Economics

This lesson examines the increasing wealth disparity between government representatives and the people they serve. Students read and share their ideas about lack of working-class representation in government and how this impacts lawmaking policy at all levels.

Students discuss the rising cost of goods and services and consider why this is happening and what people propose to do about it.

Students learn about the science of gratitude - and one person's effort to express gratitude to every person along the supply chain who made their morning cup of coffee possible.

Students discuss the historical role of unions in the U.S. - and how a younger generation of workers is seeking to build unions that address their needs.

Students explore the debate over the U.S.'s rising military budget and where young people stand on the issue.

Students grapple with numbers in the news, from the minimum wage bill to Bezos's billions.

The economy is growing. Why aren’t people feeling it?  This lesson has students examine whether the way economists measure the health of the economy actually reflects the reality Americans experience. Students explore alternative measures that some countries and states have begun to adopt aimed at...

Participants learn about discriminatory housing laws that help explain the U.S.'s enormous racial wealth gap, and consider how these laws may have affected their own families and communities. 

The theories of Freire and Ayers--and the Massachusetts curriculum framework--guide Emma Rose Roderick in creating a unit plan for fifth-graders on work (Freire, Ayers & an Economics Lesson for Fifth Graders).

Students read and discuss two very different views on the role of government and individuals; work in groups to complete a cut-and-paste activity of those views; and participate in an Opinion Continuum activity to consider and discuss their own views.