A Few Favorite Lessons for Economic Education Month
October is National Economic Education Month, which serves as a good reminder of how important it is for students to have the tools to make informed choices about spending, saving and investing.
After all, “economics is about the business of everyday life,” as Andrea Caceres-Santamaria, Mary Suiter and Scott A. Wolla, members of the St. Louis Fed’s Economic Education team, pointed out in a blog post three Octobers ago. (Suiter has since retired.)
If you’re looking to wrap up this month—or any month—with some econ lessons for your class or other children in your life, the Econ Ed team has a few favorites to suggest from their library of resources.
Students from kindergarten to high school will find economics fun and easy to digest with these ready-made lessons and activities.
Econ for Elementary School Students
Exploring Economic Concepts through Videos
The Explore Economics series of short videos introduces economic concepts to elementary-age children. In addition to being on YouTube, the series can be found on our website with information about lesson plans, Q&As and other activities.
Explore Economics Videos and Activities
“Consumers and Producers” is one of the most viewed videos in the Explore Economics series on YouTube, and it includes a singalong.
Narrator:
Let’s explore a little economics. Today we are going to talk about consumers and producers.
Before we start, you may want to get a piece of construction paper, a pair of scissors, some markers or crayons, and a book that you’re reading.
The people you see here are producers. Producers are people who make or grow goods and provide services. Sometimes they are called workers, and they help us do things. For example, a florist is a producer who makes pretty bouquets. A baker is a producer who cooks up yummy cakes, and a painter is a producer who creates artwork for us to admire.
Can you name these producers?
(PAUSE) Doctors, hairstylists, landscapers and mechanics are producers. When you draw a picture, or when you make cookies, you are a producer.
People are consumers, too. The people you see here are drinking a smoothie, shopping for groceries and playing in a sandbox. Consumers are people who buy or use goods and services to satisfy their wants.
When you eat your dinner, you will be a consumer. You’ll be hungry and eating a meal will make you feel full. You’ll be a consumer of food. You are also a consumer when you go to school. You’re learning. You’re consuming knowledge.
Can you name these consumers?
(PAUSE) When people buy things, use skateboards or watch movies, they are consumers.
Now it’s time for you to be a producer. Use the scissors to cut a rectangle like this one from the construction paper. Use the markers to decorate the rectangle like a bookmark—maybe like this.
(You can pause this video while you make your bookmark—or keep watching if you’d like to think about it a little!)
Congratulations! You are a producer. You produced a bookmark.
Now it is time for you to be a consumer! Open your book and use the bookmark to save your spot. You are using a good—a bookmark.
Congratulations! You are a consumer.
People are consumers and producers. Now it’s time to learn a little song about consumers and producers. Let’s sing our song. We’ll show you the words so you can sing along. Just follow the bouncing ball.
Child singing:
The farmers who grow our food, grow our food, grow our food
The farmers who grow our food
They are producers.
The people who gobble it up, gobble it up, gobble it up
The people who gobble it up
They are consumers.
When I make a new bookmark, a new bookmark, a new bookmark
When I make a new bookmark
I am a producer.
When I use my cool bookmark, my cool bookmark, my cool bookmark
When I use my cool bookmark
I am a consumer.
When people make goods and services, goods and services, goods and services
When people make goods and services
They are producers.
When they use the things produced, the things produced, the things produced
When they use the things produced
They are consumers.
Teaching about Human Resources with a Children’s Book
If you don’t already have the book “Sky Boys: How They Built the Empire State Building,” check it out from your local library. The children’s book written by Deborah Hopkinson and illustrated by James Ransome tells the story of the Great Depression-era construction of the New York icon. Teachers can use a fun classroom activity and parents can use a Q&A that go with the book to teach kids about human resources, productivity, human capital and physical capital.
Trading Activity for Middle School Students
Kids will get a very personal lesson in how trading works with the activity Is Trade a Zero-Sum Game? The Answer Lies in Candy. They’ll likely even come out ahead with a preferred candy treat.
If you want to see the lesson in action, check out videos from a 2019 blog post that show Wolla leading an auditorium of adults in the activity. (Wolla was then a senior economic education specialist and is now an economic education officer at the St. Louis Fed.)
Active Classroom Explainers for High School Students
Figuring Out the Unemployment Rate
The unemployment rate is often in the news. The engaging How Do We Measure Unemployment? lesson shows students what is considered in calculating the rate, starting with the labor force.
The lesson includes a link to this unemployment rate chart from the St. Louis Fed’s online economic database, FRED.
Setting Up Different Kinds of Markets
How does the number of sellers in different types of markets affect prices? Students find out as they trade in various kinds of markets with the Teaching Market Structures with a Competitive Gum Market lesson.
Explore Other Econ Ed Resources
Learning about economics and personal finance isn’t limited to October. Visit our Economic Education webpages for resources and events throughout the year.
This blog explains everyday economics and the Fed, while also spotlighting St. Louis Fed people and programs. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the St. Louis Fed or Federal Reserve System.
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