Michael Phelps, the economist? Scholars research the economic advantages of specializing in one kind of service, and how it relates to athletes doing the same in their respective sports. They evaluate absolute advantage, production, and opportunity cost through video clips and direct quotes from Olympic athletes. 

Concepts

productivity, specialization, opportunity cost

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Additional Tags

social studies

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Instructional Ideas

• Create an economic Olympics where students design their own specialized products and compete for gold, silver, and bronze medals
• Show a short video clip of Michael Phelps during the Olympic Games at the beginning of the lesson to set the tone

Classroom Considerations

• Multiple choice quiz at the end requires all students to have access to the Internet

Pros

• Provides the answer key to the specialization worksheet
• Printable worksheets and materials available for classroom use

Cons

• None

Common Core

RH.9-10.1 RH.9-10.2 RH.9-10.3 RH.11-12.1 RH.11-12.2 RH.11-12.3