General Information

Title: Government Borrowing

Subject Area: Social Studies/Economics

SOL 7.7 - Virginia Standards of Learning

The students will describe the role of the governments in the United States economy, with emphasis on:

• provision of public goods and services;
• protection of consumer rights, contracts, and property rights;
• the impact of government taxation, borrowing, and spending on individuals and on the production and distribution of goods and services; and
• the role of the Federal Reserve System and the impact of monetary policy on the money supply and interest rates.

Grade Level: 8

Lesson Topic: Government Borrowing

Descriptive Overview: Our two major political parties regularly debate the national debt. Students will conduct online research on the national debt and investigate the impact of that debt on individuals.

Advantages of Medium: Students will research the impact of government borrowing on individuals through the use of the Internet.

Lesson Specifics

Lesson Objectives/Goals: The student will:

• explain how the government raises money
• describe the size of the national debt and how it has increased.
• investigate how government bonds are distributed.

Assumed Skills or Prerequisite Skills: Students must be familiar with the unit vocabulary

Learning Environment:

• One computer - teachers must download worksheets for this lesson. Also a transparency of notes should be made to use on an overhead projector. A Power Point presentation accompanies this lesson also.
• Computer lab setting- worksheets will need to be downloaded and printed for each student

Instructional Set

• Review the process of taxation as a necessity for government programs.
• Discuss the government's use of tax funds

Gaining Attention: Not applicable

Orienting the Lesson: Not applicable

Stimulating Recall of Prerequisites: Not applicable

Key Questions:

1. How does government borrowing affect individuals?
2. What is the difference in debt and deficit?
3. Should the United States push for a balanced budget?

Teaching Strategies

1. Other than taxation, the government borrows money to cover expenditures.
2. The government borrows money from itself through the use of bonds.
3. Review the buying and selling procedures for bonds.
4. Research the future of bonds.
5. Discuss possible solutions if government spending exceeded the sale of bonds.
6. The result would be a deficit.
7. The accumulation of the deficit creates the national debt.
8. Investigate previous budget receipts.
9. Discuss facts about the budget.
10. Interest on the budget accrues every day that the debt is not repaid.
11. View the debt clock.
12. Discuss the deficit history diagram.
13. A solution to the debt may be the Balanced Budget Amendment.

Terminology/Vocabulary:

Expenditure
Deficit
Debt

Practice: Students will complete the questions on the Government Borrowing activity sheet throughout the lesson.

Assessment:

• Students will complete a writing activity that supports their opinion of the maintaining or elimination of the national debt.
• Brainstorm arguments for both sides of the national debt.
• Review debt argument notes.
• Students should compose an essay supporting their opinion of the debt.

Enhancements

• Have students write a brief essay about the history of the debt.
• Research economic trends and government spending during times of national crisis (i.e. war)
• Publish editorials for the school newspaper on the status of the national debt.

Extensions

Not applicable