Georgia Council On
Economic Education
Helping Teachers Teach Economics
Mike Raymer- Program Manager
“I hope I die during a workshop
because the transition from life to
death would be so subtle.”
-anonymous teacher
The Vision
Students leaving school prepared for
their roles as:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Productive Workers
Informed Consumers
Involved Citizens
Prudent Savers
Wise Investors
Sound lifelong decision makers in a
globally interdependent world
The Mission
To help teachers teach those
students, K-12, in the public and
independent schools of Georgia
Economically
Are You Smarter
^
th
th
Than a 4 or 5 Grader?
Teaching the Economics in the
Georgia Performance Standards
Where in the World?
1. Find ten items in the room.
2. Write down the name of each item.
3. Look at “made in” tag.
4. Record country where item was made.
HANDOUT
You will probably get something like this.
Why a workshop
on economics?
Remember…this is a
United States History
course!!
The New GPS
Grades K-8
• approved October 2004
• two major changes
focus on the United States seven of
nine years during K-8
builds across the grades like a ladder
Spiral vs. Ladder
Content Weight
for the GPS CRCT
GPS
Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5
Grade 6
Grade 7
Grade 8
Hist
30%
50%
50%
30%
47%
Geog
20%
15%
15%
30%
12%
Civic
30%
20%
20%
20%
25%
Econ
20%
15%
15%
20%
16%
Why economics in
United States History?
U.S. schools rely on history to
teach about our national identity
and knowledge of our past.
Are we succeeding?
Why economics in
United States History?
Think about the context of history…
History is the record of political and
economic decisions
that people have made
across time.
Integrate
Enrich
How do we prepare?
Focus on
economic decision making
across the eras of
United States history.
Economic Predictions
Who Would Have
Predicted in 1980…
• the collapse of the
Soviet Union
(incentive example, price)
Who Would Have
Predicted in 1980…
• Nelson Mandela
as president of
South Africa
Who Would Have
Predicted in 1980…
• a long period of economic
stagnation in Japan
Who Would Have
Predicted in 1980…
• record economic
expansion in the
1990s
Who Would Have
Predicted in 2007…
Gas prices
would be
$4.00 per
gallon in
2008?
Consider the following...
• Economics is a
Shadow Curriculum
What do adults frequently
identify as the most basic
concept in economics?
Economics is
More Than
Supply and Demand
Georgia Council on Economic Education
www.gcee.org
What do students frequently
identify as the most basic
concept in economics?
Economics is
More Than
Money
Georgia Council on Economic Education
www.gcee.org
What is the most basic,
fundamental concept in
economics?
Scarcity
Marooned…
30 cans of SPAM
Two cases of bottled water
Mirror
Machete
Medical Kit
A wedding dress
Three-year-old Irish Setter
Flare gun with two flares
40 pair of blue jeans
12ft. Of rope
A Swiss Army knife
Case of Oreo’s
Seasons four and five of “The Office”
$5,000.00
6’ by 6’ tarp
Chainsaw with one tank of fuel
Survival guide
Book on South Pacific plant life
Bible
20 gallon plastic container
Matt Ryan jersey
Let’s talk about….
YOU
TODAY
RIGHT THIS MINUTE
Because of scarcity, people
must choose.
Student Student Student
Options Student
A
B
C
D
• movies 1st 3rd 2nd 2nd
• skating 3rd 1st 1st 3rd
2nd 2nd 3rd 1st
• pizza
Because of scarcity, people
must choose.
Options
• third term
• Mount Vernon
• king
George Washington’s
Priorities
2nd
1st
3rd
Opportunity Cost
The next best alternative
given up when a
decision is made.
Select one…
What is your
opportunity cost?
Our essential question…
What is economics?
Our enduring understanding…
Economics is…
making decisions about
allocating limited resources
to get the unlimited number
of things we want.
Handouts
1. What is Economics?
2. Economics Thinking Guide
3. Economic Decision Guide
Factors of Production

Productive Resources
• Natural Resources/Land
• Human Resources/Labor
• Capital Goods/Tools
• Entrepreneurship
• risk taker
• innovative ideas
Guide to Economic Thinking
Pulling the Pieces Together
1. People choose.
2. People’s choices involve costs.
3. People respond to incentives in predictable ways.
4. People create economic systems that influence
individual choices and incentives.
5. People gain when they trade voluntarily.
6. People’s choices have consequences that lie in the
future.
Economics…
Do You Teach this
“stuff”?
-GPSVocabulary
Introducing the 4th and 5th Grade
US Economic History Concepts
• trade
•
•
•
•
•
opportunity cost
specialization
voluntary exchange
productivity
incentives
Introducing the 5th Grade
US Economic History Concepts
major institutions in the US economy
• private business function
• bank function
• government function
interaction of consumers and businesses
• competition, markets, prices, income
• entrepreneurship
United States
Economic History
Teaching the Economics
Georgia Performance Standards
at Grade 4 & 5
Components of
U.S. Economic History
• Essay for the teacher on the economic
history of our nation
• Series of seven lesson plans, one for each
era of the GPS framework
• Glossary of GPS economic terms
• Sample CRCT test questions
Introducing the
U.S. Economic History
Lessons
- embedded in eras of history
- lesson essential question
- introduction/abstract
- GPS correlation
- economic concepts
Introducing the
U.S. Economic History
Lessons
- knowledge and skills objectives
- materials needed
- time required
- procedure
- assessment
Personal Finance
• comprehensive
program targeted
at grades K-2, 3-5
and 6-8
• separate workshop
• offered through
the Stock Market
Game workshop
Unit 3: Colonial America
Lesson…Why did people choose to
settle in different parts of the British
colonies?
Economic Concepts… incentives,
specialization, opportunity cost
Unit 5: The New Nation
Lesson…How was the decision to revise
the Articles of Confederation based on
political and economic factors?
Economic Concepts… price incentives,
voluntary exchange, trade,
specialization
www.gcee.org
mraymer@gsu.edu
“Georgia Council”
Georgia Council on Economic Education
www.gcee.org