Measuring the Great Depression
Describe how we measure the economy’s health with tools such as gross domestic product (GDP), the unemployment rate, and the consumer price index (CPI).
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Curriculum Units
The Great Depression
OVERVIEW
This curriculum is designed to provide teachers with economic lessons that they can share with their students to help them understand this significant experience in U.S. history. Lessons include measuring the severity of the economic crisis, how government intervention affected the economy and the personal impact the Depression had on ordinary Americans.
Grade Level
Lesson 1: Measuring the Depression
This lesson illustrates the differences between these modern economic measurements and the measurements available at the time through primary source materials from FRASER®, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis digital library of economic history.
Lesson 2: What Do People Say
In this lesson, read letters that reflect actual problems and people's concerns during the Great Depression, students begin to identify with the people of that era and to uncover the problems that people experienced during the Great Depression.
Lesson 3: What Really Caused the Great Depression
For this activity, in two simulations, students determine that bank panics and a shrinking money supply were the primary causes of the Great Depression.
Lesson 4: Dealing with the Depression
For this activity compare and categorize New Deal programs to recognize that the value of most of these programs were the effects on the confidence that U.S. citizens had in the economy.
Lesson 5: Turn Your Radio On
In this lesson, use excerpts from Franklin Delano Roosevelt's "fireside chats" to identify his plans for restoring the economy.
Lesson 6: Could It Happen Again
Through a simulation, they learn how the Fed manages the money supply through open market operations. They identify what central bankers have learned about implementing monetary policy as a result of the Great Depression. Furthermore, they recognize the steps the central bank has taken to respond effectively to financial crises since that time.
More in This Series
LESSONS & ACTIVITIES
1 HOUR+
LESSONS & ACTIVITIES
1 HOUR+
What Do People Say
Identify and analyze suggested causes of the Great Depression.
LESSONS & ACTIVITIES
1 HOUR+
What Really Caused the Depression?
Determine that banking panics and shrinking money supply caused the Great Depression.
LESSONS & ACTIVITIES
1 HOUR+
Dealing with the Depression
Examine statistical data related to the Great Depression.
LESSONS & ACTIVITIES
1 HOUR+
Turn Your Radio On
Identify economic problems using Franklin Delano Roosevelt's "fireside chats".
LESSONS & ACTIVITIES
1 HOUR+
Could It Happen Again
Learn about the role of the Federal Reserve System in the context of the Great Depression.
