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Food Insecurity
Explore food insecurity and resource scarcity with your class. They discuss the sharing of scarce resources, how to be good caretakers of these resources, and how choices impact the entire world.
Council for Economic Education
Great Civilizations Develop around Rivers
If you lived in prehistoric times, what kinds of choices could your family make to increase their chance of survival? By making similar decisions in a simulation game, participants discover how specialization creates both opportunity and...
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Economics
Fourth graders study the effects of economics in their daily life. In this economics lesson, 4th graders construct a list of wants and needs if they had an unlimited supply of money. Students discuss how economics help people make...
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Scarcity and Choice: Mercantilism - the relationships between England, Africa, and the Americas
Students trace the meaning and importance of mercantilism; past and present.
Federal Reserve Bank
Lesson 1: Katrina Strikes
Most families have an emergency kit in their home with flashlights, water, and extra food. But what happens to your money when disaster strikes? An economics lesson focused on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 demonstrates the...
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Money and Credit: Making Good Decisions
Students participate in activities that teach them how to manage money. In this managing money lesson plan, students set long and short term goals for economic success by having discussions, identifying benefits of saving, and...
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Introduction to Economics
Students demonstrate an understanding of the concepts of unlimited wants and limited resources. They participate in an activity using money to purchase goods and services. Students evaluate benefits and costs resulting from personal...
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Economics: The Scarcity Principle
Learners discover how scarcity leads to economic choices. They examine its effect on individuals, business, and governments. Students simulate various scenarios to determine the role scarcity plays in each.
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Beach Burgers
Twelfth graders develop economic literacy of basic economic problems confronting all societies. Economic decision making, scarcity to make choices, economic confronts, market system, prices, demand curves and supply curves are all covered.
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Distribution of Goods
Students study the concept of scarcity and that it requires people to make choices when trying to satisfy their unlimited wants. Groups are given bags of items and must distribute the items in the bag in a way that is acceptable to...
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What is Economics?
Students define economics and explain the importance and process of making economic choices and decisions. Students participate in four lessons revolving around economics and select activities to complete.
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Economic Activity and Markets
Students identify and interpret that economic activity involves making choices in the face of scarcity, therefore making choices involves a cost. They also identify that individuals interact in markets by inducing one another, through...
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Scarcity and Opportunity Cost - To Choose Is To Refuse
Young scholars are introduced to scarcity and opportunity costs. They discuss how different societies allocate their resources differently based on their needs. Illustrating trade offs, they create a production possibility frontier. They...
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Introduction to Economics
Students discover the basic economic problem: scarcity; examine how "there is no such thing as a free lunch" (opportunity costs); and define economics. They act out a play demonstrating basic economic principles.
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Location of Resources in Early Civilizations
Sixth graders define scarcity and opportunity costs.
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Road To Roota
Did you know that there are comic books that can help learners discover economic concepts like supply and demand. The format of this lesson is highly engaging and enables them to discover how economics can be an exciting field of study....
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Economic Decisions
Students practice decision-making skills by planning vacation, including all proposed expenses. Students distinguish between needs and wants, identify difference between goods and services, and describe economic resources used in...
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Prioritizing National Economic Goals
Eighth graders define the generally accepted list of national economic goals. They discuss the compatability/incompatibility of goals. They participate in a consensus-building exercise to rank economic goals in order of importance.
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You Can't Have it All
In this economic worksheet, 7th graders read about the ideas of choice as well as scarcity for producers and consumers. Students then complete three activities based on economic choices.
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Economic Forces
Students explore the economic forces of scarcity and choice. They examine how these forces affect the management of personal financial resources, shape consumer decisions, and the economic well-being of society. Students research stock...
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The Economy
Students explore the role of government in the economy market. In this economics lesson, students analyze the decision making and how it takes into consideration additional cost, benefits and public awareness of what they are trying to...
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The Game of Business
High schoolers practice the economic concepts of scarcity and opportunity cost. They imagine creating their own businesses and brainstorm what they need to know in order to determine when the business is profitable.
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Supermarket Smarts
Students examine how a consumer can make informed choices. They visit stores with a prepared shopping list, record the prices on a spreadsheet, create graphs, and create a Powerpoint presentation comparing the total cost of stores and a...
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Trade Offs and Opportunity Cost
Students explore the role of government in the economy market. In this economics lesson, students analyze the decision making and how it takes into consideration additional cost, benefits and public awareness of what they are trying to...