John F. Kennedy, once said "Geography has made us neighbours, History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners, and necessity has made us allies."
The teaching of economics in the elementary classroom is something that may be intimidating to the teacher who may not have the background knowledge. Economics is not usually part of our teaching courses and if an economics class was taken by the teacher, it is often difficult to translate those complex concepts into activities for the elementary child. This curriculum presents economic concepts in an approachable way providing the teacher with complete follow-up lessons on how to conduct the presentations.
It makes sense to present this economics curriculum as part of the cultural studies. It provides a framework for the children to understand the interrelatedness of ecology, botany, zoology, and political geography in conjunction with economics. However, it goes beyond the idea of needs and wants and enables children to understand that there are choices that are made regarding resources, both natural and human.
The following concepts are outlined:
- Introduction to the
- Urban, Rural, Industrial, Government
- Needs and Wants
- Different ways fundamental needs are met by the community
- Goods and services
- Resources
- Natural
- Human
- Capital
- Raw Goods to Manufactured Goods
- Goods chains
- Scarcity
- Natural Resources
- Human Resources
- Opportunity Costs
- Level 1 - personal choices
- Level 2 - occupational choices
- Level 3 - global choices
- History of Money
- BC/AD timeline
- Barter
- Producers/Production/Consumers
- Interdependence webs
- Division of Labour
- Job Riddles
- Businesses now and then
- How jobs have changed
- Entrepreneurs and Inventors
- Who Am I Riddles
- Research questions
Includes a 40 page Teacher's lessons book showing how to use the materials and how to give the presentations.
