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FEDERAL RESERVE BANKS OF ST. LOUIS AND PHILADELPHIA

ECONOMIC EDUCATION

Little House in the Big Woods
By Laura Ingalls Wilder / ISBN: 0-06-058180-8

Lesson Authors
Mary C. Suiter, Ph.D., Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Barbara Flowers, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Standards and Benchmarks (see page 15)
Lesson Description
Little House in the Big Woods describes how the Ingalls family produced the goods
they needed to survive while living in a log cabin far from their nearest neighbors. In
this lesson, students define the production function as the combination of inputs that
results in outputs and identify the inputs as human resources, capital resources, natural
resources, and intermediate goods.
NOTE: Capital resources and capital goods are both terms that describe things produced
by people and used again and again to produce other goods and services. In this lesson,
we use the term capital resources.

Grade Level
3-4

Concepts
Goods
Inputs
Intermediate goods
Outputs
Production function
Productive resources (natural, human, and capital)
Services

© 2017, Federal Reserve Banks of St. Louis and Philadelphia. Permission is granted to reprint or photocopy this lesson in its entirety
for educational purposes, provided the user credits the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, www.stlouisfed.org/education.

Lesson Plan

Little House in the Big Woods

Objectives
Students will
•

define and identify goods and services;

•

define natural resources, human resources, capital resources, and intermediate
goods;

•

provide examples of productive resources and intermediate goods;

•

define and provide examples of inputs and outputs; and

•

construct a production function.

Time Required
45 to 60 minutes (plus time to read the book)

Materials
•

Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder (ISBN: 0-06-058180-8)

•

Visual 1

•

Handouts 1, 2, 3, and 4, one copy of each for each student

•

Handout 2—Answer Key for the teacher

•

A protractor for each student

Procedure
NOTE: The page numbers provided for the book may or not match the page numbers in
your copy of the book.
1.

Read the first line of the book aloud and then ask the following:
•

Which phrases in the first line of the book indicate that the story will be about
people who lived a long time ago? (“Once upon a time, sixty years ago…” and
“…a little gray house made of logs.”)

Instruct the students to listen carefully throughout the first chapter for more clues that
this book describes the life of a family who lived a long time ago and to jot the clues
on notepaper. They should keep their notes (or you collect them) because they will
refer to them again once you have finished reading the book.

Lesson Plan

Little House in the Big Woods

After reading the book, ask the students to report the clues that this story is about a
family who lived a long time ago. (Answers will vary but may include no roads, wagon
tracks, horses and wagons provided transportation, meat had to be salted, Ma wrapped
the meat and hung it in the attic, food not eaten fresh was salted and kept in barrels
[for example, they had barrels of salted fish], vegetables were stored in the cellar, and
the fire in the cook stove never went out.)

Explain that outputs are goods and services we produce. Goods are things we touch
and can use. They are things that satisfy our wants. Services are activities people do
for us. They are actions that satisfy our wants. In Little House in the Big Woods, the
Ingalls produced many outputs. The outputs they produced were goods. Discuss the
following:
•

Explain that inputs are the materials we use to produce outputs—goods and services.
Reread Chapter 7, “The Sugar Snow,” and then ask the following:
•

What were some of the goods the Ingalls produced? (Headcheese, bullets, smoked
meat, dried meat, salted fish, butter, buckets and troughs for maple sap, maple
sugar, and cheese)

Name the inputs Grandpa used to produce maple sugar. (Buckets, troughs, maple
sap, a barrel, a sled, oxen, an iron kettle, trees, chains, a long-handled wooden
ladle, milk pans, and Grandpa Ingalls)

Explain that one category of inputs is human resources. Define human resources as
people who do the mental and/or physical work to produce goods and services. Discuss
the following:
•

What are some examples of human resources? (Answers will vary but may include
doctors, teachers, carpenters, plumbers, or nurses.)

•

What are some examples of human resources in the story? (Answers will vary but
may include Grandpa Ingalls, Pa, Uncle Henry, Mr. Peterson, or Ma.)

Explain that another category of inputs is capital resources. Define capital resources
as goods that have been produced and are used to produce other goods and services.
They are used over and over again in the production process. Some examples of capital
resources include tools, machines, and factory buildings. Discuss the following:
•

What are some examples of capital resources? (Answers will vary but may include
hammers, computers, office buildings, and trucks.)

•

What are some examples of capital resources in the story? (Answers will vary but
may include long-handled ladles, buckets, washtubs, cook stoves, lanterns, iron
kettles, and threshers.)

Lesson Plan
8.

Little House in the Big Woods

Explain that a third category of inputs is natural resources. Natural resources are
things that occur naturally in and on the earth that are used to produce goods and
services. Discuss the following:
•

What are some examples of natural resources? (Answers will vary but may include
crude oil, water, natural gas, and coal.)

•

What are some examples of natural resources in the story? (Answers will vary but
may include maple sap, horses, trees, wheat, and bees.)

Explain that all of these resources can be called productive resources. Productive
resources are the natural resources, human resources, and capital resources used to
make goods and services.

10. Explain that a fourth category of inputs is intermediate goods. Intermediate goods
are man-made goods that are used to produce a good or service and become part of
that good or service. Intermediate goods are not used over and over again. Nails in a
bookshelf, denim in jeans, and flour in muffins are intermediate goods. Discuss the
following:
•

What are some examples of intermediate goods used to produce education?
(Answers will vary but may include paper, chalk, glue, tape, folders, and spiral
notebooks.)

11. In Chapter 10, “Summertime,” reread the section on cheese making, beginning with
“When the cows were milked at night, Ma set the milk away in pans” (p. 187) through
“There was nothing more to do with it but eat it” (p. 190).
12. Distribute Handout 1: Say Cheese, Please and a protractor to each student. Read the
directions and instruct students to complete the worksheet. Help students who are
unfamiliar with the use of a protractor to divide the circle into 18 equal wedges.
(360 degrees/18 wedges = 20 degrees per wedge). Review the answers with the following answer key.
Handout 1—Answer Key
1.

Inputs (wedges): human resources (Ma, Laura, Mary, and Pa), milk, pans, a stove,
rennet, cloth (mentioned several times), water, a knife, salt, boards (two kinds
mentioned), blocks, a pail, a cheese hoop, a rock, a needle, thread, butter, and
paper

A natural resource: milk, water, salt, or rennet

A capital resource: pans, a stove, a knife, boards, blocks, a pail, a cheese
hoop, a rock, or a needle

A human resource: Ma, Laura, Mary, or Pa

An intermediate good: cloth, thread, butter, or paper

Lesson Plan

Little House in the Big Woods

13. Explain that, over time, people combine inputs differently as they find more efficient
ways to produce goods and services. Display Visual 1: The Production Function and
explain that the combination of inputs to produce outputs is called a production
function. A production function is used to find the combination of inputs that will
provide the most output. The goal isn’t to simply add more inputs to get more output.
Resources are scarce, so the goal is to find ways to use resources—the inputs—better.
Review the visual.
14. Distribute Handout 2: Human Resources and Capital Resources. In Chapter 12, “The
Wonderful Machine,” begin reading at “A man sat on top of the horsepower” (p. 223)
and end at “He had just enough time to empty it and slip it back under the spout before
the other measure ran over” (p. 225). Direct students to record the human resources
(the people—the workers) and the capital resources (machines) that were necessary
to separate the wheat from the straw. When they record a resource, instruct them to
also record the resource’s task.
15. Instruct students to complete a through c at the bottom of Handout 2. They are to
review their lists, count the number of human resources and the number of capital
resources necessary to harvest the wheat, and record their answers.
16. Distribute Handout 3: The Wheat Combine and instruct the students to read the explanation of the wheat combine and underline all the tasks the combine completes. Instruct
students to answer the questions and record the production function for this method
of wheat harvesting at the bottom of the handout. Review their answers.
Handout 3—Answer Key
a.

Human resources: 2

Capital resources: 2

2 Human resources + 2 Capital resources = 1 Wheat harvest

17. Discuss the following:
•

How many human resources were required to harvest the wheat in the Little House
in the Big Woods story? (7)

•

How many capital resources were required to harvest the wheat in the Little House
in the Big Woods story? (2)

•

How many workers are required to harvest wheat with a wheat combine? (2)

•

How many machines are required to harvest wheat with a wheat combine? (2)

•

What is a production function? (It is a combination of inputs to produce outputs.)

•

What is the production function for 1 wheat harvest in the story?
(7 Human resources + 2 Capital resources = 1 Wheat harvest)

Lesson Plan

Little House in the Big Woods

•

What jobs did the workers in the Little House in the Big Woods story do to harvest
wheat? (Hitched horses, bundled wheat, cut and gathered wheat, placed bundles
in the separator, drove the horses, collected the wheat in half-bushel measures,
and sacked the wheat)

•

What is the production function for 1 wheat harvest using the wheat combine?
(2 human resources + 2 capital resources = 1 wheat harvest)

•

How has the production function for harvesting wheat changed over the years?
(Harvesting wheat now requires fewer workers because there are better machines
that can do the work.)

18. Explain that improving resources or combining resources differently can help producers
make more goods and services or make goods and services at lower costs.

Closure
19. Review the important parts of the lesson by discussing the following:
•

What are human resource? (Human resources are the people who do the mental
and/or physical work to produce goods and services.)

•

Name some examples of human resources. (Answers will vary but may include
Grandpa Ingalls, doctors, mechanics, plumbers, dentists, truck drivers, and teachers.)

•

What are capital resources? (Capital resources are goods that have been produced
and are used to produce other goods and services. They are used over and over
again in the production process.)

•

Name some examples of capital resources at school. (Answers will vary but may
include whiteboards, computers, desks, school buildings, playground equipment,
and lights.)

•

What type of resource is a stove? (a capital resource)

•

What are natural resources? (Natural resources are things that occur naturally in
and on the earth that are used to produce goods and services.)

•

Name some examples of natural resources. (Answers will vary but may include
water, land, crude oil, coal, animals, and trees.)

•

What are intermediate goods? (Intermediate goods are man-made goods that
are used to produce a good or service and become part of that good or service.)

•

What are the factors of production? (Human, capital, and natural resources)

•

What is a production function? (A production function is a combination of inputs
to produce outputs.)

Lesson Plan

Little House in the Big Woods

Assessment
20. Distribute Handout 4: Production Function Ups and Downs. Instruct the students to
read the information and answer the questions. Review the answers with the following
answer key.
Handout 4—Answer Key
a.

What was the production function for the building’s elevator service?
(12 Human resources + 6 Capital resources = Building elevator service)

What were the inputs? (12 human resources and 6 elevators)

What was the output? (Building elevator service)

What was the production function after the new elevators were installed?
(0 Human resources + 6 Capital resources = Building elevator service)

What were the inputs? (6 Automatic elevators)

What was the output? (Building elevator service)

Why did the building owner think that using elevators that required no operators
was a good idea? (The owner could save money over time by installing the automatic elevators because he would no longer have to pay wages to the operators.)

Lesson Plan

Little House in the Big Woods

Visual 1: The Production Function

Every good that is produced has a production function.

+
Human resources
(workers)

=
Capital resources
(a plow)

Output

One way to improve a production function is to use
better capital resources to make production cheaper.

+
Human resources
(workers)

=
Better capital resources
(a tractor)

Output

Lesson Plan

Little House in the Big Woods

Handout 1: Say Cheese, Please
1.

Use a protractor to divide the circle below into 18 equal parts (wedges), just like
a cheese wheel. In each wedge, list an input in cheese making noted in the story.
Note similar items only once. For example, two kinds of boards are mentioned,
so list “boards” in one wedge only. Likewise, Ma, Laura, Mary, and Pa all help, so
list these “human resources” together in one wedge. When all of the wedges
are complete, the output—a cheese wheel—is complete.

Name one input from the cheese wheel for each of the following:
a.

A natural resource: ___________________________________________________

A capital resource: ___________________________________________________

A human resource: ___________________________________________________

An intermediate resource: _____________________________________________

Lesson Plan

Little House in the Big Woods

Handout 2: Human Resources and Capital Resources
As you listen to the part of the Little House in the Big Woods story that describes the
wheat harvesting process, record the human and capital resources and the task that
each one performed. Since the cutting and bundling of the wheat was described in
a previous chapter, this activity is already noted for you, but be sure to note Pa and
Uncle Henry’s additional task.

Resource

Task
Cut and gathered the wheat into bundles

Pa
Uncle Henry

Cut and gathered the wheat into bundles

How many human resources were needed to harvest the wheat? __________

How many capital resources were needed to harvest the wheat? __________

What was the production function for 1 wheat harvest?
__________ Human resources + __________ Capital resources = 1 Wheat harvest

Lesson Plan

Little House in the Big Woods

Handout 2: Human Resources and Capital Resources—Answer Key
As you listen to the part of the Little House in the Big Woods story that describes the
wheat harvesting process, record the human and capital resources and the task that
each one performed. Since the cutting and bundling of the wheat was described in
a previous chapter, this activity is already noted for you, but be sure to note Pa and
Uncle Henry’s additional task.

Resource

Task
Cut and gathered the wheat into bundles

Pitched bundles onto a board

Uncle Henry

Cut and gathered the wheat into bundles
Pitched bundles onto a board

Man

Sat on the horsepower to drive the horses

Horsepower

Powered the separator

Man

Cut bands on bundles and placed the bundles in the separator

Separator

Separated the wheat from the straw

Man

Trampled the straw and built it into a stack

Man

Trampled the straw and built it into a stack

Man

Sacked the pouring grain

7
How many human resources were needed to harvest the wheat? __________

2
How many capital resources were needed to harvest the wheat? __________

What was the production function for 1 wheat harvest?
__________
Human resources + __________
2
Capital resources = 1 Wheat harvest
7

Lesson Plan

Little House in the Big Woods

Handout 3: The Wheat Combine
Directions: Read the following paragraphs and underline all of the tasks the combine
completes. Answer the questions that follow the reading.
To harvest wheat today, farmers use a machine called a wheat combine. That is the perfect
name for the machine! The wheat combine “combines” machines to complete many tasks
at once as it drives through a field.
In the Little House in the Big Woods story, Pa and Uncle Henry pitched bundles of wheat
onto a separator. But before they could do that, the wheat had to be bundled. And, before
it was bundled, it had to be cut and gathered. Imagine all of the hours it took Pa, Grandpa,
Mr. Peterson, and Uncle Henry to cut all of the wheat in the field and put it into bundles.
The wheat combine cuts the straw right in the field.
In the story, a man put the wheat into the separator. The separator then separated the straw
and the wheat grain. The wheat grain poured out the side of the separator. Two men had
to trample the straw and move it out of the way. The wheat combine separates the wheat
grain from the straw and then blows the straw onto the field. In the story, one man collects
the wheat in a half-bushel measure and then empties it into sacks. The wheat combine
blows the wheat into a giant bucket pulled by a worker driving a tractor. In the story, one
man sits on the horsepower and drives the horses. The wheat combine has one worker
who drives and operates the machine. So, the wheat combine cuts the wheat in the field,
separates the wheat from the straw, blows the straw onto the field, and collects the grain
in very large buckets. It does everything!
Answer the questions below to describe how wheat farming changed after the invention of the wheat combine.
a.

How many human resources are needed to harvest wheat with a wheat combine?
__________

How many capital resources are needed to harvest wheat with a wheat combine?
__________

What is the production function today for 1 wheat harvest?
__________ Human resources + __________ Capital resources = 1 Wheat harvest

Lesson Plan

Little House in the Big Woods

Handout 3: The Wheat Combine—Answer Key
Directions: Read the following paragraphs and underline all of the tasks the combine
completes. Answer the questions that follow the reading.
To harvest wheat today, farmers use a machine called a wheat combine. That is the perfect
name for the machine! The wheat combine “combines” machines to complete many tasks
at once as it drives through a field.
In the Little House in the Big Woods story, Pa and Uncle Henry pitched bundles of wheat
onto a separator. But before they could do that, the wheat had to be bundled. And, before
it was bundled, it had to be cut and gathered. Imagine all of the hours it took Pa, Grandpa,
Mr. Peterson, and Uncle Henry to cut all of the wheat in the field and put it into bundles.
The wheat combine cuts the straw right in the field.
In the story, a man put the wheat into the separator. The separator then separated the straw
and the wheat grain. The wheat grain poured out the side of the separator. Two men had
to trample the straw and move it out of the way. The wheat combine separates the wheat
grain from the straw and then blows the straw onto the field. In the story, one man collects
the wheat in a half-bushel measure and then empties it into sacks. The wheat combine
blows the wheat into a giant bucket pulled by a worker driving a tractor. In the story, one
man sits on the horsepower and drives the horses. The wheat combine has one worker
who drives and operates the machine. So, the wheat combine cuts the wheat in the field,
separates the wheat from the straw, blows the straw onto the field, and collects the grain
in very large buckets. It does everything!
Answer the questions below to describe how wheat farming changed after the invention of the wheat combine.
a.

How many human resources are needed to harvest wheat with a wheat combine?

2
__________
b.

How many capital resources are needed to harvest wheat with a wheat combine?

2
__________
c.

What is the production function today for 1 wheat harvest?

2
2
__________
Human resources + __________
Capital resources = 1 Wheat harvest

Lesson Plan

Little House in the Big Woods

Handout 4: Production Function Ups and Downs (page 1 of 2)
Directions: Read the story then answer the questions on page 2.
In 1955, Susan got her first full-time job in a tall building downtown. She knew everyone who
worked in the building. She saw many of them first thing in the morning as they arrived for
work. Susan operated one of the six elevators in the building. She worked the early shift,
beginning at 5:00 a.m. Leonard would relieve her at 2:00 p.m. and work until 11:00 p.m.
Susan didn’t mind her early hours because she could shop downtown after leaving work at
2:00 p.m. She was paid well, and the work was not difficult.
Susan wore a black skirt and jacket and a white blouse. She sat on a little stool near the
elevator controls. When she stopped at the floor to pick up a passenger, she would pull a
lever that would open the cage door. It was called a cage because it looked like one. The
elevator door was a metal gate that the operator could pull to the side of the elevator car
to let people on. Then, there were the doors to the floors, which were solid. The operator
could pull them open because they slid on tracks.
People would climb aboard the elevator and give Susan their floor numbers. Susan would
move a hand crank that would start the elevator on its way. As she approached the floor, she
would move the hand crank back slowly to its “stop” position. Susan’s job was to start and
stop the elevator, all day long. However, she was also a building ambassador, greeting the
building tenants each day with a smile.
As the years went by, Susan would hear disturbing stories from the other elevator operators in town. Newly constructed buildings were equipped with automatic elevators. Passengers could walk into the elevator and press a button to get to their floors. No operators
were needed in these buildings. Some of the older buildings’ elevators were being replaced
with the automatic elevators. Building owners said this new technology was getting less expensive, while it was getting more expensive to pay the elevator operators.
By 1975, Susan was out of a job, along with all 12 of the operators in her building. Instead,
the building had six, shiny new automatic elevators. The building owner knew he had
made a good financial decision.

Lesson Plan

Little House in the Big Woods

Handout 4: Production Function Ups and Downs (page 2 of 2)
Answer the following questions based on when Susan was an elevator operator.
a.

What was the production function for the building’s old elevator service?

__________ Human resources + __________ Capital resources = Building elevator service
b.

What were the inputs?

What was the output?

What was the production function after the new elevators were installed?

__________ Human resources + __________ Capital resources = Building elevator service
e.

What were the inputs?

What was the output?

Why did the building owner think that using elevators that required no operators was
a good idea?

Lesson Plan

Little House in the Big Woods

Standards and Benchmarks
National Standards in Economics
Standard 1: Students will understand that productive resources are limited. Therefore, people cannot have all the goods and services they want; as a result, they must choose some
things and give up others.
•

Benchmark 6, Grade 4: Productive resources are the natural resources, human
resources, and capital goods available to make goods and services.

•

Benchmark 7, Grade 4: Natural resources, such as land, are “gifts of nature”;
they are present without human intervention.

•

Benchmark 8, Grade 4: Human resources are the people who do the mental
and physical work to produce goods and services.

•

Benchmark 9, Grade 4: Capital goods are goods that are produced and used to
make other goods and services.

Common Core State Standards: English Language Arts
Reading: Literature
•

Key Ideas and Details

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.1: Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding
of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.1: Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining
what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.1: Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the
text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

Speaking & Listening
•

Comprehension and Collaboration

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions

(one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics
and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.1.A: Come to discussions prepared, having read or
studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation and other
information known about the topic to explore ideas under discussion.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.1.B: Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g.,
gaining the floor in respectful ways, listening to others with care, speaking
one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion).

Lesson Plan

Little House in the Big Woods

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.1.C: Ask questions to check understanding of infor
mation presented, stay on topic, and link their comments to the remarks of
others.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.1.D: Explain their own ideas and understanding in
light of the discussion.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.4.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions

(one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 4 topics
and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.4.1.A: Come to discussions prepared, having read or
studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation and other
information known about the topic to explore ideas under discussion.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.4.1.B: Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions and
carry out assigned roles.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.4.1.C: Pose and respond to specific questions to clarify
or follow up on information, and make comments that contribute to the
discussion and link to the remarks of others.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.4.1.D: Review the key ideas expressed and explain their
own ideas and understanding in light of the discussion.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.5.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions

(one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 5 topics
and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.5.1.A: Come to discussions prepared, having read or
studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation and other
information known about the topic to explore ideas under discussion.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.5.1.B: Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions and
carry out assigned roles.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.5.1.C: Pose and respond to specific questions by making

comments that contribute to the discussion and elaborate on the remarks of
others.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.5.1.D: Review the key ideas expressed and draw conclusions in light of information and knowledge gained from the discussions.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.2: Determine the main ideas and supporting details of a
text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including
visually, quantitatively, and orally.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.4.2: Paraphrase portions of a text read aloud or information
presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.5.2: Summarize a written text read aloud or information
presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.