General Information

Title: Government Spending

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: The impact of government spending on individuals.

Descriptive Overview: The action of a government will affect its citizens. Government spending does not only create debt, but the allocation of funds supports the country and its citizens.

Advantages of Medium: Lesson strengthens research skills. After analyzing facts, graphs and tables, students will draw conclusions from different sources such as notes and Internet sites.

Lesson Specifics

Lesson Objectives/Goals: The student will:

• identify and describe the causes of the national debt.
• analyze the government's role in stabilizing the economy through spending.
• describe the effects of government spending on individuals.
• publish a newspaper.

Assumed Skills or Prerequisite Skills: Some understanding of the national debt and the concept of a deficit.

Learning Environment:

• Computer lab
• Reporter Notes handout
• Internet Site Questions worksheet

Instructional Set

Describe the budget of the U.S. economy.

Gaining Attention: Not applicable

Orienting the Lesson: Not applicable

Stimulating Recall of Prerequisites: Not applicable

Key Questions: Not applicable

Teaching Strategies

Not applicable

Terminology/Vocabulary:

Fiscal Policy
National Debt
Deficit
Recession
Deficit Spending
GNP

Practice:

• Tell students: You are a reporter of The Daily Debt newspaper. Your responsibility is to investigate and report the truth about the U.S. economy and describe the role the government plays.
• A reporter answers the 5 basic W's- Who? What? When? Where? and Why? Sources have revealed that each person in the United States owes over $20,000 of the $5+ trillion deficit. Is this information correct? Gather your facts by exploring the following questions:
• Distribute the Reporter Notes handout. Have students take notes from each section.
• Distribute the Internet Sites Questions worksheet. Have students return to the text page and visit the sites. To gather information, students must answer the questions for each given site.

Assessment:

• Divide class into groups of three to four students. Assign each group a topic concerning the National Debt and Government Spending.
• Each group is to write an article based on their given topic using the research done in class.
• Encourage students to be creative- include quotes and import graphs, tables and other statistics.
• Use the newspaper template of your program to publish student papers.

Enhancements

• Debate Topic: Am I My Brother's Keeper? The government's budget includes the financing of several social programs. Should spending for these programs be decreased or cut out thereby relieving the budget and applying the surplus to decrease the deficit? What will happen to the poor children, elderly, abandoned, etc. Is the government responsible?
• Research and create a bar /line graph showing the growth of the deficit in relation to great events (ex: wars) since the American Revolution. Include dates.
• Research and make a list of companies within your area that work closely with the government and would be affected by government spending.

Extensions

Not applicable