Teacher Notes / Lesson
Estimated Time: 2-3 Class Periods
Objectives:
- To gain an understanding of different economic systems
- To stimulate imagination and help students envision how an
economy could be organized
- To demonstrate effective presentation skills
Lesson:
1. Review or Research 4 Basic Economic Systems
a. Traditional, Command, Pure Capitalist System, Mixed Economic System.
2. Have student groups report out to class on the characteristics of each along with
the disadvantages and advantages. This can be done on the board, on a poster, in a
slide presentation, or through an app like PicCollage.
3. Put students into groups of 3 or 4 and read the following to the class:
“I want you to imagine that we are on a distant island together and the people
in this school are the only people left in the world due to a catastrophic event.
There are many sources of food and it has a very comfortable climate.” Your
objective is to create a structured, civilized society based upon an organized
well thought out plan.”
4. Ask the class to come up with a list of natural resources found on the island and
have a student scribe write them on the board. The students will need to figure out
what they have for human resources (laborers by skill) and how they can create
capital resources (simple machines, tools)
5. Pass out the Economic Questions to Consider (1 Handout per group) and have them
fill out the packet. They could do some research on different types of governments
for guidance on leadership.
6. Have teams prepare a presentation to share with the class.
(For Students)
ECONOMIC QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
Goals
 What are your goals for your new society?
Leadership / Government
 What is your leadership plan?
 How will you determine who will be in charge?
 What type of government will be in place and how will they go about
making decisions? (Refer to link for ideas)
(http://stutzfamily.com/mrstutz/WorldAffairs/typesofgovt.html)
 How will your government be involved in this economy? What is their
role?
Land Distribution
 Create a map of your island to share as part of your presentation
 Who will own the land?
 Should you divide it up and distribute it? If so, how?
 If the land is privately owned, who gets it and how?
 Where will people live on this island? (Label Map)
 Where are the natural resources located? (Label Map with landmarks)
 Where will people do work? (Label Map)
Production Plans (Production of Resources)
 What work must be done to meet your goals?
 List the kinds of jobs required to sustain the lifestyle you desire.
 How will you determine who will do what work?
 What will you produce on your island?
 How will you use the natural resources to produce goods?
 Will there be rules governing the use of natural resources? Why or why
not?
 What kind of capital (tools, machines, etc) will be used to produce goods?
How will you acquire them?
Distribution and Consumption of Resources
 Are there some basic needs that you believe should be guaranteed for all?
If so, what are they? Or do you think that individuals should secure their
needs by themselves?
 Who will get what is produced? What is your plan for distributing goods
and basic needs?
 How will you deal with scarcity?
 What is your policy for providing goods to people that are unable to
work? Does that matter?
Type of Economy
 Determine if your economy is more market based, command based or
mixed.

Compare your economic system to the different types of economies
covered in class and identify any common characteristics.
Prepare to Share
 Create a presentation on your work to share with the class.