General Information

Subject Area: Social Studies/Economics

SOL 7.6 - Virginia Standards of Learning

The Students will explain the structure and operation of the United States economy as compared with other economies, with emphasis on:

• the basic concepts of free market, as described by Adam Smith, and of communism, as described by Karl Marx;
• the concepts of supply and demand, scarcity, choices, trade-offs, private ownership, incentives, consumer sovereignty, markets, and competition;
• private and public financial institutions
• the economic impact of consumption, saving and investment, and borrowing by individuals, firms and governments; and
• the differences between free market, centrally planned, and mixed economies.

Lesson Topic: Discovering the advantages and disadvantages of the different types of world economies.

Descriptive Overview: Students will work in groups to discuss the different types of economies. They will be given the opportunity to adopt an economy as their own and defend its efficiency.

Advantages of Medium: Working cooperatively will allow students to be creative and be exposed to different points of view as well as discuss several aspects of the types of economies that exist in the world.

Lesson Specifics

• Describe and compare the economic systems predominate in the world today.
• Compare and contrast traditional, command and market economies.
• Explain how mixed economies are a combination of other economic systems.

Learning Environment:

• Debate Worksheet
• Chooser Options Sheet

Instructional Set

Gaining Attention: Not applicable

Orienting the Lesson: Not applicable

Stimulating Recall of Prerequisites: Not applicable

Key Questions: Not applicable

Teaching Strategies

1. As a class, review characteristics of each type of economic system:
• Traditional Economies
• Command Economies
• Market Economies
• Mixed Economies
2. Print out chooser option sheet and cut on the dotted lines to create student cards.
3. Distribute the different types of economies from the chooser option sheet to each member of the class. This will place students in groups
4. Distribute the debate worksheet to each group that provides a format for the information that should be used in the debate
5. Students should brainstorm ideas and information that will aid in their debate.
6. One student from each group should present ideas and findings to the class, while trying to convince classmates that their economic system is the best.
7. After each group has completed their presentation, teachers should summarize the lesson by asking questions that lead to the recognition of each type of economy.
8. Sample questions: Would all economies work in different countries? Could the U.S. survive with a traditional economy? What factors may affect the type of economy a country holds? When would it be beneficial for a country to change its economy?

Command Economy
Market Economy
Mixed Economy
Traditional Economy

Practice: Not applicable

Assessment:

• Debate Worksheet
• Class Debate

Enhancements

Extensions