Lemonade stand science.(SCIENCE)

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Did you know that when you and your family sell old, unwanted items of clothing and toys, you are performing science? Yes, it is true. The science of buying and selling is called ECONOMICS.

ECONOMISTS study the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. What does that mean?

To make it simple: if you make lemonade to sell on a hot day, that is "production." If you set up a lemonade stand in front of your house, that is "distribution." When people stop and buy your lemonade to drink, that is "consumption."

When an auto company buys the steel, the plastics, the rubber, the electronics, and everything else needed to make an automobile and pays the workers to build the automobile, that is "production." When they ship the completed automobiles to their dealers, that is "distribution." When people buy the new cars, that is called "consumption."

Even though building cars is much more complicated than making lemonade, the basic science is the same. A successful lemonade stand is one in which the money you make selling lemonade is more that the money it takes to make the lemonade. That is called "profit." When you take in less than it costs you to make the lemonade, it is called "loss."

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