|
LESSON: ERANDI’S BRAIDS
Lesson Summary:
Erandi and her mother live in the Mexican village of
Patzcuaro. They are poor and need money to purchase a new fishing
net. Erandi also hopes that her mother will buy her a new dress for
the upcoming fiesta. But what will they do for money? One option
is to sell their hair to the hair buyer, who will use it for wigs,
eyelashes, and fine embroidery. This would be shameful for Erandi and
her mother. What will they do?
Concept: Opportunity Cost
Definition: When you make a decision, the most
valuable alternative you give up is your opportunity cost.
Comprehension Questions:
What did Erandi hope her mother would buy her for her
birthday?
A new dress for the fiesta
What did Erandi and her mother do for a living?
They caught
fish and sold them for money.
What capital resource did they use to help them catch fish?
A
fishing net. They also used two buckets to carry their catch.
In the store, what two goods did Erandi want her mother to purchase
for her?
A yellow dress and a doll
Why wasn’t her mother able to buy both for Erandi?
Her mother
didn’t have enough money for both. She had a scarcity of money
(income).
What did her mother buy for Erandi?
The dress
What was the opportunity cost of that decision?
The doll
Why did the barber want to cut women’s hair?
Merchants would
use the hair to make wigs, eyelashes, and fine embroidery. There was
a market for these items, and hair was needed to produce them.
Bonus Question!
At the end of the story, Erandi’s mother
used the money from selling Erandi’s hair to buy a new net and the
doll.
Does this mean that there was no opportunity cost to
the decision to buy both of these?
No! There is always an
opportunity cost because there is always another choice
(alternative/opportunity) that the money could be used for.
Other Concepts: Capital
Resources, Scarcity | 
