gain $7,000, shoppers gain $1,000, the town pays $5,000 for staff and cleanup, and neighbors bear about $1,000 of noise and traffic. Which plan is better for society as a whole?
Result: Plan X: 6 + 5 - 9 = +2, so +$2,000. Plan Y: 7 + 1 - 5 - 1 = +2, also +$2,000. The totals are equal, so the choice depends on the groups: Plan X helps shoppers most and costs the town budget more; Plan Y helps shops most and asks neighbors to bear a cost. Students must explain which spread they think is fairer.
Cost per unit and hidden costs (invented)
Two ways to cut litter at a lake beach: Approach 1, more trash cans emptied every day, costs $9,600 a year and removes about 40 bags of litter a month. Approach 2, volunteer cleanup days, costs $1,800 a year for supplies and removes about 25 bags a month. Compare the cost per bag.
Result: Approach 1: 40 x 12 = 480 bags; $9,600 / 480 = $20 a bag. Approach 2: 25 x 12 = 300 bags; $1,800 / 300 = $6 a bag. Approach 2 looks cheaper, but the town's budget leaves out a hidden cost: the volunteers' time. It also removes less litter. A good evaluation names costs that are not in the budget.
Teacher tip. Students often stop at "Approach 2 is cheaper." Push for the other parts of the standard: cheaper for whom, what does each group give up, and what does society as a whole gain? A fair answer can recommend a more expensive approach if it explains why the extra benefits are worth the extra cost.
Guided Practice15 minutes
What science says about wasted food. Context note: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the federal agency that protects human health and the environment. Its Wasted Food Scale ranks ways to handle food that would otherwise be thrown away. Source 1 is part of the EPA's web page about the scale; it is real government information, not invented. Read Source 1 aloud with the class. Glossary: "prioritizes" (puts first), "divert" (send somewhere else), "pathway" (a way of handling something), "tier" (a level or row), "circular economy" (an economy that reuses materials instead of throwing them away), "municipal solid waste" (everyday trash from homes, schools and businesses), "methane" (a gas that traps heat in the atmosphere), "compost" (decayed food scraps and plant matter used to enrich soil), "organic" (from living things).
1The Wasted Food Scale prioritizes actions that prevent and divert wasted food from disposal. Tiers of the scale highlight different pathways for preventing or managing wasted food, arranged in order from most preferred on the top left to least preferred on the top right. Within a given tier, pathways are ranked equally.
2The most preferred pathways – prevent wasted food, donate and upcycle food – offer the most benefits to the environment and to a circular economy. These “top” pathways prioritize using food for its intended purpose: to nourish people. The least preferred pathways – landfilling, incineration, and sending food down the drain – have the largest environmental impacts and have limited potential for circularity. [...]
[...]
3This scale does not consider economic and social factors.
[...]
4Preventing food from going to waste in the first place is the most environmentally beneficial option on the Wasted Food Scale. When food is wasted, all the resources that went into producing, processing, distributing, and preparing that food are wasted too. [...]
[...]
5Wholesome food that goes unsold or uneaten can be rescued, donated, or redistributed to feed people. This pathway includes food from across the food supply chain, from produce gleaned from farm fields to shelf-stable goods at a grocery store to extra meals prepared at a cafeteria. Donating food is one of the most preferred pathways because it ensures that food and the resources used to produce it are not wasted. When food is donated, it is used for its intended purpose which is to nourish people. [...]
[...]
6Composting is the managed, aerobic (oxygen-required) biological decomposition of organic (carbon-based) materials by microorganisms. Composting wasted food with other organic materials like yard trim produces an end product called compost - a valuable, biologically-stable soil amendment. It can be used to build soil health, increase soil water retention, and reduce soil erosion. [...]
[...]
7EPA estimates that in the U.S., 24 percent of material in municipal solid waste landfills is food. Landfilling is one of the least preferred pathways because wasted food in landfills generates methane, a powerful and short-lived greenhouse gas. Because wasted food decays relatively rapidly, most of the methane it emits avoids capture by landfill gas collection systems. Wasted food has an outsized impact on landfill methane emissions: it is responsible for 58 percent of landfill methane emissions to the atmosphere. Also, the valuable nutrients in wasted food are not recovered when landfilled. [...]
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Wasted Food Scale (Source 1: how EPA ranks ways to handle wasted food) (2026). US government work (17 U.S.C. 105). Source text.
The top and the bottom. Prompt: which pathways does paragraph 2 call most preferred, and which least preferred? Teacher note: most preferred are preventing wasted food, donating it and upcycling it; least preferred are landfilling, incinerating (burning) and sending food down the drain.
What the scale leaves out. Prompt: read paragraph 3. What does an economist need to add before choosing a solution? Teacher note: "This scale does not consider economic and social factors," so it says nothing about what each pathway costs, who pays, or who gains jobs or meals. That is the work of D2.Eco.2.6-8.
Questions an economist would ask. Pairs list the pathways named in Source 1 from most to least preferred, then write one question an economist would ask about each, for example "Who pays for it?" or "Who does the extra work?" Keep the lists for Activity 2.
Independent Practice15 minutes
Four approaches for one town. Source 2 is an invented scenario with invented numbers, written for this page. Students read it on their own, then study the summary table and Diagram 2.
1Invented scenario, written for this page. Willow Springs is a fictional town of 20,000 people in about 7,500 households. Each year its trash trucks carry about 2,000 tons of wasted food (1 ton = 2,000 pounds) to the county landfill, which charges the town $55 for every ton it buries. The town council has asked residents to compare four approaches.
2Approach A: Food rescue. The town would pay $36,000 a year for a part-time driver and a refrigerated van to pick up unsold food from the town's four grocery stores and deliver it to the food bank. Planners expect it to rescue about 120 tons of food a year. Store managers say their staff would need training to set food aside safely.
3Approach B: Curbside compost. A hauler would collect food scraps every week from all 7,500 households and turn them into compost at a farm outside town. The contract would cost the town $360,000 a year and keep about 600 tons of food a year out of the landfill. Households would sort scraps into a small green bin.
4Approach C: "Plan, Shop, Save." The town would spend $20,000 a year on school lessons, store displays and fridge magnets that teach families to plan meals and store food so it lasts. Planners estimate that families would waste about 60 tons less food a year. Food costs families about $2.50 a pound on average.
5Approach D: Keep things as they are. The town keeps paying the landfill fee and spends nothing new.
SVHS (invented scenario written for this page), Four Approaches in Willow Springs (Source 2: invented scenario). Original passage written for this page.
Willow Springs approaches at a glance (invented data)
Approach
Yearly cost to the town
Tons of food kept out of the landfill each year
Who does the extra work
A: Food rescue
$36,000
about 120
A driver; grocery staff set food aside
B: Curbside compost
$360,000
about 600
A hauler; households sort scraps
C: Plan, Shop, Save
$20,000
about 60
Teachers, stores and families
D: Keep things as they are
$0 new
0
No one
Invented data for Source 2. The landfill charges $55 a ton; 1 ton = 2,000 pounds.
Students answer on their own, without calculators for now: (1) List at least five groups that one or more of the approaches would affect. (2) Which pathway on EPA's scale does each of Approaches A, B and C match? (3) Which approach could start the soonest, and what might slow down each of the others? Collect the answers; Quiz questions 6-14 and 16-20 use Source 2.
Closure10 minutes
Exit ticket: "The cheapest approach is always the best one." Agree or disagree in two sentences, using one group from Source 2 in your answer.
Teacher note on the sources: Source 1 is quoted exactly from the EPA web page, including its dashes and curly quotation marks, as last updated in September 2026; check the page for later changes. Source 2 and all worked examples are invented, and their numbers are realistic estimates, not data from a real town. Wasted food is a nonpartisan issue, but local choices about compost fees or store rules can be debated; the lesson presents each approach's benefits and costs without telling students which to choose.
Differentiation Strategies
For Struggling Students
Give a partly filled decision matrix for Source 2, with the groups already listed down the side
Provide sentence frames: "Approach ___ helps ___ because ___. It costs ___ because ___."
Let students use a calculator and a worked model of one cost-per-ton calculation before trying another
For Advanced Students
Design a fifth approach for Willow Springs, estimate its cost and tons, and add it to the matrix
Research whether your own town or county collects food scraps, and describe who pays and who gains
Find out whether a food bank near you accepts unsold food from grocery stores, and list the groups whose work makes that possible
Assessment Guidance
What to Look For
Strong answers compare at least two approaches, name specific groups (not just "people"), give both benefits and costs for each group, use numbers correctly, and reach a judgment about society as a whole that is fair to the groups that pay. Watch for three gaps: comparing only total cost; listing benefits but no costs; and treating the town budget as the only cost, which leaves out time, work and comfort.
02
Classroom Activities
3 Activities
1
Approach Showdown
15 minPairs
Each pair takes 3 issue cards. For each card, the pair fills in a decision matrix: the two approaches across the top, at least three groups down the side, and a + (benefit) or - (cost) with a short reason in each box. Then the pair picks one approach and writes one sentence about society as a whole.
The 3 Issue Cards (invented)
The town's only urgent-care clinic has two-hour waits. Approach 1: the town pays to keep it open three more evenings a week. Approach 2: a free nurse phone line that helps people decide whether they need to come in.
Youth sports fees have gone up. Approach 1: the league raises money with a yearly community fair. Approach 2: the league asks the town for a grant from the parks budget.
Many school buses run half empty while some routes are crowded. Approach 1: redraw the routes. Approach 2: buy two more buses.
Sample Answer for the Teacher (Card 3)
Redrawing routes costs little money but may lengthen some students' rides (a cost to those families) and takes planners' time. Buying buses shortens rides but costs taxpayers the price of the buses, drivers and fuel. For society as a whole, many pairs will prefer redrawing first because it uses buses the district already owns. Accept other reasoned answers.
Discussion Questions
On which card was the cheapest approach not the best one? Why?
Which group appeared on all three cards? Why do you think that is?
Modification for English Learners
Give the key-term table from Direct Instruction with pictures and home-language translations, and let pairs use + and - symbols with one-word reasons.
2
Willow Springs Town Meeting
20 minGroups of 6
Each group member takes a role card and speaks for one minute about Approaches A-D in Source 2. The group then acts as the council: with a budget of $60,000 a year for new spending, it votes on one approach or a combination and writes a short statement explaining the vote.
The 6 Role Cards
A grocery store manager
The food bank's director
A parent on a tight family budget
A member of a taxpayers' group
The owner of the compost farm outside town
A resident who lives near the landfill
Steps
Each member writes what the role would gain and lose under each approach, using Sources 1 and 2.
Members speak in role, one minute each.
The group drops its roles, checks the budget and votes. The statement must name a benefit and a cost for at least three groups and say how society as a whole is affected.
Discussion Questions
Which role had the most to gain or lose? Did that role's voice count more in your vote? Should it?
Did your group change its mind after hearing the roles? Why?
Note
This is a classroom simulation. Students do not contact any real council or official.
3
Lunch Leftovers Tally
15 minSmall groups, then whole class
With the cafeteria staff's permission, groups observe one lunch period and tally untouched items left on trays (whole fruit, unopened milk, sealed snacks), without handling any food. Back in class, they propose two approaches to reduce the waste and evaluate each for at least three groups.
Tally Sheet Columns
Item (for example, whole apple, unopened milk)
Number seen left on trays
Could it be shared, saved or donated? (yes, no, not sure)
Evaluation Questions
Name two approaches, for example a share table for sealed items or letting students choose smaller portions.
For each, list a benefit and a cost for students, cafeteria staff and the school budget.
Which approach is better for the school as a whole? Explain.
Safety and Privacy Note
Students observe and count only; they do not touch, collect or weigh food. Follow the school's food-safety rules, and do not record which students left which items. A teacher can supply an invented tally instead.
03
Diagrams & Visual Aids
2 diagrams
Diagram 1: Equal Totals, Different Winners and Losers
Diverging bars, drawn to scale, for the invented downtown example in Direct Instruction. Green bars are benefits and red bars are costs for each group, in dollars per year. Both plans give society as a whole +$2,000 a year, but they spread benefits and costs across groups differently.
Tons of food each approach in Source 2 would keep out of the landfill each year, drawn to scale, with each approach's yearly cost to the town. All numbers are invented for this page.
04
Homework Assignment
~30 min
D2.Eco.2.6-8 Homework: Comparing Approaches
Directions: Part 1 uses new invented issues and one issue from your own community. Part 2 uses Sources 1 and 2 in the lesson plan. Show your arithmetic and name at least three groups for each approach.
Part 1: New Issues (Problems 1-3)
Invented example: a small town's only pharmacy may close. Approach 1: the town gives the owner a $50,000 grant each year to stay open. Approach 2: the town pays $12,000 a year for a weekly delivery service from a pharmacy in the next town. About 400 older residents rely on the pharmacy. (a) What does each approach cost per older resident each year? (b) Name a benefit and a cost of each approach for two groups other than the older residents.
Invented example: a youth soccer league's fee rose from $80 to $120. Approach 1: add a $10 fee for each of the 300 players in the adult league to pay for scholarships. Approach 2: replace paid referees with trained volunteer referees. (a) How much would Approach 1 raise, and how many full $120 scholarships would that pay for? (b) Which groups gain and which pay under each approach?
Describe a current economic issue in your community or school (no names). Give two approaches, and for each list a benefit and a cost for three groups. Then say which approach is better for society as a whole, and why.
Part 2: Willow Springs and EPA (Problems 4-6)
Suppose Willow Springs adopts both Approach A and Approach C. (a) What would they cost together each year, and how many tons would they keep out of the landfill? (b) How much would the town save in landfill fees? (c) What is the yearly cost after those savings?
Approach D keeps things as they are. (a) What does the town pay the landfill now for 2,000 tons a year? (b) If the town adopted Approaches A, B and C together, how many tons would still go to the landfill, and what would the fee be? (c) Is the saving worth the extra spending? Explain.
Write a letter of 6-8 sentences to the Willow Springs council (a classroom letter, not to be sent) recommending one approach or combination. Use at least one idea from Source 1, at least two numbers from Source 2, and a benefit and a cost for three groups and for society as a whole.
Rubric
Criterion
Full Credit (2 pts)
Partial Credit (1 pt)
No Credit (0 pts)
Groups
Benefits and costs for three or more specific groups
One or two groups, or groups named without effects
No groups
Benefits and Costs
Both benefits and costs for every approach, including costs outside the budget
Benefits or costs only
Neither
Math
Problems 1, 2, 4 and 5 correct with work
One or two errors
Work missing
Judgment
A clear recommendation about society as a whole, fair to the groups that pay
A recommendation with thin reasons
No recommendation
05
Quiz: 20 Questions
Interactive, with answers
Instructions
Questions 1-5 and 15 use Source 1 (EPA's Wasted Food Scale) in Guided Practice. Questions 6-14 and 16-20 use Source 2, the invented Willow Springs scenario, and its table in Independent Practice. Your score updates as you answer, and Reset quiz clears everything.
Multiple choice: pick an option to check it. Short answer: write your answer, then reveal the model answer.
0 of 20 answered · 0 correct
Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice
According to Source 1, paragraph 7, what share of the material in U.S. municipal solid waste landfills is food?
Answer: B
EPA "estimates that in the U.S., 24 percent of material in municipal solid waste landfills is food." Choice A, 58 percent, is food's share of landfill methane emissions, a different number in the same paragraph. Choice D is 100 - 24, the share that is not food. Choice C is not in Source 1.
Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Why does Source 1 call landfilling one of the least preferred pathways?
Answer: D
Paragraph 7 says wasted food in landfills "generates methane, a powerful and short-lived greenhouse gas," and that "most of the methane it emits avoids capture." Choice A is about money, which the scale does not consider. Choice C is not in the source. Choice B confuses landfilling with composting.
Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice
According to paragraph 5, why is donating food one of the most preferred pathways?
Answer: C
EPA says donating "ensures that food and the resources used to produce it are not wasted" and that donated food "is used for its intended purpose which is to nourish people." Choices A and B are economic claims the scale does not make. Choice D describes anaerobic digestion, a different pathway that this excerpt leaves out.
Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which benefit of compost does Source 1, paragraph 6, name?
Answer: A
EPA says compost "can be used to build soil health, increase soil water retention, and reduce soil erosion." Choice B overstates: composting keeps food out of landfills but does not remove landfill methane. Choices C and D are not in the source.
Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice
According to paragraph 1, how are pathways ranked when they are in the same tier of the scale?
Answer: B
Paragraph 1 says, "Within a given tier, pathways are ranked equally." Choice A ignores that sentence. Choice C brings in cost, which paragraph 3 says the scale does not consider. Choice D is not in the source.
Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice
In Source 2, what does Approach A cost the town for each ton of food it rescues?
Answer: A
$36,000 / 120 tons = $300 a ton. Choice B is the landfill fee per ton. Choice C divides by 12 instead of 120. Choice D divides 36 by 120, dropping the thousands from $36,000.
Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice
If Willow Springs chose Approach B, how much would it save each year in landfill fees?
Answer: C
600 tons x $55 = $33,000 a year no longer paid to the landfill. Choice A is the cost of the compost contract, not a saving. Choice B is the fee for a single ton. Choice D, $6,600, uses Approach A's 120 tons instead of Approach B's 600 (120 x $55).
Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Approach C would help families waste about 60 tons less food a year, and food costs about $2.50 a pound. About how much money would families in Willow Springs save in all each year?
Answer: D
60 tons x 2,000 pounds = 120,000 pounds, and 120,000 x $2.50 = $300,000. Choice A multiplies 60 by $2.50, forgetting to change tons to pounds. Choice B uses 1,000 pounds in a ton instead of 2,000. Choice C is the town's landfill saving (60 x $55), not the families' saving on food.
Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which group pays most of the cost of Approach B?
Answer: A
In Source 2 the contract "would cost the town $360,000 a year," so it is paid from the town budget, which taxpayers fund. Households also give time sorting scraps. Choices B and C describe Approach A. Choice D is not in the scenario; the landfill would actually lose fees.
Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Approach C matches the pathway Source 1 calls "the most environmentally beneficial option." Which pathway is that?
Answer: B
Paragraph 4 says, "Preventing food from going to waste in the first place is the most environmentally beneficial option on the Wasted Food Scale," and Approach C teaches families to waste less. Choice A matches Approach A; donating is also among the most preferred pathways, but EPA names prevention as the most beneficial. Choice C matches Approach B. Choice D is Approach D.
Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which group gains from Approach A even though it is not a buyer, a seller or the town government?
Answer: C
Approach A delivers rescued food "to the food bank," so families who rely on the food bank get more meals. Choice A loses, because less food is buried and fewer fees are paid. Choices B and D are part of Approach B, not Approach A.
Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which statement correctly compares Approaches A and B?
Answer: D
600 / 120 = 5 times the tons, and $360,000 / $36,000 = 10 times the cost, so B costs more for each ton than A does. Choice B reverses the tons. Choices A and C contradict the per-ton costs. Whether B's extra tons are worth its extra cost is a judgment the numbers alone cannot settle.
Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Approach B would cost the town $360,000 a year for 7,500 households. What is that per household per month?
Answer: B
$360,000 / 7,500 = $48 per household per year, and $48 / 12 = $4 a month. Choice A is the yearly amount per household. Choice C is the town's monthly cost ($360,000 / 12). Choice D multiplies the $48 yearly amount by 12 instead of dividing by 12.
Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice
What is the biggest weakness in the evidence for Approach C?
Answer: A
Source 2 says planners "estimate" the 60 tons; unlike a contract price, the result depends on how many families actually change how they plan and store food. Choice B is false ($20,000 against $360,000). Choice C is false: Approach C matches prevention. Choice D is not in the scenario.
Question 15 of 20 · Short Answer
Paragraph 3 of Source 1 says, "This scale does not consider economic and social factors." Choose one pathway from Source 1 other than landfilling. Name one group that would gain and one group that would pay if a town used that pathway, and explain each.
Model answer: Composting: the farm that makes and sells compost gains business, and gardeners gain soil that holds water better. Households pay a cost in time and space, because they must sort scraps into a separate bin, and taxpayers may pay for collection. The scale ranks composting for its environmental effects, so a town must still weigh these economic effects. Rubric: 1 point for a group that gains, with a reason; 1 point for a group that pays, with a reason.
Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer
Evaluate Approach A for three groups: families who use the food bank, grocery stores and the town's taxpayers. Give a benefit or a cost for each.
Model answer: Families who use the food bank gain food, which lets them spend their money on other needs. Grocery stores pay a small cost in staff time to set food aside safely, but they may save on their own trash costs. Taxpayers pay $36,000 a year, though the town saves 120 x $55 = $6,600 in landfill fees, so the net cost is $29,400. Rubric: 1 point for each group with a specific benefit or cost (3 points).
Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer
Find the cost per ton for Approaches B and C. Then explain why cost per ton is not the only thing the council should consider.
Model answer: B: $360,000 / 600 = $600 a ton. C: $20,000 / 60 = about $333 a ton. Cost per ton leaves out who gains and who pays: C also saves families money on food they no longer waste, while B helps a local farm and keeps the most food out of the landfill. C's tons are only an estimate, and B's cost falls on taxpayers. Rubric: 1 point for both costs per ton; 1 point for a reason beyond cost.
Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer
Approach D costs the town nothing new. Explain one cost of Approach D for society as a whole.
Model answer: Keeping things as they are means about 2,000 tons of food a year still go to the landfill, where Source 1 says food is "responsible for 58 percent of landfill methane emissions," a gas that warms the climate for everyone. The town also keeps paying the full landfill fee, and food that could have fed people or saved families money is lost. "Free" in the budget is not free for society. Rubric: 1 point for a cost; 1 point for explaining why it affects society as a whole, with evidence.
Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer
Name one cost of Approach A or Approach B that does not appear in the town's yearly budget, and explain which group bears it.
Model answer: In Approach B, every household must sort food scraps into a green bin each week, a cost in time and kitchen space that falls on families. In Approach A, grocery staff must learn to set food aside safely, a cost in time for the stores. Neither appears in the town's $36,000 or $360,000. Rubric: 1 point for a non-budget cost; 1 point for the group that bears it.
Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer
Can an approach be good for Willow Springs as a whole and still hurt one group? Use an approach from Source 2 to explain.
Model answer: Yes. Approach B keeps 600 tons a year out of the landfill, which reduces methane for everyone, and the town pays less in landfill fees. But the landfill loses that business, and taxpayers pay the $360,000 contract. Whether society gains overall depends on how much the cleaner air and saved landfill space are worth compared with the cost, and the council should consider the groups that pay. Rubric: 1 point for an approach with a group that loses; 1 point for the effect on the town as a whole.
0 of 20 answered · 0 correct
06
Frequently Asked Questions
10 Questions
What does D2.Eco.2.6-8 mean?
D2.Eco.2.6-8 asks middle school students to compare different solutions to a current economic issue by their benefits and costs for different groups and for society as a whole. The full text is "Evaluate alternative approaches or solutions to current economic issues in terms of benefits and costs for different groups and society as a whole." It belongs to the Economic Decision Making part of the C3 Framework.
What counts as a current economic issue for middle school students?
Any present-day problem about how people use scarce money, time, land or goods: wasted food, the price of school supplies, summer jobs for teens, crowded buses, a store closing in town. Local issues work well because students can name the groups involved. The lesson uses wasted food.
What is the difference between benefits and costs for groups and for society as a whole?
Groups are the different sets of people affected, such as buyers, sellers, workers, taxpayers and neighbors. Society as a whole means everyone together: all the benefits minus all the costs. An approach can be good overall and still hurt one group, which is why the standard asks for both.
Why use wasted food to teach D2.Eco.2.6-8?
It is a real, current issue with clear groups (families, stores, food banks, taxpayers, farmers, landfill neighbors) and several workable approaches. It is also largely nonpartisan, and EPA's Wasted Food Scale gives students real government information to weigh alongside invented costs.
Is the information on this page real?
Source 1 is real: it is quoted from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Wasted Food Scale web page, a US government work. Source 2, the town of Willow Springs and every worked example are invented for teaching, with realistic numbers, and are labeled as invented.
Does the cheapest solution always win?
No. Cost matters, but D2.Eco.2.6-8 asks students to weigh what each approach achieves and who gains and pays. Students decide whether an approach's extra benefits are worth its extra cost, and for whom.
How is D2.Eco.2.6-8 different from D2.Eco.2.9-12?
The grades 6-8 indicator asks students to compare whole approaches by their benefits and costs for groups and society. The grades 9-12 indicator asks them to use marginal benefits and marginal costs, the gain and cost of one more unit, to build an argument for or against an approach. Comparing totals in middle school prepares students for marginal reasoning in high school.
In which grade is D2.Eco.2.6-8 taught?
It depends on the school. The C3 Framework sets indicators for the end of grade 8, so this one may appear in a grade 6, 7 or 8 social studies course or in a short economics or civics unit. It pairs well with D2.Eco.1.6-8, on how decisions affect people.
How do I keep the debate fair when students disagree?
Score the reasoning, not the choice. Every rubric on this page asks for benefits and costs for several groups and a judgment about society as a whole, and any approach can earn full credit if it is well supported. Role cards help students argue views that are not their own.
What is a good quick check for D2.Eco.2.6-8?
Give a two-approach problem students have not seen and ask for one benefit and one cost for three groups, plus a one-sentence judgment about society as a whole. If students name specific groups and include costs that are not money, they are meeting the indicator.
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Related Standards
5 standards
These standards connect to D2.Eco.2.6-8: prerequisites to review first, parallel standards at the same level, and next steps that build on it.
Before this lesson
D2.Eco.1.6-8Prerequisite
Explain how economic decisions affect individuals, businesses and society
Standard text: National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), The College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards: Guidance for Enhancing the Rigor of K-12 Civics, Economics, Geography, and History (Silver Spring, MD: NCSS, 2013). NCSS was not involved in the production of this lesson and does not endorse it.
