Teacher
Instructions
NOTE: The number of paper clips changes depending on how
many students AND how good they are at being "fishermen".
I get a giant pack from Walmart and eyeball it. Other purchasers
have said that 600-800 worked well for their class of 25 at 1520s long "fishing seasons". You CAN adjust the timer longer or
shorter if needed, they won't know ;)
NEW worksheet
Tragedy of the commons
You are a member of a new fishing company. You and the other members want to be the most successful
company in the area. For every fish you catch, you earn money for your company, however, you also need
to pay taxes every year as well. Your goal: Catch enough fish to pay taxes and still make a profit.
To catch fish, you need a fishing boat. You may use your profits after taxes to purchase more fishing boats
so you can catch more fish.
COST PER YEAR
Every fish you catch: $10
Taxes each year: $200 + ($20 x # of fishing boats)
New fishing boat: $100 (can sell used for $50)
Who is in your fishing company? ________________________________________________________________________________
At the end of every fishing season, you need to:
1. Write down how much money you had BEFORE the season started.
2. Count how many fish you caught and write it in your table
3. Every fish is $10. Add up how much money you made.
4. Write down how much you need to pay for taxes this year. ($200 + ($20 x # of fishing boats))
5. Now, decide with your team: Will you buy another fishing boat? Do you need to sell a fishing boat?
6. Add or subtract the cost of the fishing boat (IF you bought or sold one,
7. Record your end profit in the final column of your data table.
YEAR
Starting
$
# fish
caught
= Total $
from fish
# boats
owned
Total
taxes
boats
bought
boats sold
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
the dutch scientist
Profit
Graph
Graph Your companies Profits over time. As you make your graph, please remember TAILS:
T - Title - should be specific
A - Axis - mark sure they are marked x and y
I - Intervals - Everything evenly spaced
L - Labels & Units - your x and y axes are labels AND include units
S - Scale - you made your graph to scale, using the space.
the dutch scientist
Analysis
1. Did your fishing company go bankrupt?___________________________________
2. Over time, what happened to the number of fish?
3. WHY do you think this happened?
4. Look at your graph: Explain what happened to your profits through each year.
5. Think back on the activity. What are 3 strategies you could have used with your
team to prevent this from happening?
6. RESEARCH: What are some ways people are combating overfishing? List 3 of them.
EXTEND:
First...do you think the tragedy of the commons happens in other forms of businesses?
Watch this video: Link: https://youtu.be/3ogmz49PDY8 or scan the QR code
Dive deeper and do some research on the tragedy of the commons.
How does this impact you? What are some steps we might be able to take as an individual? How about globally? What impacted you the
most in this activity?
the dutch scientist
OLD worksheet