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When Your Choices Touch Other People

Civics & Economics · Economics · ages 10-13

Name ______________________ Date ____________

Which of these is a HELPFUL spillover?
- Litter left behind at the park
- A neighbor's flower garden that brightens the whole street
- Loud music blasting late at night
A family throws a loud party that goes past midnight. Who is affected by the noise, even though they never chose to have a party?
- Only the family hosting the party
- The neighbors trying to sleep nearby
- No one, since parties happen indoors
A spillover only affects the person who made the choice.
Circle one: True False
A beekeeper's bees fly to nearby farms and pollinate their crops for free. Is this spillover helpful or harmful to the farms?
- Helpful, the crops grow better because of the bees
- Harmful, the bees damage the crops
- Neither, the bees never reach the farms
Litter keeps piling up at a public park because nobody who drops it pays any price for it. Which of these would best handle the problem?
- A fine for littering in the park
- Removing every trash can so people take litter home
- Posting a sign that says 'please don't litter' with no consequence
A factory near a school releases thick smoke every day. Who breathes that smoke, even though they never agreed to it?
- Only the factory's own workers inside the building
- The students and teachers at the nearby school
- Nobody, because smoke rises above the school
A new law makes factories pay money for every ton of smoke they release. Why might this reduce pollution, even though the tax doesn't clean the river by itself?
- It forces every factory to close immediately
- It has no effect, since the pollution already happened
- It gives the factory a real cost for the harm, so cutting pollution now saves the factory money
Mia says, 'A vaccination only helps the person who gets the shot, so it isn't a spillover.' What is wrong with her thinking?
- She's right, vaccines only ever help the person who gets the shot
- A vaccinated person is less likely to spread the disease, which protects other people too
- Vaccines are actually a harmful spillover

Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

When Your Choices Touch Other People W1-mt_F4SQsGpZk9-s1

A neighbor's flower garden that brightens the whole street · The garden makes things better for people who never planted it. That is a helpful spillover.
The neighbors trying to sleep nearby · The neighbors never agreed to a loud night, but they hear it anyway. That makes them the third party.
False · A spillover is the opposite: it reaches people who had no say in the choice at all.
Helpful, the crops grow better because of the bees · The farms benefit from something they never paid for or asked for. That makes it a helpful spillover.
A fine for littering in the park · A fine attaches a real cost to littering, so people who cause the harm start to feel it.
The students and teachers at the nearby school · The school never chose to be near polluted air, but the students and teachers breathe it anyway.
It gives the factory a real cost for the harm, so cutting pollution now saves the factory money · Once pollution costs the factory money, the factory has a reason to make less of it. That connects the harm back to the choice that caused it.
A vaccinated person is less likely to spread the disease, which protects other people too · Fewer sick people means the disease spreads less to others, so people around a vaccinated person benefit too, even though they never got the shot themselves.