| Junior
Achievement Programs |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
JA
Exploring Economics
JA
Exploring Economics tackles a complex subject
and makes it accessible and fun for high school
students through hands-on activities. JA Exploring
Economics teaches concepts such as supply and
demand and inflation, and teaches students about
the effect which governments and the individual
have on the global economy and on the price
of a loaf of bread.
By
making economics engaging and relatable, JA
Exploring Economics helps students better understand
the impact they have on the economy as consumers
and taxpayers, and teaches important personal
financial lessons around spending, saving, and
investing.
| SESSION |
KEY
LEARNING OBJECTIVES |
| Session
One—Economic Systems: Who Makes the Big Decisions?
Students
examine how the economic system that a society
uses for production, distribution, and consumption
of goods and services significantly affects
the individuals in that society.
|
- Analyze
the impact of a society’s economic system
on the decisions it makes about the production,
distribution, and consumption of goods
and services.
- Evaluate
how the following characteristics affect
the efficiency of a market: money, private
property, limited government, exchange
of resources in available markets, and
entrepreneurship.
|
| Session
Two—Supply and Demand: What’s It Worth to
You?
Students
illustrate the impact of supply and demand
on the economy by participating in an economic
situation using real-life examples.
|
- Review
the concepts of supply and demand.
- Define
market-clearing price.
- Demonstrate
the interaction between supply and demand
in a free-market economy.
- Respond
to real-life examples of price and other
market forces that influence supply and
demand and the market-clearing price.
|
| Session
Three—Supply and Demand: The JA Market Game
Using an experiential game format, students
demonstrate the interaction of supply and
demand and how market forces affect the
price of products.
|
- Explain
the interaction between supply and demand
in a free-market economy, and the market’s
drive toward establishing a market-clearing
price.
- Apply
real-life examples of market forces that
influence supply and demand.
|
| Session
Four—Saving and Investing: Risks and Rewards
Students explore concepts related to consumers,
savers, and investors, including how wealth
increases in different saving and investing
options. They compare the characteristics,
risks, and rewards of several options.
|
- Recognize
ways to earn and increase wealth through
saving and investing.
- Analyze
examples of wealth acquired through saving
and investing.
- Evaluate
different methods of saving and investing,
including varied risks and rewards.
|
| Session
Five—Government’s Role in the Market
Students
analyze the effect of government on the
economy, including intervention through
the production of public goods and services,
taxes, and its role in protecting private
property.
|
- Categorize
public versus private goods, and explain
why governments intervene in the economy
by providing public goods.
- Express
why individuals and businesses pay taxes.
- Analyze
the impact of the government’s role in
protecting private property.
|
| Session
Six—Money, Inflation, and the CPI
Students learn about inflation and its effect
on prices, consumer purchasing power, the
willingness of financial institutions to
loan money, and how the Consumer Price Index
(CPI) monitors inflation.
|
- Define
inflation and demonstrate its connection
to the availability and value of money
in a market, as well as its effect on
prices and consumer purchasing power.
- Explain
and calculate how the Consumer Price Index
(CPI) measures consumer prices.
- Recognize
that inflation can impair a market economy
by affecting consumer confidence and funds
available for investment.
|
| Session
Seven—International Trade
Students
compare trade policies and the global economy
through a simulation based on the increased
utility (satisfaction) of international
trade.
|
- Describe
the significance of international trade.
- Analyze
the impact of trade on national and international
utility.
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
CONCEPTS
Banks
as borrower and lender, Command economy, Consumer Price
Index (CPI), Consumer purchasing power, Demand, Distribution,
Economics, Economic isolationism, Economic systems, Federal
Reserve System, Free-rider problem, Inflation, Inflation
rate, International trade, Investing options, Market economy,
Market-clearing price, Nonrivalry, Percentage change,
Private property, Production, Public vs. private goods,
Public vs. private sector, Regional trade, Risk versus
reward, Saving options, Simple interest, Supply, Supply
and demand, Tariff, Taxes, Trade restrictions, Utility,
United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), World
trade |
| |
SKILLS
Analyzing
information, Categorizing data, Charting, Decision-making,
Evaluating alternatives, Evaluating information, Graphing,
Listening for understanding, Oral and written communication,
Negotiating, Public speaking, Reading for understanding,
Solving algebraic equations, Working in pairs and groups |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|