The Public vs. the Private Sector

Overview
Students write a definition of the public and the private sectors in their own words. They then place goods and services in a Venn diagram in the categories of public, private or both.

Outcome
Students will understand the differences between a nation’s public and private sectors.

Standard Addressed

Grade 6
Social Studies — Economics, Benchmark C
06. Distinguish between goods and services typically produced by the private sector and the public sector.

Teacher Information — Some Generalities

Public Sector

• Is composed of federal, state and local government entities

• Goal is to provide goods and services and expand knowledge base

• Best suited to long-term needs of the community

• Perceived as less efficient, but empirical data has not found this to be so

 

Private Sector

• “Heartbeat” of the capitalistic society

• Goal is to produce and market products that return a profit

• Best suited to short-term projects with immediate results

• Perceived as more efficient

Materials

• Chart paper or board

• Student handout #1 and Student handout #2

Procedure

1. Ask one student to tell about his or her activities from the morning until after school. Make a list on the board of these activities. For example, took a shower, got dressed, ate breakfast, rode to school on the bus.

2. Go through the list and talk about things that are goods and services from the public sector — for example, the water in the shower, the road that got them to school, the bus they rode in, the school, etc.

3. Do the same for the private sector — for example, the clothes they’re wearing, the food they ate for breakfast, etc.

4. Talk about the characteristics of the public and private sectors, but don’t write them down.

5. Distribute the student handouts. Ask the students to write a definition of the public and private sector at the top of each paper.

6. On Student Handout #1, have the students put the terms at the bottom of the sheet on the Venn diagram in the correct place.

7. On Student Handout #2, have students take an event like the school dance or a community festival and place the “pieces” of the event in the correct place on the Venn diagram. You may want the students to work in groups on this part of the activity.

Answers for Student Handout #1

Public Sector
Police
City park
NASA
Court system

Private Sector
The Gap
Cap’n Crunch cereal
Getting a haircut
Network television
Vitamins

Both
Elementary schools
College

 

Evaluation
Rubric for evaluating Venn diagram of student-selected topic.