Subscribe

1st grade · Social Studies · Unit 8 of 10

Needs and Wants

What we need and what we want

What your child practices

Practices telling needs from wants, and what affects how families meet their needs and wants.

Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards benchmark: 1.2.8.1 · scarcity: not enough of something for everyone's wants

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. A need is something we must have to live, like water.
  2. People work to earn money to buy what they need.
  3. People want different things. That is okay.

Example: Which is something all people need? Everyone must drink to live. Answer: clean water

Needs and Wants in Minnesota

In the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards, this is unit 8 of 10 in 1st grade Social Studies, after Our Land and before Goods and Services.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Mom has a little money. She buys bread first. Why?

    • Bread is a game
    • Bread is a need
    • Bread is a toy
    • Bread is a want

  2. Question 2

    Sam wants a puppy. Ana does not. What does this show?

    • Ana is wrong
    • Sam needs a puppy
    • People want different things
    • Everyone wants the same

  3. Question 3

    Which is a want?

    • a warm home
    • healthy food
    • water
    • a new toy

  4. Question 4

    A warm coat is a need when it is…

    • very hot
    • sunny and warm
    • snowy and cold
    • bedtime

  5. Question 5

    A home gives us…

    • a game
    • a trip
    • shelter
    • a prize

  6. Question 6

    Why can’t every family get the same things?

    • Everyone has the same money
    • Where they live and their money can differ
    • All stores are the same
    • Nobody ever shares

More 1st grade