Wants and Needs

What Is a Need?
Needs are things that people must have to live. Without basic
needs, we cannot live.

Did You Know?

Another way to say live is survive. You cannot survive without
food or water.
 Turn and Talk

What is a need?

What does it mean to survive?

 Needs
Remember, needs are something that people must have to survive.
Some needs include:
water

clean air

clothes

shelter

food

medical care
 Why Do We Need Clean Water?
Clean water is important for many reasons. It is needed to
keep your body healthy and working.

Drinking water helps your body and brain work better.

We need clean water to drink, cook, bathe,

and wash our clothes.

Clean water helps us so that we won’t get sick.

 Why Do We Need Clean Air?
Clean air is also important. We need to breathe clean air for our
lungs and body to work. Clean air also helps us stay healthy and
not get sick.

Did You Know? Humans breathe in a gas called oxygen. We get

oxygen from the plants, trees, and grass outside.
 Turn and Talk

What do you think would happen if you didn’t have

clean water?

What do you think would happen if you didn’t have clean air
to breathe?
 Why Do We Need Clothes?

Clothes are a basic need for all people.

They keep us warm or cool.

Clothes keep our bodies clean.

They protect our skin from the sun and germs.

 Why Do We Need Shelter?
Just like clothes, we need shelter to protect us from weather. Shelter
keeps out the wind, rain, snow, or ice.
We also use shelter to store our food, clothes, and things we own.
 Turn and Talk

How do clothes and shelter protect our bodies?

 Why Do We Need Food?
Our bodies use food for energy. Without food, our body cannot
survive.
Food helps our body grow and stay healthy. When we have a strong
body, we don’t get sick as much.
 Why Do We Need Medical Care?
Sometimes, people get sick and need medical care or medicine.
When you get medical care, you can stop or get rid of infection or
disease.
The right medicine can help stop pain and even save lives!
 Turn and Talk

What might happen if someone did not have

enough food?

Why is medical care an important need?

 What Is a Want?
A want is something that you would like to have, but you can live
without it. It may be something that makes you feel happy or
comfortable.
You might want a new toy, a television, or expensive shoes. Those
are all nice and may make you happy, but you don’t need them to
survive.
 Wants
Remember, these are things that you can live without.
Some wants include:

television

cell phone

games

new backpack

candy

nail polish
 Turn and Talk

What is something that you want, but don’t

need to live?
 Wants and Needs
We buy both our wants and needs with money. Sometimes people
try to figure out how much money they need for their needs first.
This helps them figure out how much money they might have left for
some wants.
This is called making a budget.
 What Is a Budget?
A budget is a plan that people make when they list how much
money they have and all of their wants and needs that cost money.
When a budget is made, it can help people spend their money on
the most important things first. If there is money left over, they can
decide to buy some wants or save it.
 Turn and Talk

If you had money leftover after making a

budget, would you save it or spend it?

Why?
Discuss!
LET’S WORK
ON THE
WORKSHEET