TOOLS | ASSIGNMENTS

• http://www.refdesk.com/paper.html

Three elementary interactive lessons: Zooconomy, Wise Pockets World, Money Math.

• http://www.umsl.edu/~econed

Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy: a three-part television series with a companion website dedicated to a discussion of globalization (high school).

Interactive Exchange Rates: Using the Big Mac Index (The Economist), compare its cost in another country to determine if the actual exchange rate is under or overvalued.

• http://www.angelfire.com/id/SergioDaSilva/bigmacppp.html

Interactive Supply & Demand

You can practice modeling supply and demand , then take the interactive quiz. Don’t get discouraged, though. Remember, prices change and non-price factors affecting either demand and/or supply can change. These cause changes in the price and/or changes in the quantity of the product.

• http://mcnet.marietta.edu/~delemeeg/games/

Matching/ Flashcards/ Concentration/ Word Search & “Create your own Activity”

• http://www.quia.com/custom/15gate.html

Kids Econ Posters and Econ Songs (Indiana Council on Economic Education)

• http://www.kidseconposters.com/econsongs.html

JumpStart Coalition offers a free calendar with 12 personal finance themes.

• http://www.jumpstart.org/

Economics LTSN: (a British website)

• http://www.economics.ltsn.ac.uk/

Choose: Links to Resources>>Simulations>>Under INTRODUCTORY (Principles of Macroeconomics) four simulations will appear (2 UK based and 2 US based)

2009: A Game for Macroeconomists (USA) uses Explorer as browser for best
results. The simulation allows the student to take on the role of President and set both
fiscal and monetary policy.

The National Budget Simulation Game (version 2004 Budget) See if you can come up with a balanced federal budget.

• http://www.budgetsim.org/nbs/

Citizen's Guide to the Federal Budget: Fiscal Year 2001

Under INTRODUCTORY (Principles of Microeconomics) two interactive simulations appear.

Stock Market Game (USA)
Euro Game: online market game

Under INTERMEDIATE (Microeconomics)>> MyStocks (USA)
Under INTERMEDIATE (Macroeconomics)>> Make Your Own Indicator Of Sustainable Economic Welfare

Kids Econ Posters and Econ Songs (Indiana Council on Economic Education)

• http://www.kidseconposters.com/econsongs.html

The Economic Song Book: Old Tunes with Economic Twists (James Madison University)

• http://www.econed.org/assets/EconSongs.pdf

The Economic Journal will motivate stiudents to read about current economic events outside the classroom. Students will record at least five dated journal entries. Choose articles from a major newspaper such as New York Times, Wall Street Journal or USAToday. {The USAToday is my personal favorite!} Related the article to an economic concepts discussed in class. Students complete one journal entry in accord with the ECONOMICS-in-the-NEWS Journal Article Form. Each journal entry should clearly contain a economic concept: (1) identify it, (2) summarize the article’s content and (3) evaluate how you might be affected.

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ECONOMICS-in-the-NEWS Journal Article Form

Article Title:_____________________________________________________________

SOURCE (include section/page/column): ______________________________________

Date: ___________________________________________________________________

Article Review Requirements

Each journal entry should clearly contain an economic concept.

(1) Identify it.
(2) Summarize the article’s content
(3) Evaluate how you might be affected.
(4) Other comments.

To read more about expressive writing, visit: http://nutsandbolts.washcoll.edu/thinking.htm

The purpose of this personal essay is to share a life experience or observation that is economic in nature. By writing about oneself, we personalize economics and link economic concepts to ordinary life experiences. It is meant to be open-ended and informal, yet creative. Each narrative must clearly contain an economic concept: (1) identify the concept by underlining it in the paper and (2) present your personal encounter with economics in a lively and detailed fashion.

To read more about narratives, visit: http://papyr.com/hypertextbooks/engl_101/narrativ.htm

The Haiku, a Japanese poem, is a lesson in brevity, just three lines and 17 syllables distributed as 5-7-5. An effective haiku captures minute details of a situation or scene and stirs the emotions of the reader. Writing a haiku will challenge you to condense your thoughts into a concise “kernel.” Prepare a haiku based on an economic concept or event. You might consider using one of the following suggestions: outline format of 1) introduction-2) body-3) conclusion; paragraph format of 1) topical sentence-2) supporting details-3) clinching comment; the Aristotelian syllogism of 1) a major premise-2) a minor premises-3) a conclusion or the Hegelian formula of 1) thesis-2) antithesis-3) synthesis. A reminder: this is actually meant to be fun!

To read more about Haiku-poems, visit: http://www.toyomasu.com/haiku/

Position Papers can serve as substitutes for taking a formal exam over covered material. It helps students develop analytical thinking skills (economic reasoning skills).

The instructor can use a basic format that requires the student to:

a. identify the social-economic problem/issue: explain it’s important to society? … to the student personally?
b. gather empirical evidence: what is the evidence that surrounding the issue? … data, facts, information, observations, experiences.
c. apply an economic framework to the problem: how does economics play a role? … what key terms need definitional clarification?
d. evaluate proposed public policy choices: what are rival solutions? … what are your value preferences? … what are likely consequences?

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Theme: Let the Red Ink Flow

USATODAY (16 July 2003): When President Bush took office in 2001, he had $344 billion in budget surpluses to play with. It looked like enough to slash taxes, give the Pentagon a raise and still have billions left to pay down the national debt.

The FY2003 closed on September 30th with a federal deficit ballooning to $374 billion and projections for FY2004 suggests another $500 billion more in red ink. How is this conceivable and what are the implications?

As newspaper columnist, you will be writing a two-column news article offering an economically sound explanation to just that question!

As a columnist your article must demonstrate each of the following points:

1) a knowledgeable summary of what the federal budget is;

2) use of real time data to present the facts about broad categories of federal budget items (FY 2004);

3) an understanding of how the federal budget arrived in its current deficit state and what a failure to deal with the government’s growing red ink will mean to the economy;

4) and an offer to President Bush of some meaningful guidance on turning the red ink situation around.
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Grading doesn't need to be painful! Try this evaluation format.

As a columnist your article must demonstrate each of the following points:

1) a knowledgeable summary of what the federal budget is; (_________/ 6 points). Comments:

2) use of real time data to present the facts about broad categories of federal budget items (FY 2004); (_________/ 4 points). Comments:

3) an understanding of how the federal budget arrived in its current deficit state and what a failure to deal with the government’s growing red ink will mean to the economy; (_________/ 6 points). Comments:

4) and an offer to President Bush of some meaningful guidance on turning the red ink situation around. ; (_________/ 4 points). Comments:

To read more about communicative writing, visit: http://nutsandbolts.washcoll.edu/thinking.htm