Rewards and Penalties That Move People
A 45-minute Grade 3 lesson on the incentives that push people towards or away from a decision.
Rewards and Penalties That Move People is a free 45-minute Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies lesson plan for Common Core standard D2.Eco.2.3-5 — spot the rewards and penalties that push people towards a decision. It is timed across 5 sections, gives the exact wording to use where the wording carries the mathematics, names 3 misconceptions with the teaching move that addresses each, and ends with an exit ticket and a printable worksheet with its answer key.
- Grade:
- Grade 3 to Grade 5
- Length:
- 45 minutes
- Standard:
- D2.Eco.2.3-5
Grade 3 to Grade 5 · Economics
D2.Eco.2.3-5
Identify positive and negative incentives that influence the decisions people make.
Objective
Students will be able to identify an incentive as positive or negative and say which behaviour it encourages.
Students are successful when they can
- Sorts incentives into positive and negative.
- Says what behaviour each encourages.
- Predicts what happens if the incentive is removed.
What you need
- The toll table, with its different rates
- Twelve incentive cards
- The printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan
The lesson
Warm-up — why so cheap?
5 min- Show that stone costs 1 penny a mile and manufactured goods 5.
- Ask what the low rate on stone is trying to make people do.
Teach — the push and the pull
15 min- Name the cheap stone rate as a positive incentive: it pulls stone onto the canal.
- Name a fine for overloading as a negative incentive: it pushes people away from overloading.
- Write the test: does this make the behaviour more attractive or less?
- Do 'no pay on a day with no cargo'. Negative, and it pushes a boatman to find cargo.
- Do 'higher pay for a trained porter'. Positive, and it pulls people into training.
- Ask what happens to stone traffic if the cheap rate is removed.
“Is this making the thing more attractive, or less?”
Guided practice — sort and predict
13 min- Pairs sort twelve incentive cards.
- For four, they write the behaviour it encourages.
- For two, they predict what happens without it.
Independent practice
9 min- Students complete the 'Rewards and Penalties' page.
- Check the behaviour named matches the incentive's direction.
Close
3 min- Name one incentive at school and say which kind it is.
What goes wrong, and why
Each of these is a reasoning error rather than carelessness. The fix addresses the reasoning.
Calls a negative incentive unfair by definition.
Why: Penalties feel punitive.
Fix: A fine for overloading protects the boat and the crew. Ask what it is protecting.
Thinks incentives always work.
Why: The mechanism sounds automatic.
Fix: A cheap rate on stone is no use to somebody with no stone. Incentives need someone able to respond.
Confuses an incentive with an order.
Why: Both change behaviour.
Fix: An order removes the choice. An incentive changes what the choice costs.
If they are not there yet
- Six cards, three of each kind.
- Give the behaviour and ask which incentive produces it.
If they finish early
- Design an incentive to keep boatmen in work after 1846.
- Find an incentive that had the opposite effect to the one intended.
- Say when a reward works better than a penalty.
Exit ticket
The canal charged 1 penny a mile for stone and 5 for manufactured goods. Which is the incentive, and what does it encourage?
What to look for: The cheap stone rate as a positive incentive pulling stone onto the canal. Naming both prices without a direction means the test needs another run.
Printable practice for D2.Eco.2.3-5
Free to print and copy, answer key included. Each sheet can generate a fresh set of problems for a retake.
- Rewards and PenaltiesSort each one into reward or penalty.
Questions about Rewards and Penalties That Move People
How long does the Rewards and Penalties That Move People lesson take?
45 minutes, split across 5 timed sections: warm-up 5 min, teach 15 min, guided practice 13 min, independent practice 9 min, close 3 min. The minutes are stated per section and add up to the stated length, so the plan can be cut or extended at a section boundary rather than abandoned halfway.
Which standard does Rewards and Penalties That Move People teach?
D2.Eco.2.3-5 — D2.Eco.2.3-5, Economics for Grade 3 to Grade 5: “Identify positive and negative incentives that influence the decisions people make.” In plain terms, spot the rewards and penalties that push people towards a decision.
What do I need to teach this lesson?
The toll table, with its different rates, twelve incentive cards and the printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan. Everything listed is either ordinary classroom equipment or a free printable from this site — there is nothing to buy and nothing to prepare beyond photocopying.
What mistakes should I expect in this lesson?
Three, each a reasoning error rather than carelessness: calls a negative incentive unfair by definition; thinks incentives always work and confuses an incentive with an order. The plan gives the thinking behind each one and the teaching move that addresses the thinking rather than the symptom.
How do I know whether the lesson worked?
The exit ticket asks: “The canal charged 1 penny a mile for stone and 5 for manufactured goods. Which is the incentive, and what does it encourage?.” The cheap stone rate as a positive incentive pulling stone onto the canal. Naming both prices without a direction means the test needs another run. That tells you whether the class needs a reteach or a thirty-second conversation before you plan tomorrow.
Is there a worksheet to go with Rewards and Penalties That Move People?
Yes — 1 printable D2.Eco.2.3-5 worksheet, linked at the end of the plan and free like the rest of the site. Each one comes with an answer key and 25 versions, so the practice after the lesson can be a different paper on every desk.
Is Rewards and Penalties That Move People free to use?
Yes. The plan, its printables and their answer keys are free to read, print and photocopy for your own class, with no account and no email capture. It was last reviewed on 7 September 2026. Please do not resell it or republish it as your own.
Last reviewed 2026-09-07. Aligned to D2.Eco.2.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.