Business and economics
Supply and demand: economic diagram analysis
Read a supply-and-demand model for takeaway coffee, find equilibrium, and identify a surplus and shortage. The two-page landscape A4 worksheet then introduces a demand shift and asks pupils to plot a new curve, compare equilibria and explain the change.
Read supply and demand on the same axes. Check the equilibrium labels against the worked data.
Read the complete materialRead the material
Read a supply-and-demand model for takeaway coffee, find equilibrium, and identify a surplus and shortage. The two-page landscape A4 worksheet then introduces a demand shift and asks pupils to plot a new curve, compare equilibria and explain the change.
Complete resource. Use the preview for diagrams and layout.
Page 1
ECONOMICS AGES 16 TO 18 SUPPLY AND DEMAND Economic diagram and graph analysis Read the model graph, then plot a shift of your own. NAME CLASS DATE LEARNING GOAL Use a supply and demand diagram to find equilibrium, a surplus and a shortage in the market for takeaway coffee in a small town. SUCCESS CRITERIA I can read price and quantity from a graph. I can find a surplus and a shortage. E N T R Y A café sells takeaway coffee. Study the graph. 0 20 40 60 80 100 0 £1 £2 £3 £4 £5 Price (£ per cup) Quantity (cups per hour) D S E E: £3, 40 cups E N T R Y Read the schedule and the graph PRICE (£ PER CUP) £1 £2 £3 £4 £5 Demand D (cups per hour) 80 60 40 20 0 Supply S (cups per hour) 0 20 40 60 80 A Price at equilibrium £ PER CUP B Quantity at equilibrium CUPS PER HOUR C Surplus at £4 per cup CUPS D Shortage at £2 per cup CUPS NOTES TO SELF TWO LINES D is solid and slopes down. S is dashed and slopes up. EQUILIBRIUM The lines cross at E, where supply equals demand. Surplus: supply is more than demand. Shortage: demand is more than supply. READING E Follow the dotted lines across to the price axis and down to the quantity axis. 1 2 EQUILIBRIUM SURPLUS SHORTAGE Economic diagram and graph analysis · Economics Page 1 of 2
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ECONOMICS AGES 16 TO 18 YOUR ANALYSIS A shift in demand NAME CLASS DATE E N T R Y Plot S and D2 on the graph PRICE (£ PER CUP) £1 £2 £3 £4 £5 Supply S (cups per hour) 0 20 40 60 80 New demand D2 (cups per hour) 100 80 60 40 20 0 20 40 60 80 100 0 £1 £2 £3 £4 £5 Price (£ per cup) Quantity (cups per hour) Plot S (dashed) and D2 (dash-dot). Label each line. Ring the new equilibrium, where D2 crosses S. E N T R Y Read the new equilibrium A New price £ PER CUP B New quantity CUPS PER HOUR C Price change + or − £ PER CUP D Quantity change + or − CUPS PER HOUR E N T R Y Tick one. The change is: a shift of the demand curve a movement along the curve E N T R Y Explain why the price rises (two or three sentences) E N T R Y Name a cause of a movement along the curve, not a shift Hint: a change in the price of the good itself. 1 THE CAUSE A social media trend makes takeaway coffee more popular. 2 3 4 DEMAND SHORTAGE PRICE EQUILIBRIUM 5 Economic diagram and graph analysis · Economics Page 2 of 2
A teaching sequence
Find equilibrium, calculate a surplus or shortage and explain a demand shift using a supply-and-demand graph.
Read supply and demand on the same axes. Check the equilibrium labels against the worked data.
Read the complete materialFind the model equilibrium
Use the schedule and graph to identify where supply and demand meet.
Where do the supply and demand quantities agree?
Calculate surplus and shortage
Read the quantities at £4 and £2 and subtract the smaller from the larger to find a surplus or shortage.
At the stated price, which quantity is larger and by how many cups?
Plot and label the new demand schedule
Plot the new D2 schedule, label the line and circle the new intersection with supply.
Does the new intersection use D2 and the unchanged supply line?
Compare equilibria and explain the shift
Compare the new and original equilibrium and explain why the trend shifts demand rather than moving along the same curve. Compare both equilibrium points and explain the assumptions.
What popularity change is assumed, and why is it different from a price movement along demand?
Before you teach
Look for the thinking behind an answer, choose the support your class needs and leave room for an independent response.
What to look for
Check the original equilibrium at £3 and 40 cups per hour, surplus of 40 at £4, shortage of 40 at £2, and the shifted equilibrium at £4 and 60 cups. Ask pupils to explain the curve shift and assumptions behind the model.
Give a little support
Work through the schedule row by row and provide coloured rulers or curve labels. Model one surplus and one shortage calculation, keeping price and quantity units visible.
Take the idea further
Ask pupils to change one assumption in the schedule and predict how the intersection changes. They can compare a second shift with a movement along the curve and explain the difference.
Things to keep in mind
The graph is a simplified model with no source for the town’s coffee data. It is not a market forecast or real sales record. Check calculations and course assumptions; no answer page is present.
Keep the idea. Make it yours.
Bring your topic, learning goal and class context to PLAI™, then review what you create.
Ideas to try with your class
Sample teaching perspectives on what to try, what to adapt and what to watch for.
Meet The Creators
Meet a creator whose teaching interests connect with this template.
Kindly Red Pen
The coffee schedule places equilibrium at £3 and 40 cups per hour, then asks pupils to calculate a surplus at £4 and shortage at £2. Page 2 changes demand to D2, requiring a new plotted curve rather than a movement along D.
Open Book Pause
For ages 16 to 18, the two pages connect a data schedule to a supply-and-demand graph and an equilibrium reading. The explicit solid and dashed line keys and dotted guides help pupils trace price and quantity separately.
Board Eraser
Have pupils read one price row from both schedules before plotting, then check which quantity is larger at that price. This makes the surplus/shortage distinction concrete before asking them to interpret the demand shift.
Chalk & Chai
The takeaway-coffee market is a teaching example, not current market data. Distinguish a shift to D2 from movement along the original demand curve, and verify plotted points against the supplied schedule.