This document provides teaching guidelines and student material for a unit intended for use in fifth and sixth grade social studies and economics programs. Time allotment is from four to six hours. The objectives are to help students identify the difference between wants and needs, to distinguish between items that are scarce and abundant, to…

Reports on a study of 43 Italian fifth-graders about their understanding of the functions of banks and the role of monetary interest in banking before and after a lesson on banking. Finds that most children could speak correctly about both deposit and loan interest and their relative amounts after the lesson. (CFR)

The field tested instructional unit was designed to help fifth graders understand principles related to economics. Lesson topics are: supply and demand, items that maintain a high value, seasonal tourist attractions, seasonal and fluctuating products, principles of budgeting, saving money, and investment possibilities. An introduction for the…

A 2-phase project in which fifth grade students create their own country is described. The project offers a strategy for teaching a comprehensive, interdisciplinary unit on economics. In the first phase, students and teacher create an imaginary country. Separate sections outline the teaching procedure involved in this phase: locating the country;…

Geographic, economic, and social/cultural understandings related to the United States, Canada, and Latin America are emphasized in this fifth-grade social studies program. The syllabus contains a teacher notebook that elaborates key features of the program and suggests relevant classroom applications. The notebook includes: (1) the program's 10…

Research and study of economic discoveries, inventions, improvements, and man's use of natural and human resources and capital goods from the Stone Age to the present helped fifth graders understand and appreciate the foundation and structure of the U.S. economic system and today's standards of living. The year-long study, which was integrated…

This guide traces and amplifies basic economic concepts through various periods in United States history, such as: 1) discovering the New World; 2) Colonial Period; 3) from the Revolution to the Civil War; 4) regional approach to the American economy; 5) modern period. The concepts deal with such issues as resources and their development and use,…

An award winning project for teaching economics at the fifth-grade level is described. Content is based on the theme of the economic repercussions of petty crime. As an initial activity, students examine the economic effects of local vandalism on the community and the taxpayers. Throughout the year, rap sessions provide a vehicle for class…

Designed to help upper elementary education teachers develop economics lessons as part of the social studies program, this curriculum guide introduces fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students to the study of: (1) economic institutions; (2) scarcity; (3) choice and decisionmaking; (4) specialization and exchange; and (5) economic systems. A…

Combining reading, language arts, and economics, this interdisciplinary project involved fifth grade students in studying three units dealing with (1) an auto liner named the Karinita; (2) the port of Wilmington (Delaware); and (3) international trade. Specific unit lesson plans are provided in this project description. In unit 1, students learned…

Part four in a series of elementary level economics and consumer education teaching resources, this guide is designed for use with fifth and sixth graders. The first section identifies concepts and related objectives, defines relevant terms, and lists audiovisual and print resources related to each concept. Key concepts include basic economic…

A third-grade class and fifth-grade remedial reading students gained a positive attitude toward contemporary economic problems by studying economics as a puzzle in this award-winning project. The following concepts were each approached as pieces of the puzzle to be solved: money, wants and needs, income, goods and services, scarcity, consumption…

The guide is one of a series for a statewide career education development project in Hawaii, based on a conceptual framework encompassing grades K-14. An introductory section in each guide includes directions for users; rationale for the project; a conceptual model (areas of individual growth, sequences of experience, and components of the…

The document presents objectives, teaching methods, activities, and work sheets for a unit on choosing breakfast cereal. The unit is intended to be used as an integral part of the fifth grade health program. Activities take place in a classroom learning center and can be completed in approximately four to six hours of classroom time. Objectives…

This unit introduces the American tax system to elementary school students in grades 3-5. It is presented in three sections, all of which are built around the story of Tex Tax leaving the ranch and going to the city for the first time. Section one centers on taxation at federal, state, and local levels. The student learns to distinguish between…