Lesson Plan

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Lesson Plan
Grade: Date: 17/01/2026
Subject: Economics
Lesson Topic: causes of changes in consumer and producer surplus
Learning Objective/s:
  • Describe consumer surplus and producer surplus and how they appear on a supply‑demand diagram.
  • Explain how shifts in demand, shifts in supply, and government interventions affect CS and PS.
  • Analyse the welfare implications (dead‑weight loss or net gain) of each change.
  • Apply the concepts to a real‑world example and predict the direction of change in surplus.
Materials Needed:
  • Projector or interactive whiteboard
  • Printed or digital market‑diagram handout
  • Worksheet with shift scenarios
  • Calculator for quick area calculations
  • Sticky notes for group labeling of curves
 Introduction:
Begin with a quick poll: “When the price of your favourite snack drops, who benefits more – you or the shop?” Connect this to prior learning of supply‑demand equilibrium. Explain that today’s success criteria are to identify curve shifts, predict changes in consumer and producer surplus, and articulate the resulting welfare effects.
Lesson Structure:
  1. Do‑now (5’) – students complete a short exit ticket from the previous lesson on equilibrium.
  2. Mini‑lecture (10’) – review definitions of CS and PS with a projected diagram.
  3. Interactive modelling (15’) – groups shift demand or supply on the graph and estimate surplus changes.
  4. Policy case study (10’) – analyse a tax or subsidy example, calculate dead‑weight loss, discuss welfare.
  5. Formative check (5’) – Kahoot quiz on identifying effects of each change.
Conclusion:
Summarise that any shift in demand or supply re‑positions the equilibrium, altering the areas that represent consumer and producer surplus and often creating dead‑weight loss. For exit, students write one key takeaway on a sticky note and hand it in. Homework: complete the worksheet that asks them to draw and label surplus changes for a given price‑ceiling scenario.