Trade-Offs — Season 1, Episode 5: Less and More
Family, Kids • 30 min • 1 season, 15 episodes
Episode synopsis
When a family‑run restaurant faces rising costs and long work hours, the owner’s son steps in with new ideas to boost productivity. By introducing changes like a salad bar, delivery rules, and more efficient cooking methods, he shows how using fewer inputs can produce the same—or even greater—output. But increased productivity also brings trade‑offs, as some workers benefit while others lose hours or even their jobs. The episode explores who gains, who loses, and how efficiency reshapes a small business.
About Trade-Offs
Trade-offs was an AIT program designed to improve economics instruction in the United States and Canadian schools. The series of fifteen lessons, for children from 9-13, helped students think their way through economic problems and increased their understanding of economics. On a broader scale, it helped them become more effective decision makers and ultimately more responsible citizens. Each lesson consists of a 20-minute color television/film program plus teacher's guide material to facilitate classroom follow-up. Each program begins with a short segment that identifies key points that students and teachers should watch for. This is followed by the dramatization of a fundamental economic problem relevant to the daily life of the student. Special visuals emphasize the economic principles and reasoning processes involved. The last portion of the program introduces, but does not resolve, another problem, and ends by posing a question to the viewers.