The Economics Balloon Debate - a starter activity for an introductory Economics class

Here's a starter activity that could be used as an introduction to Economics at either A level or GCSE over the coming days. The activity is called 'The Economics Balloon Debate' and asks students in small groups to discuss the alternative uses of a set of household items. Having discussed those alternative uses, each team then presents an argument as to why their item should not be thrown over board in a 'balloon debate'. After each argument is presented, the whole class should then vote on the most 'valuable' item that should be saved.

The final few slides of this activity act as a plenary - offering questions for students to answer and introducing the purpose of the study of economics.

'The Economics Balloon Debate' can be downloaded here.