Cooking with Productive Resources in Alaska
Do you like making chocolate chips cookies, Eskimo Ice Cream, or any other Alaskan food? Your
students will enjoy learning about productive resources and eating what they have produced in this
lesson! Note: If you do not have time to make the chocolate chip cookies, Eskimo Ice Cream or any
other Alaskan treat, you can discuss the ingredients used instead.
Purpose:
This lesson helps students understand the relationship between goods, services, and
the productive resources used to produce them. You may also introduce the concept that each of the
resources could have been used to produce other goods or services. This knowledge leads to the idea
that choices are made every day about how to use scarce resources.
Productive Resources include:
*Natural Resources – a productive resource supplied by nature:
water used in production process, etc.
iron ore, oil, trees, fish,
*Human Resources – a productive resource consisting of the talents and skills of human
beings that contribute to the production of goods and services: miner, oil worker,
assembly-person, fisherman, etc.
*Capital Resources – a productive resource consisting of human-made materials needed
to produce goods and services: tools, trucks, machines, computers, etc.
Activity:
Introduce this activity by showing students a chocolate chip cookie, Eskimo Ice Cream, or
any other treat or Alaskan Food or your choice. Ask students to list the resources used to make that
good. Have students work through several examples of goods and services and the productive
resources needed for those goods and services. Have students share examples of all three types of
productive resources. If you have not previously introduced the productive resources, provide the
definitions listed above. If time allows you can have the students make the treat!
Assessment:
Have each student or student groups complete the form “Cooking with Productive
Resources” listing the productive resources needed to make chocolate chip cookies or the food of your
choice. Remind the students to be sure to include equipment (capital goods) and labor as productive
resources.
Alaska extension: Using “Alaska’s Natural Resources” form, have students list some of the natural
resources of Alaska and the capital and human resources used to bring the natural resource to
production. See how many natural resources they can brainstorm.
Example:
Natural resource:
oil
Capital resources:
wells, pipeline, tankers, any equipment used, etc.
Human resources:
oil workers, pipeline workers, ship crew, etc.
Cooking with Productive Resources
Name: _________________________________________________
List the resources used to produce___________________________________________
Natural Resources
Capital Resources
Human Resources
Alaska’s Natural Resources
Name: _____________________________________________
List several natural resources of Alaska and the capital and human resources that might be
needed to produce the natural resource.
Natural Resources
Capital Resources
Human Resources