March 29th 2007     Economics of Autographs     The Detroit Free Press is running an article entitled, (Detroit baseball) "Tiger             Autographs Get Big Bucks." Referring to the $25 for a player's autograph, the article quotes the owner of a sports memorabilia store as saying, ""You want to keep it affordable, but they are at the very top edge..(The price) can't go up any higher. The market won't support it. The World Series prices topped off. I'm hoping it drops back a little." Recall that the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Detroit Tigers in the 2006 World Series. Read the Article!! Discussion-Starters for Younger Children If your students could meet any one famous person, who would they want to meet? Why? Ask your students to write two questions that they would ask this person if they could ask him/her            anything. If your students could get the autograph of a famous person as long as they traded something for it, what would they trade? Assuming that the thing they would trade is not their most precious item, why wouldn't they trade something they like more for it? What if your students met somebody famous, but not as important to them. Would they still want his/her autograph? What would they trade for it? If they would trade differently, why would they do so? If possible, select somebody whom most of the students in your class admire. Go around the room and ask students what they would give for an autograph from this person. Help students recognize that different students are willing to give up different kinds of things. Why is this the case? Do your students think that they are important? Is their signature special? Help your child (ren) understand that every individual is important and special. Ask your students what they would put on the back of their card if they had a baseball card or something similar. What are the most important details of their lives? Invite your students to design the back of their own baseball card. It might include: their name; favorite hobby; year of birth; and, favorite subject in school. If your students could collect anything in the world, what would they like to collect? Why? If they don't want to collect something, what hobby/hobbies would they like to do or do they do? This type of a question could prompt the formation of new friendships as students learn more about one another. Perhaps a popular student in the class has something in common with a student who is struggling to make friends. Web- Resource Check out this Online Museum of Early Baseball Memorabilia!! Discussion-Starters for Older Students Vocabulary terms to discuss: Memorabilia; Economics; "Exclusive Agreement"; and, "Financial Investment". Ask your students why they think that people are willing to pay money for famous people's autographs. What is it about autographs that make them desirable? Consider asking students to respond to the following question in an essay format: "Should people pay professional athletes money for autographs when they could donate the money to help provide food for the poor?" Why/why not? Prompt students to consider whether or not paying for autographs in any way helps the poor. Ask your students what variables they think would determine how much a store would charge for an autographed baseball? What variables would determine how much an individual would be willing to pay for an autographed baseball? Consider asking students to respond to these questions using a T-Chart in groups of two or three. If your students could have the autograph of any one person who lived at least 100 years ago,who's would they select? Why? If your students could speak to this person for five minutes, what would they discuss? Students could develop imaginary conversations. Do your students think that this topic is appropriate for a current event newsletter? Why/why not? Is this topic important? Why/why not? These questions could prompt an interesting class discussion.