Beyond The Bet: The Economics of Gambling
Beyond the Bet is a three-lesson curriculum unit designed to help high school students understand gambling through the lenses of personal finance and economics. Engaging activities and real-world connections make complex concepts like risk, incentives and opportunity cost accessible and relevant. Each lesson stands alone, and they can be taught in any order, but together they offer a more comprehensive understanding of the topic.
Beyond the Bet: Identifying Problem Gambling
In this lesson, students will analyze statistics and personal opinions about gambling to understand its wide-ranging effects on people, from those who are not involved with gambling to those who do gamble and experience bankruptcy and/or health impairment. Gambling has implications for teaching both economics and personal finance.
Beyond the Bet: Sports Betting
In this lesson, students will try to predict their classmates’ performance in simple athletic activities. Through this simulation of different athletic activities, students will begin to see how unpredictable sporting events can be. Gambling has implications for teaching both economics and personal finance.
Beyond the Bet: Weighing Gambling Risks
In this lesson, students will participate in a gambling simulation by pulling one piece of candy- coated chocolate from a bag and having payoffs depend on the color. The goal is for students to examine their probability of success while making choices about continuing the simulation. Students will better understand their money personality and how it may impact the decisions they make if/when gambling. Gambling has implications for teaching both economics and personal finance.
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