Arts Mart

For most middle-school students, world history is simply a collection of events that happened centuries ago. They see little connection between their lives and these events and, as a result, aren't excited about the subject. In Arts Mart students are engaged in a simulation that will help them make connections between then and now.

Arts Mart is an experience-based education system designed to integrate art and economics into the middle-school world history course. As students study diverse civilizations and cultures throughout world history, they engage in a more detailed investigation of art forms of four cultures.

Throughout the year, students create works of art representing each culture or civilization and write descriptions of their art creations. Near the end of the year, the teacher assembles and displays all student art. Students are organized into museum groups, which then work to develop business plans for the museums, including financial information, types of collections that will be featured, and inputs that will be required. While developing their museums, students learn relevant economic concepts about the operation of the enterprise. They conduct budget analyses to develop an understanding of revenue and factors and costs of production.

The teacher conducts auctions of the art produced by the class, with the museum groups bidding to acquire works of art. Between each auction round, students encounter problems that require adjustments in their budgets and influence their ability to acquire works of art for their museum.

At the conclusion of the auctions, students create their museums and prepare to conduct tours for other students, teachers, and/or parents. During the tours, students demonstrate what they have learned by explaining why their museum focuses on certain types of art, which particular pieces were chosen, and the significance of the pieces as representations of the particular culture or civilization.

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Do A Zoo

Do A Zoo is a curriculum developed for first-grade students. They learn about animal classification by sorting stuffed animals. They work with partners to learn more about various animals and to create zoo structures. Then they invite visitors to the zoo to see the animals, eat popcorn and ride the train. Do A Zoo addresses decision-making, opportunity cost, resources, and human capital development.

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The Economics of Our Diverse Society

The Economics of Our Diverse Society: Lessons on Economic and Social Issues curriculum unit is designed for courses in social studies, economics, and civics at the secondary level. The goals of this unit are to demonstrate that economics can help students understand complex issues related to diversity and to apply economic analysis to a variety of topics such as immigration, entrepreneurship, poverty, and boycotts and labor strikes. Students are introduced to relevant economic concepts, including incentives, exchange, decision making and opportunity costs, broad social goals, human capital, investment in human capital, and entrepreneurship. The lesson format is teacher-friendly and ready-to-use in the classroom. Each lesson includes a statement of concepts, instructional objectives, materials required, and detailed teaching procedures. Black-line masters are also included for ease of teacher use, along with suggested follow-up activities and resource materials.

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The Gingerbread Man

Using "The Gingerbread Man" folktale as a theme, this unit encourages cooperative learning instruction with emphasis on respect, sharing and decision making. Students apply their skills and knowledge as related to that theme. For example, they learn about fractions and apply the skill in baking gingerbread men; they learn how to use coordinates and demonstrate their understanding by tracking the run-away gingerbread men on a map.erbread man take over your class for awhile? What can your students learn from a gingerbread man? How about economics, math, science, written language, social studies and reading! The Gingerbread Man curriculum unit is an integrated-thematic approach to economic instruction for primary students (late first grade/early second grade).

The unit contains 15 days of instruction. The activities for each day introduce content and develop higher-order thinking skills as well as social skills. The classroom teacher has the flexibility to use all the lessons as presented in the unit or select a desired section for instruction. Many of the activities can be developed as learning centers. The Gingerbread Man allows teachers to employ a variety of assessment strategies, such as teacher observation of individual and group participation, evaluation of students' written work and group projects, evaluation of various student performances and student self-evaluation.

This unit includes a copy of “The Gingerbread Man” folktale that can be copied for group work.

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Kaleidoscope, USA

It's 2:00 p.m. and you move into your social studies period where your students sit with textbooks in hand, eagerly anticipating the next chapter in U.S. history. If this doesn't sound like your class, you're not alone. Your third- through fifth-grade students are observers from afar, finding it difficult to relate to the events of centuries ago. So, let them become part of history - make them citizens of Kaleidoscope, USA and watch U.S. history come alive in the classroom.

In Kaleidoscope, USA students live history and use economics, geography, language arts, science and math skills as they develop their community from a colony to a city of the future.

Kaleidoscope, USA is a curriculum unit that examines community economic development through the study of a fictitious community as it evolves from a proprietor colony into an industrialized community and eventually into a community of the future.

This unit provides opportunities for a variety of assessments as students make choices regarding colony sites, develop advertisements, write persuasive letters, participate in role play, predict the community of the future and develop land-use graphs.

This unit includes two reusable maps.

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Labor Works for You

Labor Works for You is a curriculum set of nine lessons for students in grades two through four to teach about investment in human capital, examination of careers in the construction industry, and awareness of unionized labor.

This curriculum was written with active participation of representatives of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters, and the Sheet Metal Workers International Association. It is divided into three units focusing on carpentry,plumbing, and sheet metal work.

The ideal delivery system would involve the classroom teacher and a worker representing the career focus of the unit. In the foreword, teachers are encouraged to contact their local labor council to find union members to help in delivery. However, in the absence of available workers, these lessons can and should be taught by the classroom teacher to encourage student learning in the areas of the construction trades and organized labor.

Unit 1 focuses on plumbing. Students learn about human resources, capital resources, and investment in human capital. They hear a short poem focusing on a task faced by Ms. Ivanov, the plumber, and then move through work stations where they assemble and disassemble a spigot and join and measure pipes. They take part in a story focusing on plumber education and learn about the activities of George Meany and the merger of the AFL with the CIO by role playing various labor organizations huddled together under an umbrella.

Unit 2 focuses on carpentry. Students again learn about resources and human capital by reading a story of a young boy trying to build things for his mom. They participate in Driving a Nail, Sanding Wood, Measuring, and Level Surface work stations. They learn about home construction and construct a house puzzle. They also read a story about Peter McGuire and the origin of Labor Day, later constructing a Labor Day parade featuring events in labor history.

Unit 3 focuses on sheet metal work. Students read about Billy, who lives in a very hot house until air conditioning is installed. They go on a scavenger hunt through the school in search of sheet metal work. Students construct duct work, a down spout, and an ornamental sheet metal piece. They also read about Mother Jones and her actions to eliminate child labor. Finally, they write letters to Mother Jones describing their school activities that build their work skills for future participation in the labor force.

This curriculum delivers education in human capital development, the construction trades, and the historical efforts of organized labor to bring about safe working environments.

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Seas, Trees, and Economies

With lesson titles such as The Jabawa Trees of Island Breeze, Eggs-ternal Costs, and The Lorax and What the Lore Lacks, how could Seas, Trees, and Economies be anything but fun! Yes, the lessons are fun and interesting, but the content brings about discussion and a better understanding of resource use.

Children, and far too many adults, fail to see the contradiction in asking loggers to "spare those trees," while asking contractors to "build more and better homes for everyone." These are both worthy desires. Unfortunately, new homes require a cleared space and lumber made from wood or wood products. As a result, more homes means fewer standing trees. Conversely, more spared trees translates into fewer homes. The size of our natural environment is limited. If we choose one thing, we invariably give up something else.

Students working through the Seas, Trees, and Economies unit learn valuable lessons through experiential learning. In the first lesson, for instance, each student draws a tree that provides wood, or fruit, or shade, or a windbreak. However, when it is time to "plant" the trees in a grove, it becomes apparent that all of the trees won't fit in the available land, and some amount of wood, fruit, shade, or windbreak will have to be forsaken. This curriculum helps students recognize that the balance we seek presents many difficult problems that demand well thought-out solutions.

Lesson 1: The Jabawa Trees of Island Breeze -- Students read a short story about a fictional natural resource, the great Jabawa tree of Island Breeze. Students discuss the various goods and services provided by the trees, and then conduct a role play to demonstrate the effect of scarcity on a society.

Lesson 2: Here Today, Back Here Tomorrow -- Students are engaged in a trading activity that allows them to chart the flow of natural resources out of the environment, through the economy, and then back into the environment.

Lesson 3: Letter Perfect and Clean Enough -- Students learn about the types of natural resources (plant, animal, mineral, fossil fuel, and other) that the environment provides. Then they are given a puzzle, practice their penmanship and develop a scarcity slide that they use to illustrate trade-offs -- letter perfect v. clean enough.

Lesson 4: Waste Not, Want a Lot -- Students play the role of producers, deciding what and how to produce in response to various incentives.

Lesson 5: Eggs-ternal Costs -- Students participate in an egg hunt and then color eggs. Through these activities, students recognize that decisions they make and actions they take can affect the well-being of others.

Lesson 6: A Valuable Lesson -- Students discover that valuable goods and services are provided by both the economy and the environment. They must decide which goods and services they would most want in various situations. They learn that the value of a good or service is the maximum price they are willing and able to pay for it and that the value of goods and services depends on how well the goods and services satisfy wants.

Lesson 7: Cycling and Recycling around the Classroom -- Students pretend to be natural resources moving through the cycle of production, consumption and recycling.

Lesson 8: Eco-Cents -- Students discover ways that businesses are reducing the impact of their production and products on the environment. They consider the role of consumer sovereignty in bringing about these changes. Working in teams, students are challenged to come up with their own ideas for new products or services and make a marketing presentation to the class.

Lesson 9: A Bad Deal for the Rain Forests -- Students are given the opportunity to buy small snacks in three different situations. The first involves a choice between two different goods that have the same price. The second involves a choice between the same good offered at two different prices. The third involves a choice when a good has public or "shared" versus private or "me only" characteristics.

Lesson 10: The Lorax and What the Lore Lacks -- Students read Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, a section at a time, stopping to discuss the economic assumptions and lessons of the story. These lessons are used to illustrate how the outcome of the story could have been avoided.

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The Louisiana Expansion

In 2004, the United States will celebrate the 200th anniversary of what some historians describe as one of the most significant events in United States history, the purchase and exploration of the Louisiana Purchase. The Louisiana Expansion is an interdisciplinary unit that will help bring this historical event to life for fourth- and fifth-graders. The lessons in the unit offer a variety of teaching strategies and activities that address social studies content and skills, communication arts skills, and process skills required by the Missouri Show-Me Standards.

Lesson Two: Students participate in an activity that helps them understand how important a map can be. They learn that a map of the Louisiana Territory would provide valuable information. Next, students read about Thomas Jefferson, Meriwether Lewis, and the Louisiana Territory. Then, they begin a Louisiana Territory time line.

Lesson Three: Students participate in an activity designed to show that access to the Port of New Orleans affected Americans' ability to trade. Next, they participate in a play that explains some of the history of the Louisiana Purchase. Through the play, the students also recognize that President Jefferson knew the strategic importance of controlling the Mississippi River and the Port of New Orleans.

Lesson Four: Students engage in a brief trading activity to help them understand why Lewis took items to trade on the expedition. Then, they participate in a group activity to learn about the crew and supplies that Lewis took on the expedition as well as the training he received prior to the expedition.

Lesson Five: Students look at maps marking the Louisiana Territory and the trail that the expedition took. Along the trail, they meet various groups of Native Americans that the expedition met. The students learn about the keelboat that the expedition tool upriver and the expedition's stay at Fort Mandan. They participate in a trade activity to help them understand the benefits of trade.

Lesson Six: Students make an uninformed choice. They read about an important choice that Lewis and Clark had to make. They learn about the importance of having accurate information when they make choices.

Lesson Seven: Students compare the expedition's accomplishments to the three broad goals that President Jefferson set for the expedition. They learn that the expedition was considered a success even though all goals were not fully met.

Lesson Eight: In the warm-up activity, students learn about Gross Domestic Product (GDP). They look at the GDP for the United States in 2000 and the GDP in 2000 for 13 states that were part of the Louisiana Territory. Students learn about the circular flow of the economy and work in groups to research additional information about the 13 states.

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The Voyages of Columbus

How's this for an idea? We'll board a rocket and travel to the outer limits of our galaxy. How long will it take? What will we find there? Whom will we meet? What kind of rocket will we need for the journey? OK, we'll have to work out some details. But just think of the money we could make bringing back new and exotic goods from another world!

This may sound like a crazy idea, but that's what people thought 500 years ago when they heard about Columbus' plan. However, Columbus paid no attention to the critics. He was willing to risk sailing into the unknown to acquire the goods that would make him rich. Students can experience this entrepreneurial adventure through The Voyages of Columbus: An Economic Enterprise. This curriculum unit contains three lessons that integrate economics, geography, math, and history.

Students participate in activities through which they examine early trade barriers; identify the incentives to which entrepreneurs respond; analyze the resources, human capital, and technology required for the voyage; and recognize the importance of information in decision making. These activities, combined with a mapping activity and supplemental lessons found in the appendix, enable teachers to use a variety of assessment strategies.

The unit includes a reusable map and ship poster.

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A Yen to Trade

This curriculum unit is designed to engage students in grades 3 through 6 in activities demonstrating the benefits of trade. Students begin their exploration by participating in a "flea" market to determine what conditions are necessary for two people to agree to a trade and how trading makes people better off.

They, then, move into a lesson where pairs of students play the roles of the tortoise and the hare, working together to win a contest. Through trial-and-error, they discover the benefits of specialization, and they determine who has a comparative advantage.

In a later lesson, students read a story about how a boy and girl appear to use magic to solve a problem their village has. But all is not as it seems as their magic is revealed to be nothing more than good economics.

Throughout this unit, students are engaged in exciting activities, designed to illustrate why, no matter what barriers exist, people persist in trading for what they want.

This unit contains ten lessons, is three-hole punched and comes to you shrink-wrapped.

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Zooconomy: Zoo Decisions

In Zooconomy classrooms, students design their own zoo, carefully researching the habitat, diet and special characteristics of their favorite animals. When they discover they want more animals than they can have, some tough decisions must be made. Fortunately, this program teaches the decision-making skills that will allow your students to become good zooconomists.

This award-winning unit allows students to become zooconomists and work together to design a new zoo. Students research animals they would like to display at their zoo.

Of course, all of these animals have special needs, and the zoo has limited resources. The students are faced with the decision of what animals they can include and which they must give up.

Zooconomy: Zoo Decisions contains five lessons that teach basic economic concepts and develop analytical thinking skills through economics with an integration of science, math, language arts and map skills.

The unit is contained in a three-ring binder and includes a reuseable map for zoo design.

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Zooconomy II: Zoo Business

What are the goals of a business? How are business decisions made? Students learn about business firsthand as they become zoo managers and make business decisions. They learn what the zoo's goals are and how a rain forest exhibit would help the zoo achieve these goals.

Students study the rain forest, its make-up, its animals, and its fragile balance. They seek to reproduce a rain forest in their zoo, but to do so, they must examine the costs incurred by the zoo and compare them with the revenues received. After examining the budget, students conduct profit analyses on different concessions they might produce in order to boost revenue. As a culminating activity, students produce and play the Rain Forest Game.

Zooconomy II: Zoo Business contains five lessons that develop analytical and critical thinking skills through economics, with an integration of science, math, and language arts.

The unit contains dice and game pieces for the Rain Forest Game.

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