SHOW-ME ECONOMICS

Grades 9-12

Table of Contents

1. Overview of Economic Content  ……………………………………………………...…….....……i

2. Copyright Restrictions ………………………………………………………………………....…..xi

3. Resources Available for Teaching Economics in Grades 9-12   ……………………….....……1

4. Correlation of Sample Lessons with the Show-Me Standards  ………………………….....…..4

5. Sample Lessons for Teaching Economics ……………………………………………….....…..10

Benchmark 1: Knowledge of economic systems: traditional, market, command, mixed:

                         Adam Smith and the Market Economy ………………………………..…..10

Benchmark 2: Knowledge of major economic concepts:

Scarcity:

                        Survival Activity ………………………………..…..……………………….….17

Opportunity cost:

                                 Decision Marking Scarcity, Opportunity Cost, and you....…………21

Factors of production (human resources, natural resources and Capital resources):

                        The Economics of Household Production …………………..……………...27

Supply and demand (shortages and surpluses):

                                      A Market in Wheat ………………………………………………..………...32

             Gross Domestic Product:

                                      Places and Production ………………………………………...……………43

             Savings and investment:

                                      All Savings Choices Involve Risk: Grandma’s Gift ………...…...………..51

             Business cycles:

                                      Economic Ups and Downs ………………………….………………………58

             Profit:

                                      The Industrial Revolution ………………………………...………………….65

             Government regulation and deregulation:

                   .                   Who Should Make the Food Safe? ………………..…………………..….70

             Budgeting:

                                       Prom Trade-Offs ……………………………………….………….…………80

             Income:

                                       Learning, Earning, and Spending ………………………………………….86

            Unemployment and full employment:

                                       Worker Woes: Labor Transition Challenges ……...………………………98

            Inflation and deflation:

                                       Klips and Koupons ………………………………………………………...104

Benchmark 3 : Knowledge of the roles people, businesses, and government play in economic systems:

Monetary policy (why the Federal Reserve System influences interest rates and the money supply):

Who Should Control the Money Supply – The U.S.  Congress or the Federal Reserve?……………………..………………………………...............…….  119

 Fiscal policy (government taxation and spending):

How Can Changes in the Federal Government’s Budget Stabilize The Economy? …………………………………………….……………………....................………. 124

How monopolies affect people’s lives and how they are regulated:

                                      The economic Effects of 19^th Century Monopoly ……………….……… 130

How boycotts, strikes and embargoes affect trade and people’s Options:  Why Would Grape Pickers Ask People Not to Buy Grapes?……...…………..................................………  142

Why businesses many choose to build in or move other regions or Countries:

                           Population Pyramids  ………………………………………………………...……. 151

Benchmark 4: Knowledge of economic consequences of personal And public decisions:

                            Planning and Goal Setting: Can You Get There From Here?….…………. ..….168

Benchmark 5: Knowledge of the functions and effects of major Economic institutions of the U.S. economy, such as

 Corporations, labor unions, and financial institutions: Labor and Management

 Negotiate …………………………………………………………….……….....……180

Benchmark 6: Knowledge of the U.S. role in the global economy and of the roles of trade, treaties, international organizations, and comparative advantage in the global economy:

                         Why Does the U.S. Government Discourage World Trade?……………..………187

Benchmark 7: Knowledge of the roles of government in a market Economy (defining and protecting property rights, maintaining Competition, promoting goals such as full employment, Stable price, growth, and justice):

                          Where Do You Stand?………………………………………………………..……  196

6. Glossary of Terms ……………………………………………………………………………...…….  200