๐ŸŽฎ Week 3: Trading Game - Rice, Water & Money

Unit 10: Kai, Culture and Climate โ€” Surviving Scarcity
Experience scarcity and trade-offs through a hands-on trading simulation.

๐Ÿ“‹ Game Overview: In small groups, students trade rice, water, and money to understand how scarcity affects choices and creates trade-offs.

๐ŸŽฏ Game Setup

Resources (per group of 4-5 students):

  • Rice cards: 10 cards (representing 10 kg of rice)
  • Water cards: 8 cards (representing 8 liters of water)
  • Money: $50 in play money
  • Goal cards: Each group needs to achieve specific goals (see below)

๐Ÿ“‹ Group Goals (Each group gets one)

Group A: Food Security

You need: 8 kg of rice to feed your family for the month. You have $30 to spend.

Group B: Water Crisis

You need: 6 liters of water for drinking and cooking. You have $20 to spend.

Group C: Profit Makers

You need: $60 total by the end of trading. You start with 5 kg of rice and 3 liters of water.

Group D: Balanced Needs

You need: 4 kg of rice AND 4 liters of water. You have $25 to spend.

๐Ÿ’ฐ Trading Rules

  1. Starting Resources: Each group receives different starting resources (see goals above)
  2. Trading Time: 10 minutes of free trading between groups
  3. Prices (suggested):
    • 1 kg rice = $5
    • 1 liter water = $4
    • Groups can negotiate different prices!
  4. Scarcity Events: Teacher may announce events (e.g., "Drought! Water prices double!")
  5. Win Condition: First group to achieve their goal wins

๐Ÿ“ Trading Log

Trade # What You Gave What You Got Why?
1 _____ _____ _____
2 _____ _____ _____
3 _____ _____ _____

๐Ÿค” Reflection: Journal Entry

After the trading game, reflect on your choices:

  1. What trade-offs did you make? (What did you give up to get what you needed?)


  2. How did scarcity affect your decisions? (Did you have enough of everything?)


  3. What strategies did you use? (Negotiation, cooperation, competition?)


  4. How does this connect to real-world food scarcity?


๐Ÿ’ก Extension: Play a second round with different scarcity events (e.g., "Rice harvest failed! Only 5 kg available total"). How do strategies change?