Proficiency Statement and Indicators Students should be able to:
Demonstrate the influence of physical and cultural factors upon the economic systems
found in countries of the Eastern World.
Explain how physical geography, specialization, and trade influence theway people earn income.
Explain how increased specialization and trade make countries wealthier yet more interdependent.
Explore how different economic systems (traditional, command, market) answer the basic
economic questions of What to Produce? How to Produce? and for Whom to Produce?
Compare and contrast how education and technology influence productivity and economic
development.
Describe the level and sources of income (gross domestic product-GDP)
in countries of the Eastern World.
Explain how social institutions, such as religions, influence the economic systems.
Identify situations in which the actions of consumers and producers are helpful
(e.g., education) or harmful (e.g., pollution) to people inside and outside a country,
who are not directly involved in the consumption or production of a product.
Explain how extensive international trade requires a system for exchanging money
between and among nations.
Sample Student Activities Students might:
Compare the economic roles of family members in selected countries and in rural as well as
urban areas (e.g., China, Japan, Egypt, Kenya).
Survey local businesses to discover if they export or import products to and from countries in
the Eastern World.
Choose specific countries in which different types of economic systems prevail. In small groups, research and play the roles of producers and consumers in each situation.
Use reference materials to compare literacy rates in several Eastern countries. Based on the data, develop theories about economic development in each country. Check theories by consulting
research materials.
Create a chart comparing the GDP of selected Eastern nations.
Research a specific social institution (religious, political, educational, etc.) in one country.
Join other students in a small group who have researched different groups. Pool information
to develop profiles of the selected countries.
1) Brainstorm a list of ways that specific individual actions are helpful to others. Make a similar
list of ways that an action may be harmful. 2) Discuss problems that can arise when pollution
from one country affects another. Give examples.
Use the exchange rates listed in the newspaper to plan a business transaction or a hypothetical
vacation in one or more countries of the Eastern World.
