In 1981, the United States reached a dubious economic milestone--the federal debt surpassed one trillion dollars for the first time. It took more than 200 years to build up that much debt. The federal debt doubled to two trillion by 1986, hit the three trillion level in 1990, and stands at an estimated five-and-a-half trillion for 1998. Just as…

From the earliest times when commodities such as tobacco and beaver pelts were used as money, to the present when credit and debit cards are commonplace, money has played a central role in the U.S. experience. This booklet provides an historical overview of the concept of money as it has evolved in the United States. The booklet is divided into…

Appropriate for secondary school social studies, this booklet considers the decline of certain basic industries in the United States and the unemployment which accompanies this decline. The document contains five sections. Section one, "The Blue-Collar Blues," examines the uneven nature of the current economic recovery, which has left many…

In this standard, students learn how economies, large and small, function. Supply and demand are covered in depth, and students learn to identify the production, consumption, and circulation of different types of resources in local, state, national, and world economies. Students also learn about employment and personal finance, as well as the…

Appropriate for secondary school social studies, this booklet covers the causes, problems, and possible solutions for the high cost of American health care. The topic is discussed in five sections. The first section, "The $350 Billion Health Care Bill," discusses how the nation's priority on health care has led to the emergence of medicine as…

Though the framers of the United States Constitution recognized the value of an independent judicial system, they knew that to provide justice the courts must have some accountability to the government. They knew that the system must be transparent to the public. Though the basic framework of checks and balances in the U.S. Constitution clearly…

This publication from the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) is designed to inform parents about the department's Grade Five curriculum standards in four major areas: language arts/reading, mathematics, science, and social studies. The integrated language arts/reading standards require students to recognize and respond to different…

The booklet contains political education materials drawn from Wisconsin state and Federal government legislation, newspaper articles, and publications from political interest groups and educational organizations. The main purpose of the document is to help educators design and implement political science and citizenship education programs in…