Proficiency Statement and Indicators Students should be able to:
Describe the productive resources and market relationships that influence the way
people produce goods and services and earn a living in different parts of the United States.
Explain how economic decisions are made in a market economy by demonstrating the
relationship among economic factors (such as scarcity, choice, opportunity cost, money,
goods and services, price, and supply and demand).
Construct a simple circular flow model of a market economy.
Give examples illustrating the economic interdependence of different regions of the
United States.
Explain how interdependence is a result of specialization and how specialization
increases productivity.
Identify natural resources and related occupations found in the regions of the
United States and speculate why certain careers are more common in one region
than in another.
Trace the development of technology and inventions and analyze their impact on
productivity throughout the history of the United States.
Sample Student Activities Students might:
Prepare a market analysis to create and run student businesses (e.g., desk-cleaning
business, plant watering service, recreation managers, chalkboard engineers,
photographers, etc.). See the Resource Section, Page 217.
Use drawings or pictures from magazines to create a bulletin board illustrating the
circular flow model of the U. S. economy.
Keep a journal of the food eaten in one day. On a map, locate the regions that
produce these foods.
1) Invite a business person to the classroom to discuss specific business decisions
(e.g., wages, profits, job skills). 2) Chart different types of jobs, the type of education
needed and corresponding salaries. 3) Take a field trip to a soft drink, potato chip or
other type of factory to observe specialization and productivity factors.
1) Make a map of the United States showing resources and related occupations.
2) Identify the various careers and occupations involved in specific products
(e.g., breakfast cereal, tennis shoes) and services (e.g., restaurants, healthcare, etc.).
1) Make a time line of inventions and technological developments. In small groups,
discuss how these developments affected productivity. 2) Have an "Invention Convention"
demonstrating historical and/or student-made inventions. Explain the real or possible
impact of each invention.
