Economic Resources
Greetings Arizona Marketing Educator!
As part of my implementation plan through the University of Delaware’s masters in economics and entrepreneurship masters program, I created this document to provide resources to Arizona marketing and economics educators to assist us as we incorporate hands-on activities and resources with our students as we teach economic concepts. I hope you will find this helpful! Vicki Tolman, July, 2010
As part of my implementation plan through the University of Delaware’s masters in economics and entrepreneurship masters program, I created this document to provide resources to Arizona marketing and economics educators to assist us as we incorporate hands-on activities and resources with our students as we teach economic concepts. I hope you will find this helpful! Vicki Tolman, July, 2010
Concept 1: Foundations of Economics
PO 1. Analyze the implications of scarcity:
a. Limited resources and unlimited human wants influence choice at individual, national, and international levels.
PO 2. Analyze production possibilities curves to describe opportunity costs and trade-offs.
a. Property rights
d. Competition
Video clip: NASA contracts to private firm
Small commercial firm lands contract with NASA. See video at link above. Discussion questions online at www.izzit.org
Marketplace: Corporate Leap Frog
Concepts: Advertising, competition, non-price competition, price
This lesson will focus on competition among sellers and the factors that can make one company more successful than another in the same market. Competition between K-Mart, Wal- Mart, and Target will be examined to see what kinds of competition (price and non-price) can help one company 'leap' ahead of another.
Fad or Fortune (this lesson was designed for 6-8 gr. But see note below for modifying it for 11th grade)
Concepts: Choice, competition, demand, exchange, markets, scarcity, voluntary exchange
“I tried a modified version of this with 11th grade students and they loved it. However, for any other high school teachers wanting to tie this in with a lesson on demand, the numbers given do not seem to have a lot of rhyme or reason to them. Students may argue that it does not reflect real market conditions.” - BJ St. Paul, MN
Role of the government
Video Cartoon – “Make Mine Freedom” (1948) Cold war cartoon that compares the tenants of capitalism and communism.f. Rational self-interest
g. Invisible hand
Saving, Investing, and the Invisible Hand
PO 4. Evaluate the economic implications of current events from a variety of sources (e.g., magazine articles, newspaper articles, radio, television reports, editorials, internet sites).
a. Limited resources and unlimited human wants influence choice at individual, national, and international levels.
- What is Economics
- Scarcity
- Choice, Opportunity Costs and Decisions
- Virtual Economics CD – Lesson 1 from FOCUS High School Economics 2nd Edition
- Concepts: Scarcity, opportunity costs, tradeoffs
- Factors of Production
- Getting More or Using Less
- Virtual Economics CD – Lesson 8 from FOCUS High School Economics 2nd Edition
- Concepts: productivity, specialization and division of labor, investment in capital goods, and investment in human capital
- Learn More, Earn More
- Virtual Economics CD – Lesson 9 from FOCUS High School Economics 2nd Edition
- Concepts: human capital, income, standard of living
- The Economic Way of Thinking: Three Activities to Demonstrate Marginal Analysis
- Virtual Economics CD –Economics in Action, Lesson 6, 14 Greatest Hits for Teaching High School Economics book
- Until the Last Unit Equals …
- Virtual Economics CD – Lesson 15 from FOCUS High School Economics, 2nd Edition
- Concepts: marginalism, diminishing returns, marginal product, marginal cost
- Dumptown, USA: Making a Ton of Difference
- Concepts: Benefit, budget, choice, communities and cities, cost/benefit analysis,
- Costs, decision making, economic efficiency, incentive, marginal analysis, role of government
PO 2. Analyze production possibilities curves to describe opportunity costs and trade-offs.
- Production Possibilities Curve Constant and Increasing Opportunity Cost
- What's wrong with this picture?
- Concept: Opportunity cost Click on link below paragraph for picture. The opportunity cost of getting the rebate includes the cost of the stamp and envelope, plus the time it takes to fill out the form, cut out the UPC code, get a copy of the receipt, address an envelope, and mail it off. For most of us, that cost is greater than $1. (Click on the picture to download a high resolution version of the image.)
- Give and Take
a. Property rights
- Property Rights, the Tragedy of the Commons, and the Coase Theorem
- Virtual Economics CD – FOCUS Economic Systems book by NCEE lesson 3
- Concepts: Property rights, tragedy of the commons, coase theorem
- Why are Some Nations Wealthy?
- Virtual Economics CD, lesson 10 from FOCUS Economic Systems
- Concepts: Economic growth, productivity, property rights, saving and investment, physical capital and human capital, natural resources, trade
- Property Rights and Contracts as Economic Institutions
- Virtual Economics CD lesson 2 from FOCUS Institutions and Markets
- Concepts: Private property, communal property, intellectual property, market economy, incentives, legal foundations of a market economy, contracts
- Video Cartoon – “Going Places” (1948) Fun and effective examples showing capitalism, competition, and the profit motive.
d. Competition
Video clip: NASA contracts to private firm
Small commercial firm lands contract with NASA. See video at link above. Discussion questions online at www.izzit.org
Marketplace: Corporate Leap Frog
Concepts: Advertising, competition, non-price competition, price
This lesson will focus on competition among sellers and the factors that can make one company more successful than another in the same market. Competition between K-Mart, Wal- Mart, and Target will be examined to see what kinds of competition (price and non-price) can help one company 'leap' ahead of another.
Fad or Fortune (this lesson was designed for 6-8 gr. But see note below for modifying it for 11th grade)
Concepts: Choice, competition, demand, exchange, markets, scarcity, voluntary exchange
“I tried a modified version of this with 11th grade students and they loved it. However, for any other high school teachers wanting to tie this in with a lesson on demand, the numbers given do not seem to have a lot of rhyme or reason to them. Students may argue that it does not reflect real market conditions.” - BJ St. Paul, MN
Role of the government
Video Cartoon – “Make Mine Freedom” (1948) Cold war cartoon that compares the tenants of capitalism and communism.f. Rational self-interest
g. Invisible hand
Saving, Investing, and the Invisible Hand
PO 4. Evaluate the economic implications of current events from a variety of sources (e.g., magazine articles, newspaper articles, radio, television reports, editorials, internet sites).
- Current Events: Go to current events blue circle and sign up for daily email alerts featuring current events. Izzit.org provides discussion questions that go along with certain current events featured. www.Izzit.org also provides current event news videos with discussion questions as well.
- Current event videos from Wall Street Journal
- Current events from EconEdLink: EconEdLink provides access to the latest economics news and information. Come here to learn more about what's happening in the world of economics and access related lesson plans.
- Wall Street Journal. (Get short, timely messages) from From
- International Monetary Fund posts current event videos for review
- A Word on the Economy: Why Is the Country Facing a Financial Crisis?
- Need a little help understanding and explaining current events in financial markets to your students? Check out this easy-to-understand presentation on the current economic situation, developed by Julie Stackhouse, senior vice president of the Fed's Banking Supervision & Regulation division.