St. Louis Center Economics Materials

FUN AND EXCITING ECONOMICS FOR THE CLASSROOM

Available from the University of Missouri-St. Louis Center for Economic Education

Voice: (314) 553-5248, FAX: (314) 553-5352

The Gingerbread Man (grades 1-2), Price - $45.00: Why not let a gingerbread man take over your class for awhile? What can your students learn from a gingerbread man? They learn economics, math, science, written language, social studies, and reading, along with cooperative learning skills, such as respect, sharing, and decision making. For three weeks, The Gingerbread Man an integrated-thematic unit, will be the focus in teaching your primary (late first grade/early second grade) curriculum. You'll wish the gingerbread man could stay all year! The unit contains 15 days of instruction. Each day requires 3 1/2 to 4 hours of classroom time. The activities for each day introduce content and develop higher-order thinking skills as well as social skills. The unit is contained in a three-ring binder and includes seven copies of "The Gingerbread Man" folk tale for group work.
Kaleidoscope, USA (grades 3-5), Price - $35.00: It's 2:00 p.m., and you move into your social studies period where your students sit with textbooks in hand, eagerly anticipating the next chapter in U.S. history. If this doesn't sound like your class, you're not alone. Your third through fifth-grade students are observers from afar, finding it difficult to relate to the events of centuries ago. So let them become a part of history - let them experience becoming a shareholder in the first colonies, trading with England for the goods they want, or building a new American industry. Make them citizens of Kaleidoscope, USA and watch American history come alive in the classroom of 1995. In Kaleidoscope, USA students live our history and use economics, geography, language arts, science, and math skills, as they develop their community from a colony to a city of the future. The unit of 12 lessons is contained in a three-ring binder and includes two maps.
The Voyages of Columbus: An Economic Enterprise (grades 4-6), Price - $40.00: How's this for an idea? We'll board a rocket and travel to the outer limits of our galaxy. How long will it take? What will we find there? Whom will we meet? What kind of rocket will we need for the journey? OK, we'll have to work out some details. But just think of the money we could make bringing back new and exotic goods from another world! If you think this is a crazy idea, your reaction isn't much different than that of people 500 years ago who heard of Columbus's plan. However, Columbus paid no attention to the critics. He was willing to risk sailing into the unknown to acquire the goods that would make him rich. Let your students experience this entrepreneurial adventure through The Voyages of Columbus: An Economic Enterprise. As medieval traders, they will sail rough seas and cross barren deserts in search of exotic goods. As entrepreneurs, they will assemble a fleet and hire a crew willing to sail into the unknown. As crew members, they will map out their routes using Columbus's log. Will they arrive at their destination? Will they find wealth? Those are the risks they take as entrepreneurs. This unit is contained in a three-ring binder and includes a trade map and ship poster.
Zooconomy: Zoo Decisions (grades 4-6), Price - $30.00: This award-winning unit allows students to become zooconomists and work together to design a new zoo. Students research animals they would like to display at their zoo. Of course, all of these animals have special needs, and the zoo has limited resources. The students are faced with the decision of what animals they can include and which they must give up. In this integrated unit, students in grades 4 through 6 use economics to develop analytical and critical thinking kills while incorporating science, math graphing skills, and language arts. This unit is contained in a three-ring binder and includes a map for zoo design and a videotape of the St. Louis zoo.
Zooconomy II: Zoo Business (grades 6-8), Price - $30.00: What are the goals of a business? How are business decisions made? Students learn about business first-hand as they become zoo managers and make business decisions. They learn what the zoo's goals are and how a rain forest exhibit would help the zoo achieve these goals. Students study the rain forest, its makeup, its animals, and its fragile balance. They seek to reproduce a rain forest in their zoo, but to do so, they must examine the costs incurred by the zoo and on different concessions they might produce in order to boost revenue. One particularly profitable concession is the rain forest game. Students, working in groups, construct and they play the game, which reinforces the economic, business, and scientific concepts they've encountered during the unit. This unit is contained in a three-ring binder and includes game pieces and die.
Arts Mart (grades 6-8), Price - $35.00: Arts Mart is an experience-based program designed to integrate art and economics into the middle-school world history course. As students study diverse civilizations and cultures throughout world history, they engage in more detailed investigations of art forms of four or five cultures. Throughout the year, students create works of art representing each culture and civilization and write descriptions of their art creations. Near the end of the year, the teacher assembles and displays all student art. Students are organized into museum groups, which then work to develop business plans for the museums, including financial information, types of collections featured, and inputs required. While developing their museums, students learn relevant economic concepts. The teacher conducts an auction of the art produced by the class, with the museum groups bidding to acquire works of art. Between each auction round students encounter problems that require adjustments to their budgets and their ability to acquire works of art. At the conclusion of the auctions, students create their museums and prepare to conduct tours for other students, parents, etc. During the tours, students demonstrate what they have learned. This unit is contained in a three-ring binder.