Choose When Time Is Limited
Identify a feasible choice and the next-best activity given up.
Supplied materials
- Original fictional club has one 20-minute activity slot. A puppet show takes 20 minutes; a map game takes 20 minutes; a drawing takes 10 minutes. Kai’s preference order is puppet show first, map game second, drawing third. Kai chooses one complete activity; no simultaneous activities or partial activities are allowed.
Learn the idea
Scarcity means a resource is limited compared with the uses people want for it. Time is a resource too. If a club has one slot, choosing an activity can leave another activity undone. First check what fits the slot; then use the stated preferences to identify the choice.
The opportunity cost of a choice is the next-best available alternative given up. It is not every possible activity added together. In this story, Kai chooses the puppet show, and the map game is the best of the other feasible choices. That describes Kai’s supplied preferences, not what everyone ought to enjoy.
- List each activity and its minutes.
- Check which complete activities fit 20 minutes.
- Use Kai’s stated order to choose the preferred feasible activity.
- Name the highest-ranked remaining feasible activity as the opportunity cost.
See the method in action
“All three fit. Kai chooses the 20-minute puppet show. The next-best choice Kai gives up is the 20-minute map game, because it ranks above drawing.”
Check your reasoning
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See the answer and explanation
The map game.
The map game is feasible and second in the supplied preference order, so it is the next-best alternative.
Take it further
Changed slot: only 10 minutes are available, with the same preferences and complete-activity rule. Model reasoning: “Only drawing fits. Neither 20-minute activity is feasible. I cannot name the puppet show as a feasible alternative under this new time limit.”
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