These six newsletters present classroom tested activities in elementary economics. Each issue treats specific topics: scarcity, opportunity cost, production and specialization, consumption and demand, supply and production, prices and efficiency. In each issue, separate activities are provided for grades K-12, 3-4, and 5-6. For the most part,…

Providing teacher background on the concepts of wages and profits, paying particular attention to how elementary children experience and learn these concepts, this document presents 3 teaching units. The grade K-2 unit, "A Job Well Done," provides activities which focus on different types of jobs and the intrinsic and extrinsic rewards…

The theme article of this issue, "Spending Money Wisely," by Donald R. Wentworth, begins with an explanation of basic strategies which aid wise spending. The article goes on to provide an introduction to economic reasoning related to consumer purchases and focusing on the role of incentives, scarcity, and alternatives. Four teaching units follow…

The theme article of this issue provides a conceptual introduction for teachers to the local community as a market. The introduction discusses the scarcity role in forcing decisions, individuals as producers, specialization of human resources, payment of human resources, and how wages reflect market conditions. Four grade-level specific units…

Beginning with a theme article supplying teacher background material on the role of business in the community, this issue focuses on the profit motive, competition, and the use of resources. Four instructional units on this topic are included for young children. The pre-kindergarten unit, "Pancake Producers," has children observe workers cooking…

This issue focuses on an economic understanding of the 1984 Olympiad, held in Los Angeles, California. The theme article provides a conceptual introduction focused on the role of scarcity in the giving of awards, allocation mechanisms, competition, consumption versus investment, and private and external benefits of the Olympics. Four instructional…

Beginning with a conceptual introduction which covers the topics of work in the United States, why people work, the labor force, labor markets, unemployment, and work and the young, this document goes on to offer four instructional units for preschool through sixth grade students. The preschool and kindergarten unit called "Earning More than…

The theme article of this issue concerns money management, with the focus on budgeting, interest, credit, savings, and investment. The 4 units which follow this conceptual background for teachers are divided according to grade level. The first unit, designed for pre-kindergarten involves students in listening to Mother Goose rhymes that have…

A conceptual introduction for teachers explains economic growth and how it is measured. Four instructional units follow, beginning with a preschool and kindergarten unit which offers young students an opportunity to interview puppet workers, set up a classroom corner store, and learn the importance of capital resources for increasing productivity…

Providing teacher background on the concepts of productivity and capital goods, this document presents 3 teaching units about these ideas for different grade levels. The grade K-2 unit, "How Do They Do It?," is designed to provide students with an understanding of how physical capital goods add to productivity. Activities include a field trip to…

This document includes an introduction to the role of government in the production of public goods and services and 3 brief teaching units. The introduction describes the nature of a mixed economy and points out why most people identify the production of goods and services with private enterprise rather than government. It develops a rationale for…

This issue explains the concept of externalities (benefits or burdens which accrue to society when there is a difference between the private cost or benefit of an action and the social cost or benefit of that action). These external or social costs of individual actions are often referred to as spillover costs. Three brief teaching units follow…

This teaching guide begins with an explanation of the role of money in the economy, focusing on its circulation or exchange. The use of money as a unit of account, a store of value, and a medium of exchange are explained. Three brief teaching units are included. The grade K-2 unit, "Money Counts," provides games and activities which develop the…

Part of a series of instructional packages for use in college level economics courses, the document contains nine microeconomics chapters. Chapter I, "Economic Concepts, Issues, and Tools," discusses scarcity and choice; preferences, resources, exchange, and economic efficiency; marginal analysis and opportunity cost; and different economic…

Designed as an accompaniment to college level microeconomics lectures, (see SO 011 936), the package contains materials for four approaches to the microeconomics course. The course covers topics of economic concepts, issues, and tools; demand; supply; price and output determination in markets; marginal equivalency conditions and economic…