- Define and explain Jobs in Our Community in your own words
- Use key terms such as skills accurately
- Apply what you have learned to new examples and questions
- Avoid the common mistakes learners make with this topic
This lesson focuses on Jobs in Our Community: see how local jobs keep a community running.
See how local jobs keep a community running.
Key ideas
Goods and services
A baker makes goods you can touch and eat; a doctor provides a service you experience but cannot hold. Most jobs produce one or the other, and many businesses provide both — a restaurant sells food (goods) plus cooking and serving (services).
Jobs need skills and training
Different jobs need different skills. A pilot trains for years to fly safely; a plumber learns a trade through an apprenticeship. Education and training build skills, and stronger skills usually open the door to better-paid, more interesting work.
Key term — skills: Abilities learned through practice and training, such as reading, cooking or fixing engines. Stronger skills usually lead to better jobs.
List five jobs in a school and sort each into goods, services, or both.
Teacher — provides a service (teaching). Cook — produces goods (meals) and a service (serving). Caretaker — provides a service (repairs, maintenance). Librarian — provides a service (helping readers). Cleaner — provides a service (cleaning).
Answer: Most school jobs provide services; the cook also produces goods (the meals). Services dominate because schools exist to help pupils learn.
- Believing easy-looking jobs need no skill Every job needs skills — a cleaner needs knowledge of chemicals and safety; a delivery driver needs navigation and time management.
- Thinking only paid work counts Unpaid work like parenting and volunteering is real work that creates enormous value.
Practice
A service — you experience it but cannot hold or store it.
Any one of: purpose, using talents, learning skills, meeting people, helping others.
A good — it is a physical product.
Wages are usually paid weekly or hourly; salaries are usually paid monthly.
Quick check
Which of these best defines "skills"?
Why does training usually lead to better pay?
Name one skill a nurse needs.
- Jobs in Our Community: see how local jobs keep a community running.
- Goods and services: A baker makes goods you can touch and eat; a doctor provides a service you experience but cannot hold.
- wage: The money a worker is paid, usually for each hour worked or each week.
- Watch out for: believing easy-looking jobs need no skill