Scarcity, opportunity cost, and goods vs services in the ancient world
Grade 6 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.
Read this first
Dunmar's season (invented city)
(an example, made up for practice), columns Project | Workers needed | Must be ready: granary | 70 | before the harvest in 3 months; dock | 60 | before the boats come in 9 months; workers Dunmar has | 90 | this season. Then, below the table: Cause and effect chain "Dunmar's shortage (invented city)": [1] Dunmar has 90 workers this season; [2] The granary needs 70 workers and the dock needs 60; [3] Both projects together need more workers than Dunmar has; [4] Dunmar cannot build both, so it builds the granary first; [5] The dock waits a year: this is the opportunity cost. Arrows: 1 → 3, 2 → 3, 3 → 4, 4 → 5. Below the chain: Dunmar is an invented city. All numbers are example data.
How many workers do the granary and the dock need together, Zee asks?
- 220
- 160
- 10
- 130
How many workers short is Dunmar if it wants both projects, Ari asks?
- 40
- 130
- 220
- 20
Which claim and reason for Dunmar's first project is strongest, Esme asks?
- Both at once: Dunmar can borrow the missing workers
- Dock first: boats matter more to a city than grain
- Granary first: the harvest comes before the boats
- Dock first: it needs fewer workers than the granary
Which statement about the dock is right, Kira asks?
- It is the resource that Dunmar uses up first
- It is built at once, so Dunmar gives up nothing
- It waits a year, and that is the opportunity cost
- It is built next, with the 20 workers who are left
In Luz's table, which job gives a good rather than a service?
- The doctor
- The hairdresser
- The midwife
- The lamp-maker
In Milo's table, which job gives a service rather than a good?
Use the picture in question 5.
- The farmer
- The lamp-maker
- The baker
- The midwife
Which pair of jobs in Noah's table make only goods?
Use the picture in question 5.
- The farmer and the baker
- The baker and the hairdresser
- The lamp-maker and the doctor
- The midwife and the farmer
Dunmar's season (invented city)
(an example, made up for practice), columns Project | Workers needed | Must be ready: granary | 70 | before the harvest in 3 months; dock | 60 | before the boats come in 9 months; workers Dunmar has | 90 | this season. Then, below the table: Cause and effect chain "Dunmar's shortage (invented city)": [1] Dunmar has 90 workers this season; [2] The granary needs 70 workers and the dock needs 60; [3] Both projects together need more workers than Dunmar has; [4] Dunmar cannot build both, so it builds the granary first; [5] The dock waits a year: this is the opportunity cost. Arrows: 1 → 3, 2 → 3, 3 → 4, 4 → 5. Below the chain: Dunmar is an invented city. All numbers are example data.
Pia's note says, "Dunmar can build both projects with 90 workers." Which fix is right?
- Leave it: 70 and 60 together make 90 workers
- Change 90 to 220 so that Dunmar has enough
- Change workers to coins
- Change it: both need 130, but it has 90
Ren's note says, "If the granary is built first, the granary is given up." Which fix is right?
- Change it: nothing is given up
- Leave it: the granary is given up
- Change it: the dock is given up
- Change it: the workers are given up
Tala's note says, "Lamp-makers in Rome gave a service." Which fix is right?
Table "Jobs in Rome in the first century CE", columns Job | What the worker made or did: farmer | grew grain; baker | made bread; lamp-maker | made lamps; midwife | helped at births; hairdresser | styled hair; doctor | treated patients. Then, below the table: Cause and effect chain "Sorting Rome's jobs": [1] The table lists jobs in Rome in the first century CE; [2] Some jobs make or grow things people can hold: goods; [3] Other jobs do work for people: services. Arrows: 1 → 2, 1 → 3. Data: PBS, The Roman Empire in the First Century, Social Order pages (plebeians; women), read Nov 11, 2026. Table "Jobs in Rome in the first century CE", columns Job | What the worker made or did: farmer | grew grain; baker | made bread; lamp-maker | made lamps; midwife | helped at births; hairdresser | styled hair; doctor | treated patients. Then, below the table: Cause and effect chain "Sorting Rome's jobs": [1] The table lists jobs in Rome in the first century CE; [2] Some jobs make or grow things people can hold: goods; [3] Other jobs do work for people: services. Arrows: 1 → 2, 1 → 3. Data: PBS, The Roman Empire in the First Century, Social Order pages (plebeians; women), read Nov 11, 2026. Sorting Rome's jobs [1] The table lists jobs in Rome in the first century CE [2] Some jobs make or grow things people can hold: goods [3] Other jobs do work for people: services Data: PBS, The Roman Empire in the First Century, Social Order pages (plebeians; women), read Nov 11, 2026. - Change it: lamps are goods
- Change it: lamps are a want
- Change lamp-makers to farmers
- Leave it: lamps are a service