History matters. It matters not only because people can learn from the past, but because the present and the future are connected to the past by the continuity of a society's institutions. Today and tomorrow's choices are shaped by the past. And the past can be made intelligible only as a story of institutional evolution. This story focuses on the…

This teacher's guide is part of a 2-volume set presenting economic reasoning as it might be taught and practiced in upper-elementary and middle school classrooms. The book explains and illustrates a particular approach to reasoning and shows students how to use this approach to think about problems and to imagine solutions for them. Seventeen…

This teacher's guide is part of a 2-volume set presenting economic reasoning as it might be taught and practiced in secondary school classrooms. The book explains and illustrates a particular approach to reasoning and shows students how to use this approach to think about problems and to imagine solutions. Thirty-five mysteries (problems) are…

Economists use a variety of devices to measure the factors that influence the economy's overall performance. Some of the indicators that economists watch are overall price-level changes, levels of output, and the rate of unemployment, measures that are very often taught as part of the conventional curriculum in high school economics. Such…

Presents study results of how children reason about international trade. Explains that open ended questions were posed to students in grades 1-11 asking why nations trade, the benefits of trade, and their understanding of barriers to trade. Concludes that teaching fundamentals of international trade can be introduced as early as grade six. (DK)

The conceptual introduction to this issue focuses on two questions: why study competition and what is a competitive market. Four instructional units follow, beginning with "Choosing Competitors." This preschool and kindergarten unit involves students in competitive games (naming colors), role playing competitive behaviors, comparing…

Presents results of a study to determine the effectiveness of the Stock Market Game in contributing to students' learning about financial markets. Suggests that the biggest advantage of the game it its ability to motivate students. Includes the test that was used by the study to determine how much the students had learned. (DK)

Defines public choice theory as the application of economic analysis to the study of government, focusing on individual behavior. Contends that the teaching of public choice theory helps students to think critically and analyze political problems. Suggests how to introduce the theory in the classroom and provides three case study handouts. (GG)

This book uses human interest stories to explain perplexing behavior from an economic perspective throughout U.S. history. The set of 15 lessons include: (1) "Indentured Servitude: Why Sell Yourself into Bondage?"; (2) "Do the Right Thing: Free the Slaves, Avoid the War"; (3) "Why Would You Raise Chickens When You Don't Like Eggs? -or- Why Did…

Argues that economic education is an integral component of social studies and citizenship education. Maintains that adolescents are more likely to believe that one's life is controlled by fate rather than conscious choices. Asserts that teaching economic reasoning can improve students' critical thinking skills and citizenship education. (CFR)

This packet of lessons focuses on the transition from a legacy of central planning to a market orientation in the economic systems of Central and Eastern Europe, the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union, and China. These lessons seek to provide high school teachers with a well-informed approach to teaching about this transition. The…

Reports a study designed to encourage classroom teachers to use research-based criteria in evaluating curriculum materials for middle school economics. Criteria used for material selection stressed (1) product characteristics, (2) economic content, (3) middle school student focus, and (4) pedagogy. Found that materials were not particularly suited…

Asserts that instructional methods used to teach U.S. history often result in a reliance on routine transmission of information. Argues that the benefits that would derive from adding economics instruction to history are seldom achieved. (CFR)

Asserts that teachers and students are ready to go beyond traditional coverage of the interactions of political science and history to applying economic analysis to historical and contemporary social issues. Provides three lesson plans illustrating the use of public choice theory in U.S. history. (CFR)

This resource book is intended for a one-semester model course for high school economics for eleventh- and twelfth-grade students. The seven units in the book are linked to content ordinarily found in microeconomic and macroeconomic courses. Each unit contains 5 to 11 lessons, an author's note to the teacher, an author's letter to the students,…