Grade Eight Economics

GRADE EIGHT ECONOMICS

Describe economic activities within and among Native American culturesprior to European contact.
Explain the economic factors leading to the major European voyages of exploration.
Evaluate the role of capitalism in the economic development of the U.S. (e.g., the
role of entrepreneurs, private property, self-interest, stock ownership,
labor-management interaction.).
Explain and evaluate examples of domestic and international interdependence throughout
U.S. history (e.g., triangular trade routes, regional exchange of resources, etc.).
List and explain the basic roles of the government in the economy of the United States.
Trace the development of different kinds of money used in different periods of United
States history.
Outline the development of the banking system in the United States.
Identify and explain how new inventions changed the productivity of manufacturing
and agriculture.

Use maps of North America to trace trade routes and list products exchanged among
Native American groups.
Make charts of items imported and exported to and from the Americas. Trace trade routes
on a historical world map.
1) Create and operate a student store. 2) Participate in a stock market game or simulation.
Identify a product produced in the past that is still produced today (e.g., shoes).
Research and compare sources of raw materials, production processes, and marketing
in the two periods.
List the major roles of government in the economy on a bulletin board. Cut out articles
and pictures from newspapers and magazines illustrating each role.
Develop a display simulating historic currency or using actual examples or replicas of
currency. Design new coins and paper currency. Explain the advantages and
disadvantages they would have.
Construct a time line showing the major events in the development of the banking system. Research major inventions that affected life in the United States. Design a portrait
gallery of inventors or a collage of significant technological developments.