The Wisconsin Social Studies/Civics 6-8 Suggested Scope & Sequence is divided by grade. The writing team decided this because they wanted to be able to build upon previous learning, and if the three courses were listed at any grade, educators would not be able to count on what was happening the year before. Therefore, we offer the
following order of courses:
• 6th Grade: Geography & Cultures of the World: Yesterday and Today
• 7th Grade: Civics & Our Contemporary World
• 8th Grade: Wisconsin & U.S. Studies (Thematic, 1924 – Present Day)

Civics and Social Studies are integrative by nature. Focusing on themes over dates, names, and battles can help students visualize the connections between strands of social studies better and learn to see the bigger picture while still meeting our state standards and expectations. Instead of viewing events in isolation, a thematic approach allows
students to better see connections and patterns across time. In addition, it assists teachers in helping students make connections to their own lives, identities, and current issues.

Each course is thematic, based in inquiry, has a civics lens, and is aligned to the Wisconsin Standards for Social Studies and the National Council for the Social Studies Themes of Social Studies. The courses all have the same units, focused on the strands of social studies (Inquiry, Behavioral Sciences, Economics, Geography, History, Political Science) in a thematic manner through the subject area. Every year starts with an inquiry unit to build inquiry skills and dispositions.

Each unit is further divided into planning ideas tied to middle school indicators from the Wisconsin Standards for Social Studies (2018). These planning ideas include:
• Potential Essential Questions, aligned to the standards
• NCSS theme of this unit
6-8 Social Studies/Civics: Suggested Scope and Sequence 8
• Focusing Questions for the Topic
• Recommended Inquiry Topics
• Specific Social Studies Indicators met with this unit
• Important Terms and Points to Consider
• Supporting Resource Providers to Consider

The essential and focusing questions are meant to help guide instruction and determine quality resources and lessons for use in the classroom. The recommended inquiry topics are provided to assist specific content choices for the unit.

We recognize this work is not as complete as the K-5 recommended scope & sequence. Where the K-5 team started with a framework similar to this document, the 6-8 started from scratch. We anticipate a more robust 6-8 document similar to the current released K-5 to be released by summer 2024.

This course is an advanced course in macroeconomics that seeks to bring students to the research frontier. The course is divided into two sections. The first half is taught by Prof. Iv‡n Werning and covers topics such as how to formulate and solve optimal problems. Students will study fiscal and monetary policy, among other issues. The second half, taught by Prof. George-Marios Angeletos, covers recent work on multiple equilibria, global games, and informational fictions.

Topics change from year to year. Most recent topics include: optimal fiscal and monetary policy; optimal capital taxation; time inconsistency and incentive incompatibility of optimal policies; redistribution and political economics; heterogeneous agents and incomplete markets; Real Business Cycle models and new-keynesian models; endogenous growth; aggregate fluctuations and propagation mechanisms; recursive methods and robust control in macro.

Classroom experiment illustrating the law of diminishing marginal productivity through the production of paper airplanes.

This class examines how and why twentieth-century Americans came to define the ‰ŰĎgood life‰Ű through consumption, leisure, and material abundance. We will explore how such things as department stores, nationally advertised brand-name goods, mass-produced cars, and suburbs transformed the American economy, society, and politics. The course is organized both thematically and chronologically. Each period deals with a new development in the history of consumer culture. Throughout we explore both celebrations and critiques of mass consumption and abundance.

The purpose of this study is to investigate factors relevant to business success in a small, rural Northwestern Wisconsin community and determine what influences are behind their ability to succeed. The study looks to provide a basis for a Project Based Learning format that could be used at the high school or technical college level, allowing students to investigate their own community and explore career options. In addition, as a young person researches and understands their own community, the impetus would be a greater appreciation for their immediate surroundings along with the entrepreneurial energy needed to sustain a successful business lacking urban resources. The success of such businesses is imperative to the survival of such municipalities and supports the wellbeing of its residents. The study goes further to provide general feedback to the Chambers of Commerce that participate in such a study about the specific and unique aspects that create success in a defined geographical area through simple survey techniques.

The purpose of this study is to investigate factors relevant to business success in a small, rural Northwestern Wisconsin community and determine what influences are behind their ability to succeed. The study looks to provide a basis for a Project Based Learning format that could be used at the high school or technical college level, allowing students to investigate their own community and explore career options. In addition, as a young person researches and understands their own community, the impetus would be a greater appreciation for their immediate surroundings along with the entrepreneurial energy needed to sustain a successful business lacking urban resources. The success of such businesses is imperative to the survival of such municipalities and supports the wellbeing of its residents. The study goes further to provide general feedback to the Chambers of Commerce that participate in such a study about the specific and unique aspects that create success in a defined geographical area through simple survey techniques.

" This course focuses on alternative ways in which the issues of growth, restructuring, innovation, knowledge, learning, and accounting and measurements can be examined, covering both industrialized and emerging countries. We give special emphasis to recent transformations in regional economies throughout the world and to the implications these changes have for the theories and research methods used in spatial economic analyses. Readings will relate mainly to the United States, but we cover pertinent material on foreign countries in lectures."

Using a reality tlevision show format, students are given thems from a certain novel and create storyboards upon which to create the reality TV show. Prior to the lesson , the teacher pulls the stick(s) from certain cups that are labeled with each of the ELA standards. This way students are focused on what standrd they are working on that class period.

Application of Oral History to Economics: Family Economic History The assignment will connect an oral history approach to the examination of economic concepts such as opportunity cost of attending school, economic crises (inflation and unemployment, etc.), and standard of living over time. Particularly, students will interview parents, grandparents, or family members from older generations regarding the types of work they performed, economic decisions they have made, and the economic conditions while they were growing up. The project develops a student's ability to understand and integrate these concepts from a variety of perspectives and real world situation.

Develops facility with concepts, language, and analytical tools of economics. Covers microeconomics, macroeconomics, and international trade and payments. Emphasizes integration of theory, data, and judgment in the analysis of corporate decisions and public policy, and in the assessment of changing US and international business environments. Restricted to Sloan Fellows. The fact of scarcity forces individuals, firms, and societies to choose among alternative uses -- or allocations -- of its limited resources. Accordingly, the first part of this summer course seeks to understand how economists model the choice process of individual consumers and firms, and how markets work to coordinate these choices. It also examines how well markets perform this function using the economist's criterion of market efficiency. Overall, this course focuses on microeconomics, with some topics from macroeconomics and international trade. It emphasizes the integration of theory, data, and judgment in the analysis of corporate decisions and public policy, and in the assessment of changing U.S. and international business environments.

Applied Macro- and International Economics uses case studies to investigate the macroeconomic environment in which firms operate. The first half of the course develops the basic tools of macroeconomic management: monetary, fiscal, and exchange rate policy. The class discusses recent emerging market and financial crises by examining their causes and considering how best to address them and prevent them from recurring in the future. The second half evaluates different strategies of economic development. Topics covered in the second half of this course include growth, the role of debt and foreign aid, and the reliance on natural resources.

Estimated Lesson Time: 55 minutes

Students will be able to:
-Experience cognitive biases through thought experiments
-Identify various cognitive biases
-Give examples of cognitive biases in your own life
-Explain what cognitive bias is and how it can impact our decision making

ANSWER KEY LINKS: Create a Next Gen Personal Finance (NGPF) account to access answer keys. They will be listed under the Full Year Curriculum tab.

In this 100-minute lesson, students will be able to:
-Describe the main types of auto insurance policies
-Explain the relationship between deductibles, coverage limits, and premiums for auto insurance
-List factors that determine auto insurance premiums
-Determine legally required and recommended coverage levels
-Read the fine print of an insurance policy and determine what coverage is provided
-Identify steps to take immediately after an auto accident and successfully file a claim

Lesson Time Estimate: 90 Minutes

Students will be able to:
-Utilize knowledge and strategies to get the best possible financing terms (that meet their individual needs and budget) for a new or used car
-Explain the difference between a car loan and a lease as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each
-Have a backup plan if they find themselves unable to afford their car payments

This lesson explains leverage and insolvency and why it is good or bad. [Banking, Money, Finance playlist: Lesson 10 of 24]

This lesson provides an analysis of the federal reserve balance sheet as of February 2007. [Banking, Money, Finance playlist: Lesson 21 of 24]

This lesson discusses how open market operations effect the rate at which banks lend to each other overnight. [Banking, Money, Finance playlist: Lesson 14 of 24]

This lesson presents more information on the mechanics of the Federal Funds rate and how it increases the money supply. [Banking, Money, Finance playlist: Lesson 15 of 24]

This lesson talks about the gold standard and is a short discussion on the meaning of wealth. [Banking, Money, Finance playlist: Lesson 17 of 24]