US Economy, Business, & Labor Unit
$34.95
Get your students using a macroeconomics lens to view the US’s economic health, including the status of business and work with this highly engaging, simulation- and real-world-filled 4-5 week US Economy, Business, & Labor unit.
Included are over 30 activities, simulations, and projects to develop macroeconomic awareness and asks, “How is the US economy really doing?”
Description
This unit can be done well in 4-5 weeks and supports standards from various states.
Students will master key economic concepts like:
- Traits of Free Enterprise — capitalism, private property, voluntary exchange, economic freedom, competition
- Costs of Free Enterprise — speculative bubble, wealth inequality, consolidation, negative externalities
- Business Cycle — contraction/recession, growth/expansion, bull and bear markets
- Types of Businesses — from sole proprietor to multinational corporations
- Types of Employment — from salaried to contract to gig work
- 4 Market Structures — pure competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, monopoly
Included in this US Economy Business, & Labor Unit:
Overview Materials
- Teacher Unit Overview with general notes, links, standards, and a pacing guide
- Daily Lesson Plans with step-by-step details, planning, and lesson takeaways
- Detailed Answer Keys for each activity
- Unit Essential Questions and Standards handouts with review questions and “I Can…” checklists
- Concept Notes sheet for building deep and nuanced mastery of concepts
- Bell Ringer slides to introduce each activity
Major Topics & Activities
- Traits, Benefits, & Costs of Free Enterprise: Analyze the core elements of the US’s economic system using real-life examples, simulations, and a stations activity
- 4 Market Structure Types: Analyze the pros and cons of each type (pure competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, monopoly) and learn about various industries that operate under each in a stations and code-cracking activity
- Amazon Empire Documentary: Follow the rise and reign of Amazon as a dominant and ever-growing monopolistic force in the US’s economy
- US Labor Statistics Stations & Dream Job Profile Project: Analyze various graphs and statistics on work and labor in the US, then research and present on own dream job to compare
- American Dream & The Working Class Documentary: Follow two families over 35 years as they navigate trying to make it in blue-collar America
- Health of the US Economic Indicators Project: Look up and analyze key economic indicators, then research own indicator statistic to analyze and present on
- US Economics, Business, & Labor Review Games: 3 worksheet games/activities, and a 40-card deck for matching/sorting (8 game ideas included)
Lecture Kit
- 83-Slide Deck: introduce concepts with images and real-life examples; broken into 20-30-minute sections to deliver throughout the unit
- Guided Notes & Test Bank: support and assess learning with these no-prep tools
- Extensive Speaker Notes & Handout: extended explanations and examples, both embedded in the slide deck and a separate handout
Outside Materials: These are listed at the beginning of the unit and in detail within the individual lesson plans. They include:
- Several roles of pennies
- A large bag of small lollipops; small prize
- Basic classroom supplies like envelopes, highlighters
- Outside media — two PBS Frontline documentaries (Amazon Empire, Two American Families), recent news articles, recent episodes of NPR’s The Indicator podcast
This bundle includes 150 PDF pages, plus Google files.
What grades is this intended for?
This was designed for high school, but some included resources could still work for upper middle school, especially if are willing to customize things as necessary.
What supports are included? How can I modify this?
All sorts of supports are included in each activity, like graphic organizer notes, visuals, and definitions, and the lecture slides are designed with clear, focused content on each slide.
Google versions of student materials and lecture slides are editable to tailor for your students’ needs.
Is this editable? What file types does this resource come in?
The main resource is a secured, non-editable PDF file intended to be printed.
Included are links to editable Google files, to customize to your classroom needs and assign digitally if you choose.
What standards does this address?
Several! Standards vary, but this resource supports these from various states:
- Explain and analyze the characteristics of free enterprise, like voluntary exchange, competition, and private property
- Explain and analyze the costs of free enterprise, like wealth inequality, negative externalities, and consolidation
- Describe characteristics of the market structures of pure competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, and monopoly
- Describe the role of government in the U.S. free enterprise system
- Interpret economic data, including GDP, employment & inflation
- Analyze recent changes and events in the US economy
What are the terms of use for this resource?
This resource, including all ancillary files, may be used as needed for regular, non-commercial single-classroom use between a teacher and their students.
This includes printing copies and sharing digital files with students through a secure platform, like Google Classroom or Canvas, email, or a classroom-only shared drive.
The using and sharing of any part of this resource in any manner outside the above-mentioned capacity is strictly prohibited. Prohibited uses include, but are not limited to,
- posting files on the open internet or in a Facebook group
- emailing files to or sharing print copies with others (without purchasing additional licenses)
- uploading or storing files in a shared cloud drive accessible by anyone other than students
- including any part, or any derivative work, within any commercial endeavor like curriculum development, professional training, or for-profit teaching like Outschool, or selling this resource as your own in either print or digital formats
Doing so violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), copyright law, and these terms.
By downloading this resource from Let’s Cultivate Greatness, the original user has been granted one license for a single teacher (or number of teachers matching the number of licenses purchased) and their students at any one time.
Let’s Cultivate Greatness retains the full copyright of this resource.
