Calculation of state-level GDP deflators and inflation rates "Using FRED" section.
This peer review of writing tool helps students improve their writing by asking their peers in the class to provide feedback in a constructive manner.
Spreadsheets Across the Curriculum module/Geology of National Parks course. Students estimate travel times and costs of a driving/camping trip to visit national parks in the Colorado Plateau.
This experiment illustrates the value of exchange to students through trading of candy.
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to
Explain what a bond is and the pros and cons of investing in bonds
Understand the various factors that can influence bond prices such as interest rates
Identify the difference between an individual bond and a bond fund
Read a bond fund fact sheet
Approximate Time
Lesson length: 90 mins
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to
Describe what stocks are, how you can earn profit from stocks, and the risks of investing.
Summarize long-term trends in the stock market
Analyze the performance of individual stocks over time
Consider how personal values may influence investing decisions
Approximate Time
Lesson length: 130 mins
SSAC Physical Volcanology module. Students build a spreadsheet to estimate the volume of volcanic deposits using map, thickness and high-water mark data from the 2005 Panabaj debris flow (Guatemala).
Students calculate the opportunity cost of attending one class. The exercise reinforces learning about implicit, explicit and total opportunity costs.
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to
Discuss best practices how to prepare for the psychological elements of investing
Determine your investor profile based on time horizon and risk tolerance
Discuss specific investing strategies
Understand what a brokerage account is and how to open one
Demonstrate your understanding of investing strategies by creating a simulated portfolio
Approximate Time
Lesson length: 175 mins
What's the deal with the debt ceiling, anyway? The federal government has always had debt. How much is too much, and how do politicians exploit it? This episode originally dropped in August 2022, but since the subject is in the news, we've been getting lots of questions about it!
Since our nation's founding, the federal government has borrowed money from other governments, private investors, and businesses in order to operate. Over the last century, the debt ceiling, a Congressional cap on how much debt we can have, keeps getting higher and higher. We talk about how the national debt works, how it's been used as political leverage, and how that impacts the health of our economy.
Louise Sheiner, senior economics fellow at the Brookings Institution, and Michael Dorf, Constitutional law professor at Cornell Law, help us make sense of trillions of dollars in debt.
Project Description: This project focuses on economic indicators and their use as measures of an economy’s strength. Student teams will gather historical and current economic data, analyze these data, and use their findings to determine the current phase of the business cycle. Then, each team will predict the health of the U.S. economy over the next 12 months, including which phase(s) of the business cycle the economy will experience, and based on this forecast, determine what industry would be best for a venture capitalist to invest in during that time. Each team will develop charts and tables that contain its research findings and economic forecast, develop a short report of its recommendation, and present its work to a venture capitalist, economic development coordinator, or local entrepreneur. The attached project document (found in the Resource Library) includes step-by-step instructions, templates, briefings, resources, and rubrics to help in executing this project.Driving Question: What phase(s) of the business cycle do you expect the U.S. economy to experience over the next 12 months, and what industry should a venture capitalist invest in during that time? Timeframe: 2 weeks
After predicting which of two earnings streams has the highest currrent value, students use a discounted values table to compare the two earnings streams, discovering that earlier earnings has higher value and that the choice of earnings streams depends on the interest rate chosen.
This exercise uses the Think-Pair-Share technique to initiate the problem-solving process. It focuses on a common first step in economic problem solving: identifying relevant and irrelevant information.
Students compare budget deficits and surpluses generated between 1969 and 2008 measured in nominal terms and then as a percentage of GDP.
Most Americans need help to file our tax return each year - about 90% of people use technology like Turbo Tax, or hire a human tax preparer. Why does it feel like it takes degree in accounting, or the money to pay someone with a degree, or computer software, just to comply with the law?
The income tax system is full of complexity, and extremely personal. It's a system where things like who you work for, what kind of resources you have, and how you spend your money, determine how much you owe the government, and what the government provides in return. So how did we get here?
Helping us untangle this history is Eric Toder, Institute fellow in the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center at the Urban Institute; Beverly Moran, Professor of Law at Vanderbilt University, where she focuses on federal income taxation, including individuals, partnerships, tax-exempt organizations and corporate; and Joe Thorndike, Director of the Tax History Project at Tax Analysts.
Website Explanation:
Students take a look at two political thinkers that spent a lot of time trying to answer the question, "Why Government?" - Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. This lesson combines our Influence Library entries on Hobbes and Locke and adds activities that ask students to compare and contrast Hobbes and Locke and to think about how these philosophers influenced those that followed in their footsteps.
Students will be able to:
Explain the difference between saving and investing
Explain the difference between simple interest and compound interest
Calculate compound interest using an online compound interest calculator
Students will be able to:
Explain why saving is important
Explain what it means to “pay yourself first” and why it’s beneficial
Create a list of short, medium, and long-term savings goals
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to
Define investing and distinguish it from saving and trading.
Identify reasons for investing, including outpacing inflation.
Analyze how compounding builds wealth over time.
Reflect on how investing contributes to wealth inequality.
Approximate Time
Lesson length: 90 mins
Students will be able to:
-Identify everyday obstacles Americans experience when trying to save money
-Understand why it is important to maintain an emergency fund
-Describe their own savings goals as well as big picture reasons to save, such as for college or retirement
-Estimate the cost of medium- and long-term goals and devise smaller, periodic savings goals to reach them