Federal Reserve Bank
FRED in the Classroom: Debt and Deficit
Here is a hands-on activity where your class members will discover different ways to measure the government's financial situation and work to add data and redraw graphs in order to calculate the ratio of gross federal debt held by the...
Council for Economic Education
FRED and the Federal Budget Interactive Lesson
How can a federal debt accumulate over time? The Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) dashboard allows scholars to actively research each aspect of the federal budget. In pairs, they analyze economic data to determine the best way to...
Council for Economic Education
Federal Budget Lesson Plan and Fiscal Ship Student Game
The federal budget has never been so fun! Using an interactive game, high schoolers choose from a variety of policy options after identifying goals and try to balance these changes in policy with a federal budget.
Student Handouts
Budgets and Deficits
There's a lot to learn about the savings and loan crisis. Start off your learners with a quick reading assignment. Pupils read the brief informational article and respond to three questions about the savings and loan crisis, thrifts, and...
Curated OER
Budget Debate: How Would You Balance the Federal Budget?
Learners examine how to balance the federal budget. In this American economics lesson, students read the provided article "Congress Debates Cutting the Budget." Learners then collaborate in small groups to determine how to balance the...
Curated OER
Chapter 18: Deficits, Surpluses, and the Public Debt
Sobering, informative, and relevant for today, this presentation is sure to fill in some of the gaps between the current financial crisis and the theories of economics. With explanatory graphs and strong discussion points, these slides...
Carolina K-12
Learning About the Federal Budget: “Get a Pencil, You’re Tackling the Deficit!”
Your class members have been selected by the president to help solve the budget crisis as part of a special deficit commission. After learning about fiscal policy, economic theories, and the federal budget through a detailed PowerPoint...
iCivics
Government Spending
After discussing personal financing with your class, consider following up with this well-rounded introduction to government spending. The resource includes reading documents and worksheets, and covers topics as the federal deficit and...
Curated OER
Should America Balance the Federal Budget?
Young scholars analyze the federal budget of the United States. In this national debt lesson, students listen to their instructor present a lecture regarding the details of the balancing the federal budget. Young scholars respond to...
Woodrow Wilson International Center For Scholars
The Fiscal Ship
Can young economists right the fiscal ship of the United States before it sinks? Learners use an interactive simulation to navigate the waters of the federal deficit in an effort to curb the federal deficit. They make active decisions of...
Curated OER
Debt and Deficits
Learners identify, research and interpret the national debt and deficits of the past through today and why it has risen significantly in the last 20 years. They analyze the size and impacts and discuss the various policy measures for...
Curated OER
Balancing Budgets: From Reagan to Today
Students discover details about the federal budget. In this contemporary government lesson, students research the efforts to maintain a balanced federal budget in the United States since the 1980's. Students then participate in a debate...
Curated OER
Balance of Payments (BOP)
Learners work through ten transactions that will help them understand credits and debts on a global scale. They then discuss each transaction in terms of the global economy. An extension activity and discussion questions are included.
Curated OER
Understanding the Debt Ceiling Debate and the Budget Control Act of 2011
Upper graders listen to a podcast on the EconTalk website featuring economist Keith Hennessey. The podcast focuses on the Budget Control Act of 2011, the national debt, and government spending. They read specifics about the BCA, then...
Curated OER
Economics: Actions of Government
Students examine the susceptibility of legislators to agricultural lobbyists to support subsidy programs. In small groups, they role-play as members of interest groups that might be affected by inflation.
Curated OER
Balancing the Budget
Students identify the different components that make up the federal budget. They discuss the relationship between government revenues and spending and between budget deficits and the national debt. Students predict how changes in...
Curated OER
Economic Recovery? a Comparison of Indicators for Utah And the United States Since March 2001
Students discuss key business and consumer indicators that are used to measure the health of the economy. They compare the economic recovery (from the 2001 recession) of Utah and the United States. They discuss the benefits and...
Curated OER
Budget Busters
Use this economic activity to focus on writing summaries of informational text. First, middle schoolers define common economic terms used to describe news about the economy. They closely read news about the federal budget deficit and...
Curated OER
Ranking Global Problems
In this global problems worksheet, students are given a list of ten issues that we face world wide and they rank the list in order of priority after discussing the topics with a group. Students then order the top ten problems that we...
Federal Reserve Bank
The Fed's Role in Making and Setting Monetary Policy: Part 2
How does the Federal Open Market Committee work to formulate the nation's monetary policy in the United States? As the second segment of a lesson on the role of the Fed in setting monetary policy, class members will learn about open...
Curated OER
Understanding and Supporting Our Peers with Cognitive Challenges
Students explore different federal laws promoting the education for the handicapped. In this literacy lesson, students brainstorm how they can help individual with Down syndrome. They read a fiction book related to the topic and discuss...
Curated OER
The International Way of Thinking
In this International Way of Thinking instructional activity, students write answers to questions about basic economic concepts as well as using a chart about production.
Curated OER
Solving the Mysteries of Government
In this Solving the Mysteries of Government worksheet, students answer questions using ideas from the public-choice theory of government.
ProCon
President Bill Clinton
Was Bill Clinton a good president? Scholars set out to answer the question as they prepare for a class debate on the topic. They watch videos, review pros and cons, and read facts about the process of becoming a United States president....