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Wisconsin Economic Standard D.8.2 Allocation Systems /  Market Supply & Demand /  Role of Government

Identify and explain basic economic concepts: market economy and command economy, supply, demand, production, exchange, and consumption; labor, wages, and capital; inflation and deflation; public and private goods and services

Economic Concepts
Market economy  ||  Command economy  ||  Supply
Inflation  ||  Deflation  ||  Public goods  ||  Private goods  ||  Goods  ||  Services

Links to Content Information 

	Chicago Board of Trade - Learn everything you ever wanted to know and more about the world's oldest, largest and leading futures and options marketplace.
	Monthly Consumer Price Indexes (CPI) from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
Background for Teachers
	The effects of supply and demand on the production of goods and services - An explanation for teachers and student activity for grades 6-8.
	The relationship of supply and demand to the production and consumption of goods and services - An explanation for teachers and student activity for grades 4-5.

Links to Lesson Plans and other Suggested Teaching Strategies

	Beanie Baby Prices Soar - Grades 6-8. Students consider the reasons for the prices of Beanie Babies and why the prices may be higher than people expect.
	Car Shopping - Grades 3-5. Identify benefits and repercussions of various methods of distributing goods in the Soviet Union.
	Hey, Mom! What's For Breakfast? - Grades 3-5. Students will distinguish between goods and services, identify economic wants, and distinguish between producers and consumers.
	Homer Price (the Doughnuts) - Grades 4-6.  Homer's Uncle's newest capital resource, the doughnut machine, goes on a rampage making hundreds of doughnuts. Learn about economics: capital resources, increasing productivity, law of demand, quantity demanded.
	How E-Commerce Influences Consumer Choice - Grades 4-6. The lesson's theme is that in an economy based on markets, people are free to substitute one item for another.
	How has the Constitution shaped the economy in the U.S.? - Class discussion and small group task identifying the six characteristics of a market economy and the provisions in the constitution  that support a market economy. From Focus on Economics: Civics and Government, ©National Council on Economic Education.
	Nothing to Buy - Grades 3-5. Goods in the Soviet Union were available as public goods. Now they are private goods. Students see the effects this change has had on the economy.
	Old Business, New Business - Grades 3-5. Students identify goods and services and learn that specialization leads to greater interdependence.
	The Opportunity Cost of a Lifetime - All economic questions and problems arise from scarcity. Economics assumes people do not have the resources do satisfy all of their wants. Therefore, we must make choices about how to allocate those resources. We make decisions about how to spend our money and use our time. This lesson focuses on the idea that  every choice involves a cost.

List of Curricular Materials and Learning Activities

	Focus: Middle School Economics from Economics America (search catalogue), available from Economics Wisconsin. Relevant lessons:  Introductory Lesson:  Economic Role Call - Students participate in a game to identify six roles individuals have in our society.  They learn that these roles are part of the economic system.  Unit 2, Lesson 4:  How Many Will You Buy? - In this lesson students participate in an activity to establish a demand schedule for a product.  They discuss the relationship between price and quantity, graph demand, and conduct a market survey Unit 2, Lesson 5:  Demand Shifters - This lesson gives students the opportunity to study the nonprice determinants of demand and their effect on the demand for products. Unit 2, Lesson 6:  Inflation - In this lesson, students participate in two auction rounds to learn about inflation.  Unit 3, Lesson 8:  How Many Should We Sell? - Students learn to predict the impact on supply of nonprice determinants and to differentiate between changes in supply and changes in quantity supplied.
	Master Curriculum Guide in Economics: Teaching Strategies 5-6 from Economics America (search catalogue), available from Economics Wisconsin.  Lesson 3:  Dandy Dollars Take a Trip - Through role-play and model construction, students learn about the flows of goods, services, resources, and money in a market economy.
	United States History: Eyes on the Economy, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, from Economics America (search catalogue), available from Economics Wisconsin. Unit 1, Lesson 3:  The Hula Hoop Market of 1958 - Students examine a series of supply and demand diagrams and use them to explain the production of hula hoops in 1958.  pp. 17-24
	Economics for the Elementary Classroom by Elaine C. Coulson and Sarapage McCorkle, 1982. St. Louis, MO: SPEC Publishers.  The following lessons for grades 2-6:      * What? How? For Whom? - pp. 78-79      * Find a Market Game - pp. 80-84      * What If? - pp. 141-144      * A Profusion of Confusion - pp. 145-151      * Demand Changes - 152-154      * Thumbody Knows - 155-156      * Which Price - 157-161      * Producers and Supply - pp. 208-212      * Supply Changes - pp. 213-215      * Classroom Job Supply - pp. 216-220      * Mind Your P's and Q's - pp. 241-248
	Virtual Economics: An Interactive Center for Economic Education, Version 2 - Each exhibit includes teaching tips, background information, a list of lessons, and video and audio clips that give additional information about the topic.  Available from Economics America (search catalogue).  In section Fundamental Economics, see exhibit:  Economic Systems In section MacroEconomics, see exhibit:  Inflation In section MicroEconomics, see exhibits: Supply and Demand Roles of Government
	Economics and the Environment, from Economics America (search catalogue), available from Economics Wisconsin.  Relevant lessons:  Unit 2, Lesson 4:  The Cost of Pollution: What is Being Given Up? - Students look at costs in general and costs associated with pollution and pollution prevention in particular.  p.39 Unit 3, Lesson 6:  It's Fine as Long as It's Mine--All Mine! - Students learn about property rights and how property rights can affect the way markets allocate resources.  p.64 Unit 3, Lesson 7:  We're All in This Together! - Students look at the public good quality of many natural resources and the effect of that quality on how resources are used. p.78 Unit 5, Lesson 12:  Negotiate or Take Them to Court? - Students explore the possibilities and limitations of negotiation and court rulings as they relate to decisions concerning the most valued use of natural resources.  p.136
	Focus: International Economics, from Economics America (search catalogue), available from Economics Wisconsin. Lesson 19:  Privatization Around the World - Students review and evaluate the approaches most widely used to privatize public enterprises and services.  p.177

National Content Standards 3, 7, 16, and 17.

Scroll down the linked pages to locate the grade 8 benchmarks.

Email an expert

Professor Mark Schug - University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee