Consumer Education Teacher Resources

Whether they know it or not, your students are consumers in a larger economy. It’s never too early to equip them with the skills they need for understanding and applying personal finance—and for protecting themselves and their money.

For the basics on consumer education, use an all-inclusive lesson on financial literacy, or pass out a full resource book to older learners. Make the lesson engaging with an interactive game that teaches financial concepts with football or a video that explains how consumer behavior affects the greater economy.

Creating a budget is an important skill for young economists, as is understanding the essentials of opportunity costs in their everyday lives. Apply the concepts to learners’ real lives with a lesson on making good financial choices or a unit that incorporates real-world examples.

E-Commerce has made it easier to be a modern consumer, but pupils must be armed with financial protection. Teach them about their rights as consumers and the best ways to maintain their privacy when spending, investing, or saving their money.

Student often complain that they’ll never use school lessons in the real world, but in the case of personal finance, they’d be wrong!

Showing 204 resources
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Lesson Plan
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Council for Economic Education

Satisfaction Please! (Part 1)

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The topic of consumerism seems easy to those who participate actively in the US economy, but pupils who are new to economics may see the idea as foreign. Help them understand their rights as consumers and what to expect when interacting...
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Council for Economic Education

Satisfaction Please! (Part 3)

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Understanding the US government's role proves very important in the American economy, especially for consumers. Scholars learn about how varying government agencies help them when facing an issue. The third and final resource in the...
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Handout
Curated OER

Finance Formulas Review Sheet

For Students 9th - 12th
Keep your finances straight—more like finance formulas straight—with a well-organized formula guide full of everything you need. Starting with simple interest and ending with future and present value, this sheet can be useful for many...
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Instructional Video5:36
Curated OER

Analytics - How It Works

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed
Drawings flash across the screen as a narrator discusses how we extract meaning from digital information. Show this video to your high school engineering learners or in a computer science class. It may also be valuable to include in a...
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Unit Plan
Federal Reserve Bank

It's Your Paycheck

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Beyond reading and arithmetic, one of the most important skills for graduating seniors to have is fiscal literacy and responsibility. Start them on the right financial track with nine lessons that focus on a variety of important personal...
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Lesson Plan
PwC Financial Literacy

Saving and Investing: Investing for the Future

For Teachers 6th - 8th
A fine lesson on saving and investing is here for you and your middle schoolers. In it, learners explore the values of time and money, and discover how small amounts of money invested over time can grow into a large "pot of gold." They...
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Lesson Plan
PricewaterhouseCoopers

The Stock Market

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Keep or sell? Young learners simulate as buyers in the stock market while learning about the benefits and important factors to know when purchasing. The thorough resource allows for observation of case studies and provides an assessment...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Price of Gasoline: What's Behind It?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
When gasoline is in high demand and on short supply, OPEC can raise the price to turn a significant profit. Help learners understand the economics behind demand, profit motive, and monopolies with a lesson that focuses on OPEC and...
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Lesson Plan
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Federal Reserve Bank

Retirement Planning

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
It's never too early to start saving for retirement. In fact, the earlier one starts, the better! Use this retirement planning activity to teach the importance of a retirement strategy and why to start at a young age. 
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Practical Money Skills

Cars and Loans

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Most teenagers want to buy a car, but do they know how much it really costs? Calculate the cost of purchasing a car, securing auto insurance, and maintaining the new investment with a thorough and engaging personal finance instructional...
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Unit Plan
Visa

Pro Lesson Module — Financial Football

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners won't fumble their knowledge of personal finance after an engaging game of Financial Football! As they choose their favorite teams and desired plays, young economists demonstrate their financial literacy with a question ranging...
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Lesson Plan
Visa

Consumer Awareness

For Teachers 7th - 10th Standards
Help your pupils become wise consumers and avoid becoming targets for consumer scams and fraud. Here you'll find a PowerPoint presentation, instructional guidelines, worksheets, and suggested activities for developing shopper strategies...
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Unit Plan
Visa

Hall of Fame Lesson Module — Financial Football

For Teachers 11th - Higher Ed
Kick off an engaging review on personal finance with an online football game. Financial Football incorporates both football strategies and economic knowledge in an interactive format, allowing future CFOs to answer a variety of questions...
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Unit Plan
University of Missouri

Money Math

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
Young mathematicians put their skills to the test in the real world during this four-lesson consumer math unit. Whether they are learning how compound interest can make them millionaires, calculating the cost of remodeling their bedroom,...
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Practical Money Skills

Protecting Your Money

For Teachers 6th - 12th
How can you tell if a commercial or salesperson is being misleading? Encourage your learners to protect themselves and their money with a lesson about consumer rights. They review laws that keep consumers safe from faulty claims and...
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Unit Plan
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Practical Money Skills

About Consumer Privacy

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Help young economists protect their identities and their finances with a set of lessons about consumer privacy. Once they read through the three-lesson unit and fill in the correct facts, they can take an assessment to demonstrate what...
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Practical Money Skills

Shopping Wisely

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Work on making good shopping choices with a fun economics project. Kids analyze the differences between brand names and generic products, bigger and smaller units for purchase, and different places they can shop for different items.
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Instructional Video10:25
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Crash Course

Inflation and Bubbles and Tulips

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
If a country needs more money, they should just print more currency, right? Not exactly. Learn about the economic ramifications of inflation and deflation with an engaging video from Crash Course Economics.
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Lesson Plan
Visa

Credit

For Teachers 7th - 11th Standards
What are the advantages and disadvantages of having a credit card? Don't miss this important life skills and financial literacy instructional activity, which focuses on consumer responsibilities, creditworthiness, and establishing a...
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Lesson Plan
Visa

Buying a Home

For Teachers 7th - 11th Standards
What is the difference between buying and renting a home? Learners become more informed consumers and financially literate adults after developing foundational knowledge of the home-buying process. 
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Unit Plan
Visa

Rookie Lesson Module — Financial Football

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Score a touchdown with an exciting game of financial football! Middle schoolers choose their favorite teams and play a virtual game of football as they answer various questions about economics.
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Instructional Video10:34
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Crash Course

Behavioral Economics

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Understanding how consumers think is key to staying in business. Show high schoolers how their buying behavior really does affect the way the economy works with an informative video from Crash Course Economics. The video illustrates the...
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Lesson Plan
SaveandInvest.org

The True Cost of Owning a Car

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Almost every teen wants a car, but can they really afford one? The lesson plan walks pupils through how to identify a budget, find all of the costs associated with car ownership, and determine if they should buy the car or keep looking.
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Unit Plan
Wells Fargo

Hands on Banking

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
Cha-ching! You just hit the jackpot with this interactive consumer math unit. Supported by a series of online lessons and activities, these lessons engage students in applying their math skills to real-life personal finance problems...

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