Students discover how to save money. In this financial planning lesson, students read the story Spend or Save? and discuss ways to save money. Students choose a character from the story and write about a financial decision they had to make.

Students explore the development of urban California as it was driven by the Gold Rush boom. They study historical documents and participate in a variety of hands-on activities designed to reinforce the concept of the lesson.

Learners analyze how technology has changed over time. They identify technologies that did not exist in the past and might be invented in the future and design a poster that illustrates the evolution of one kind of technology and...

Student create a savings chart given a set allowance per week. They explain how people in the local community make choices about using goods, services, and productive resources, and how they compare costs and benefits in economic...

Students analyze the effects of outsourcing. In this globalization lesson, students listen to their instructor present a lecture regarding the outsourcing of American jobs to other countries. Students respond to discussion questions and...

Students explain the role of government in protecting consumer rights and the role of private organizations in protecting consumer rights.

Students plan a service project. In this service learning lesson, students demonstrate their understanding of philanthropy as they plan a stone soup party.

Students gather facts about Canada from various maps. For this Canada lesson, students use beans to relate the populations of the U.S. and Canada. Students create population distribution maps based on the placement of the beans. 

Middle schoolers describe the difference between a want and a need. In groups, they brainstorm a list of all of their wants and the method of exchange that is going to allow them to be satisfied. They discover how having money makes...

Seventh graders gain a better understanding of the canal period in U.S. History, and more specifically, discern the importance of the Illinois and Michigan Canal on the development of Illinois as a state and Chicago as a prominent city.

Students access the International Monetary Fund website and explore it in order to research the role of the organization. They use their findings to describe the purpose and activities of the International Monetary Fund.

Fifth graders examine some famous explorers who have helped to discover our country. They discuss explorers from three countries today. They are: Spain, Portugal, and England.

Students engage in a study of financial institutions that includes the banking industry. They participate in a research study using different resources. They are introduced to the concept of bartering and how it is used as a replacement...

Students investigate the history of advertising in Colorado.They analyze newspapers and advertisements putting them into different categories. Students question the content to develop higher order thinking skills.

Students view a seashell and listen as the teacher explains that these were sometimes used as money. They listen as the teacher lectures on medium of exchange, barter, and commodity. Students determine the number of chickens it would...

Learners take a "behind-the-scenes" look at the school cafeteria as food is being prepared. They take notes on the jobs (i.e., division of labor) that they observe in the cafeteria. They write about the division of labor in the school...

Students review the definitions for efficiency and productivity. In groups, they observe a group of working people and develop ways they can increase their productivity. They write up their formal recommendations and then present them...

Students identify reasons people choose to donate. In this donating lesson, students contrast the words spend, save, and donate. Students learn a song about donating, brainstorm reasons to give, and make sound choices with their money.

Eighth graders examine the impact of Salem's maritime trade on America. Using primary source documents, they identify the use of expanding the number of products available and how it affected the economy. They write an essay discussing...

Learners identify problems with a pure market economy, and examine and explain roles of selected regulatory agencies.

Students express their feelings about their neighbors and how to be kind to others. Teacher and students discuss the meaning of philanthropy and how they can be kind to others. After reading a particular trade book, students are assessed...

Students explore the need for money in a society and the artificial value of coin and paper currencies. They design their own coin and paper currency.

High schoolers study George Washington's map and journal of his 1754 expedition to the French. They draw conclusions about the importance of western lands and the problems involved in tapping the resources of the West during that era.

A passage about bartering practiced by early Native American tribes provides the text for a reading comprehension worksheet that asks kids to use information from the article to answer a series of comprehension questions.