COURSE: 7TH GRADE WORLD CULTURES
MSPAP OUTCOME STATEMENT - ECONOMICS OUTCOME - Grades 6-8
Students will demonstrate an understanding of the historical development and current status of economic principles, institutions, and processes needed to be effective citizens, consumers, and workers in American society
ECONOMICS INDICATORS
*Using case studies, cite examples of economic interdependency among world communities.
*Analyze the effects of supply and demand on the production of goods and services in historical and contemporary contexts.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The National Council on Economics Education defines the concept interdependence as follows: "interdependence means that decisions or events in one part of the world …. affect decisions and events in other parts of the world" (Saunders, Bach, Calderwood, & Hansen, 1984, p.20). Interdependence comes about as, "[c]ountries tend to specialize in the production of goods and services they can produce more efficiently (at lower opportunity costs) than those of trading partners. When countries specialize, they must trade with other countries[.] Specialization and free trade lead to interdependence and to people in the trading countries having more goods and services available to them than if they did not trade" (MSDE, 1996). In relation to the second indicator listed above, an NCEE benchmark states that "students will know that changes in supply or demand cause relative prices to change, in turn, buyers and sellers adjust their purchase and sales decisions" (NCEE, 1998).
The articles that are presented demonstrate that interdependence in trade is taking place via a variety of goods and services. Thus, events in one part of the world, primarily the economic downturn in Asia in the late 1990s, obviously affected decisions of consumers and producers in the U.S. and other parts of the world. The consequences of these decisions have the potential to seriously impact the production and consumption of goods and services by Asia’s trading partners. As the Asian flu brought about changes in the relationship between trading partners, what options are available, or possible, to those whose goods and services are most directly affected by the change?
Objectives
1. Students will be able to identify goods and services that are traded between the United States and Asian markets, given recent news articles on the topic.
2. Students will be able to explain how the economic downturn in Asia impacted the production and consumption of good and services in the United States, given recent news articles on the topic.
3. Students will be able to explain how the economic downturn in Asia impacted the production and consumption of good and services in Asia, given recent news articles on the
4. Students will be able to explain the concept of interdependence.
Lesson Outline:
1. Initiate the lesson by asking students what the United States exports to other countries around the world and what we import from other countries around the world. Toward the end of the discussion, ask students to try to identify the types of goods and services that are traded between the United States and Asian countries.
2. Examine data at the U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services Highlights at http://www.census.gov/indicator/www/ustrade.html to verify answers generated by the students. At this point they are just scanning the document for information related to goods and services traded between the U.S. and other countries. This is generally a two or three page document so you can make hard copies if you do not have access to the computer lab. More complex information can be found at http://www.ita.doc.gov/td/industry/otea/usftu/current.pdf in the Monthly Trade Update.
3. Ask student to examine the following chart. What does it tell us about how much the United States imports and exports? From their observations, develop the concept of "trade balance".
U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services Highlights http://www.census.gov/indicator/www/ustrade.html
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