NCSS VII: Production, Distribution, and Consumption

 

     It is important for social studies teachers to have students study Production, Distribution, and Consumption. The production, distribution, and consumption of resources has major impacts on people across the world. Some people in the world today have plenty of resources, while other people do not. This has been the case throughout history. Today, society has to deal with whether the production, distribution, and consumption of resources like fossil fuels harm the environment. Society also has to deal with the fact we will at some point run out of resources like fossil fuels and will have to find alternative sources to replace them. It is important for students to understand how the production, distribution, and consumption of resources impacts them.

     During the Fall I was able to address Production, Distribution, and Consumption during my Columbian Exchange activity (See Evidence 1 and 2). Students were able to see how the Columbian Exchange resulted in the distribution of a product into a new region, causing the increased production and consumption or use of that product across the world. For example the production and consumption of tobacco increased when Europeans learned about the product throughout the Columbian Exchange. During the Spring I addressed Production, Distribution, and Consumption particularly during my lesson on inventions and the Invention Project (See Evidence 3). Students were able to learn during those lessons that the new inventions from the Westward Expansion time period affected the production, distribution, and consumption of a product. For example the cotton gin increased the production of cotton and the need for slave labor in the South. Also, the invention of the steamboat and the steam locomotive resulted in the faster distribution of goods.

     Production, Distribution, and Consumption is an important part of social studies that I will continue to address during my teaching career. It is important for students to understand how the production, distribution, and consumption of a product or resource impacts them. I can show students how trade patterns, as well as income levels impact how resources are produced, distributed, and consumed. It is also important for me to help students look how their actions impact the production, distribution, and consumption of a resource or product. It is vital for me to help students understand that the production, distribution, and consumption of resources has been as well as today is a major cause of wars across the world. For example a lot of the conflicts in Africa today are over resources, and I can address that in a social studies classroom through current events. It will also be important for me to help students understand that the production, distribution, and consumption of resources will continue to change in the future resulting in major impacts on them.

 

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