Carolina K-12
Factors of Production and Economic Decision-Making
Class members begin this engaging economics activity by listing all the resources used in producing a car and using that example to draw parallels to the four primary factors of production: capital goods, labor, natural resources, and...
Carolina K-12
Comparing Economic Systems
How do people make decisions in a world where wants are unlimited but resources are not? How do individuals and governments utilize scarce resources (human, natural, and capital) in different economic systems? Introduce your learners to...
Federal Reserve Bank
Sky Boys: How They Built the Empire State Building
How tall is the Empire State Building? Lead your class through a collaborative estimation activity to determine the number of quarters it would take to reach the top and teach the following concepts: human capital, human resources,...
Federal Reserve Bank
Messy Bessey's Holidays
Teach your class some fairly complex terms—factors of production, human resources, capital resources, natural resources, and intermediate goods—with a storybook (Messy Bessey's Holidays), plenty of visuals and handouts, and related...
Federal Reserve Bank
Ten Mile Day
Get your class working on the railroad with this detailed and interactive lesson plan. After reading and discussing Ten Mile Day, learners explore division of labor, human capital, and productivity with a hands-on group activity in which...
Curated OER
Lemonade For Sale
2-3rd graders listen to the story, Lemonade for Sale, by Stuart J. Murphy. In the story, children produce and sell lemonade to raise money for their clubhouse, create a product, classify the resources used in production as natural...
Carolina K-12
Practice Test of Economics
From scarcity and supply and demand to entrepreneurship and the stock market, here you'll find a multiple-choice assessment that includes 34 questions covering all the major concepts of a traditional economics course.
College Board
2017 AP® Macroeconomics Free-Response Questions
Learners get extra practice graphing complicated economic concepts using authentic College Board materials. Problem sets include examinations of consumer versus capital goods, and the effects of various financial policies on an economy...
College Board
2017 AP® Microeconomics Free-Response Questions
How much corn does a farmer need to grow if he wants to make a profit? A prompt from College Board asks learners to put themselves in the boots of a farmer growing crops for the alternative fuel market. Additional prompts consider the...
College Board
2002 AP® Macroeconomics Free-Response Questions Form B
What would happen if the federal government replaced the income tax with a national sales tax? Learners consider the consequence and other economic scenarios using authentic College Board materials. Scholars also evaluate the role of...
College Board
2013 AP® Macroeconomics Free-Response Questions
While inflation is an expected part of the economy, how does it affect other factors, such as loan and interest rates? Learners consider questions such as these in authentic College Board materials. Other practice questions include...
College Board
2018 AP® Macroeconomics Free-Response Questions
When recessions happen, they impact markets around the world. Scholars explore the effects with a prompt from the College Board exam. Other analytical exercises include evaluating the trade-offs that happen when societies produce...
Council for Economic Education
The Columbian Exchange
What did you have for dinner last night? Many scholars ask that question without considering the history behind the foods they eat. Using a simulation, scholars investigate how the foods they eat are the product of the Columbian...
Council for Economic Education
How Neolithic Farmers Increased Their Standard of Living
How do people improve their economic situations? While many learners may not consider questions about how many crops to grow in ancient times were economic decisions, a hands-on activity encourages individuals to make these connections....
Council for Economic Education
Wages and the Black Death
While the Black Death wiped out a third of Europe's population during the Middle Ages, its destruction paved the way for better wages for workers and even an early form of modern capitalism. The relationship between the cataclysmic event...
Council for Economic Education
Athens and Sparta-Imagine the Possibilities
Both Athens and Sparta made choices to survive in ancient Greece. Those choices were, in essence, economic ones about how to direct resources. A Venn diagram activity and reading ask class members to examine the connection between...
Council for Economic Education
The Economics of Income: If You’re So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich?
If basketball players make more than teachers, why shouldn't learners all aspire to play in the NBA? Unraveling the cost and benefits of education and future economic success can be tricky. Economic data, real-life cases, and some...
Education Fund
Fear the Scarce Resources
In a life or death situation, what resources would you choose to survive—and why? A zombie attack simulation teaches learners the concepts of scarcity and resources in regards to economics. The hands-on activity requires individuals to...
Federal Reserve Bank
Little Nino's Pizzeria
Engage your youngsters in basic economics by connecting the terms to dessert and pizza! After a discussion about intermediate goods and natural resources, learners read and connect a pizzeria to economic terms.
Council for Economic Education
Teaching Economics Using Children's Literature
Introduce young learners to the subject of economics using their favorite stories and books. Including 24 separate lessons, this guide covers economic principles such as trade, scarcity, consumer goods and services, renewable and...
Federal Reserve Bank
Wants on a Continuum
You can't always get what you want, but you might just be able to teach your class about wants and choices. This plan leads pupils through a discussion and closes with a worksheet and assessment.
Curated OER
Being Resourceful: Wisconsin quarter reverse
If your class understands goods and services then they'll be ready for this lesson on various resources. After reading a series of books and engaging in class lecture and discussion, pupils will fill out worksheets. They will list...
Curated OER
Deciding to Serve
Seventh graders examine different ways where they can be most effective in sharing their newly acquired financial expertise. In this cross curricular instructional activity, 7th graders participate in a service project. Students design...
Council for Economic Education
Cost/Benefit Analysis: Three Gorges Dam
Middle schoolers, in groups, take various roles in evaluating the costs/benefits of the Three Gorges Dam project on the Yangtze River in China.