Teaching article
A fictional public budget: explain what the numbers leave out
Use a small pretend budget to compare trade-offs and reasons rather than personal financial circumstances.
Hand the group a limited number of pretend tokens and several possible projects. The allocation can start a discussion about priorities, provided the amounts stay clearly invented and no choice is presented as a real policy recommendation.
To hand: Ten counters and three fictional project cards.
Set the pretend budget and project costs. Compare two affordable allocations. Explain a consequence of each choice.
If a fictional garden costs 6 counters and signs cost 3, choosing both leaves 1 of a 10-counter budget.
Ask what information a real decision would need
State that the amounts and choices are invented. Ask what information would be needed before turning the exercise into a real budget recommendation.
A classroom budget is not a model of every government funding rule.
Which option is affordable, and what remains? Use counters and whole-number costs only.
Resources
- Who Does What? Government Power Match — Use the responsibility matching activity for a separate checked-service comparison.
Further reading
- Parliamentary Education Office — classroom activities
- Australian Electoral Commission — Democracy Rules
Read next
- Disagree about a community proposal without judging its supporters
- Turn a class concern into a realistic civic next step
- Local councils: questions children can investigate nearby
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