AQA A-Level Economics: Shifting the PPF

AQA A-level Economics lesson on shifting the PPF, productive capacity, outward and inward shifts, pivoted PPFs and productive efficiency.

This is a complete 60-minute lesson exploring the enquiry question: Why do an economy’s production possibilities change? It begins with a retrieval Connect quiz on the fixed PPF model before guided questioning helps students work out when and why the frontier itself must shift. Students construct and annotate outward, inward and pivoted PPF diagrams before applying this independently to a range of economic scenarios, followed by a short consolidation plenary.

Students learn how to:

distinguish a movement towards an existing PPF from a shift of the PPF;

explain how changes in the quantity, quality or productivity of factors of production affect productive capacity;

draw and explain outward and inward PPF shifts;

identify when a pivoted PPF is required;

distinguish increased actual output from increased productive capacity;

distinguish productive efficiency from allocative efficiency;

explain why increased productive capacity does not eliminate scarcity.

The lesson includes:

retrieval quiz on points on, inside and outside a fixed PPF;

guided questioning to reveal the causes of PPF shifts;

structured diagram construction and note-taking;

examples using labour, capital, technology and natural disasters;

comparison of increased resource utilisation with increased productive capacity;

introduction to pivoted PPFs through sector-specific technological change;

independent scenario-based Apply task requiring students to identify, draw and explain movements, shifts and pivots;

short misconception-focused plenary.

The accompanying teacher guide follows the PowerPoint slide-by-slide and provides timings, exact teacher questions, expected responses and misconception prompts.

This lesson follows the PPF Diagrams lesson in the sequence. Check out the previous lesson for constructing and interpreting a fixed PPF, or the other AQA Economics resources in the series, including lessons on economic methodology, scarcity, and opportunity cost.