From Bikinis to Cartograms

This is the one Sports Illustrated magazine that you’ll actually want your kids reading in class! The December 22nd 2004 issue was indeed a “page-turner of monstrous proportions” – 32 pages of glorious, full-color thematic maps. Check out some of the awesome maps below.

Per Capita Number of Olympic Athletes by County (Choropleth)

Per Capita Number of NFL Athletes by State (Cartogram)

Major Baseball Franchise Moves (Choropleth)

Economics Comic Book

Here’s a great way to make some economics vocab a little bit more memorable.

We didn’t have enough time in class to create and present skits, so instead I had my kids get into groups and create comic books using economic terms. If you’re covering a lot of vocab, each group could represent a content area (ie; macro, micro, global, etc.), but I ended up giving each group the same list of terms.

Here’s an example from Lanceri!

The Laws of Supply & Demand

Here are some notes about the laws of supply and demand, and the factors that influence them (substitution effect, complementary goods, etc.). And here’s a guided notes worksheet to keep the students on track!

Earth Observatory’s Image of the Day

Check out NASA’s Earth Observatory Image of the Day site, where students can see hundreds of satellite images that show changes in climate, environment, and of course the challenges of urban sprawl.

This series of images, that shows twenty-five years of growth in Las Vegas, include references to data from the US Census Bureau and a Reuters article about how the growth of the city depends on the dwindling supply of water. Here are just two of the images:

Acquired October 22, 1984

Acquired January 12, 2009

Economic Systems

Some of the basics about traditional, command, market, and mixed economies.

Economic Systems Poker

Here’s a super fun way to introduce some of the basic distinctions of economic systems using a couple decks of playing cards and standard poker hands. You will need enough decks of cards such that you can deal each student a hand of five cards.

Appoint one or two students to be “dealers” and shuffle the cards while you explain the value of different poker hands. (I would have an image of the different hands on an overhead or PowerPoint to make it easier for the kids to see, once they’re dealt cards.)

Have the dealers deal each student five cards. Remind them to keep their cards private until the round begins! After each round, do a quick debrief to highlight comparisons between the game and economic systems.

• Round 1 – Students can trade with anyone they want, as many times as they want, for a period of five minutes.
  • Debrief: By a show of hands, I would see how many students were able to get the top five hands, because the kids love gloating over their high scores. What strategies allowed them to achieve those hands? (Maximizing choice in trade, etc.) What obstacles were there? (Scarcity of cards, etc.)
• Round 2 – Students can make two more trades if they wish, but the trading period will only last for three minutes.
  • Debrief: By the second round, students will be a little less likely to trade, particularly if they have a nice hand. How does this affect the game? You can use this later to talk about how a market economy is more likely to lead to extremes in wealth than a command economy.
• Round 3 – Students can make as many trades as they wish, but they may only trade with three or four group members that the teacher has assigned. The trading period will last five minutes.
  • Debrief: What limitations did this round have? (Limited trading partners.) Did it have any advantages? (Some students may decide to sacrifice a low scoring hand, like one pair, in order to get a higher score for a group member.)
• Round 4 – Students can make as many trades as they wish, but everyone in the class must achieve at least a straight or better. The trading period will take as long as it needs until everyone has fulfilled the goal.
  • Debrief: What changed? (Some students may lose incentive, since everyone wins. Trades may be more inefficient.) Is it even possible for everyone to have a straight? (Depending on how many cards in the deck remain unused, it may not be.)