Integrating the Social Studies Across Colorado History

1. Integrating the Social Studies Across Colorado History The Economic Perspective January 11, 2014 Marc Johnson Education Program Director Colorado Council for Economic Education mjohnson@ccee.net 303-752-2323

2. Personal Financial Literacy: Economics • Content Area: Social Studies (4 standards) • History, Geography, Economics, Civics • For each grade level, P-8: • One GLE in Economics • One GLE in Personal Financial Literacy (PFL)

3. Standard 3: Economics Grade Level Expectation – Grade 4 - Economics 1. People respond to positive and negative incentives • Selected Evidence Outcomes • Define positive & negative economic incentives • Give examples of the kinds of goods and services produced in Colorado’s different historical periods and their connection to economic incentives • Explain how the productive resources – natural, human and capital – of CO have influenced the types of goods produced and services provided

4. Standard 3: Economics Grade Level Expectation Grade 4 PFL 2. The relationship between choice and opportunity cost • Selected Evidence Outcomes & 21st Century Skills: • Define choice and opportunity cost • Analyze different choices and their opportunity costs • Give examples of the opportunity costs for individual decisions What different ways does an individual have to get information when making a decision?

5. Presentation Objectives • Concepts (technical vocabulary) • The economic trilogy • scarcity, choice & cost • Incentives • positive • negative • Goods & services • Productive resources • natural, human, capital, entrepreneurship

6. Concepts are universal Across space… …to the world, Mexico, Colorado, Denver or your classroom! Across time… …to the present, past or future!

7. Let’s Get Started!

8. When I ask ANY group what economics is all about they invariably say… MONEY

9. When I ask ANY group what economics is all about they invariably say… OR, they cite economic statistics: CO is the 2nd largest aerospace employer in the US, behind CA. Per capita income in CO in 2011 was $45,100 (US figure: $42,700). Colorado’s unemployment rate in July, 2013 was 7.1%.

10. Economics is NOT about money or data. No economist likes those answers… And the CO Academic Standards avoid those perceptions too!

11. A Gift from CCEE • Who would like this ultimate economics & PFL resource? • Wants: ______ • Available: 1 Scarcity THE economic problem?

12. Scarcity • Wants > Availability • or, • Unlimited wants > Limited resources

13. ScarcityChoice Economics is: • the study of choice

14. The Economic Way of Thinking: Key Concept • Scarcity necessitates choice • people must choose

15. ScarcityChoiceTrade-offs

16. A World of Choice Grand Slam? Marry the little red-haired girl?

17. Daily, Small Choices Maybe go shopping at the mall? Should I go to the library today? Should I go hiking today?

18. Big, Strategic Decisions Should I go to college? Should I work instead of college?

19. We All Confront Choice A school teacher? A business person?

20. Develop a Decision-Making Framework for Students • Help make decisions • by learning a process for more careful choice

21. Decision-Making Model • Define the Problem • outcome to be achieved • List the Alternatives • ways to achieve the outcome • State the Criteria • standards to judge alternatives • Evaluate the Alternatives • apply criteria to each alternative • Make a Decision • select best alternative

22. Decision-Making Model PACED • Define theProblem • List theAlternatives • State theCriteria • Evaluatethe Alternatives • Make aDecision

23. PACED Example • My wife and I decide on restaurant for dinner …

24. Where to Go for Dinner? How about Venice restaurant? How about Shanahan’srestaurant?

25. Problem: What Restaurant for Dinner? Food quality Menu choice Drive Time Quiet Cost Ajuaa’s + - Venice + + 0 + + - 0 0 Criteria Alternatives • What factors are important to • you in making this decision? • Used to rank one alterative • as “better” than another. - + - + 0 0 +2 Shanahans +1 + = above average - = below average 0 = average

26. Problem: Choose a Car to Purchase • What factors are important to • you in making this decision? • Used to rank one alterative • as “better” than another. Greatest value is not in the specific answer, but in the process of identifying important factors.

27. Candy Bar Activity • One Volunteer, please? • Opportunity lost opportunity cost • Value of the best foregone alternative • “Choosing is refusing” • choose A, refuse B – • cost of A is value ofB

28. The Dismal Science! There’s no such thing as a free lunch! TNSTAAFL

29. The Economic Way of Thinking: Key Concept • Choice involves cost • opportunity cost

30. Sample question from Grade 4 Social Studies Practice Test Type your response in the box. Read the paragraph. What should the student do? Explain what her opportunity cost will be and why. A student is trying to decide whether to go roller skating, practice soccer, or read a book today. She has time to do only one activity. She went roller skating yesterday, she has an important soccer game tomorrow, and the book is a new one by her favorite author.

31. Opportunity Cost Examples • Cost of coming to this workshop today? • Value of next best foregone alternative • joy spending day with family or friends • Cost of using frequent flyer miles to fly to Las Vegas? • Value of using frequent flyer miles to fly to Miami • A student’s cost of going to a movie with friends? • $8.00 movie ticket price • $2.00 transport (gas, etc.) • $20.00 babysitting earnings given up Explicit Implicit

32. Since ScarcityRequires Choice • … and since choice involves cost Why choose it? • Assume that: • People choose X if: • B(X) > C(X); • otherwise, not B(X) C(X) • where : • B(X) ≡ benefit of choice X • C(X) ≡ cost of choice X

33. Play It Again, Sam • Raise the cost • if C(X) > B(X), • choose another bar

34. The Economic Way of Thinking: Key Concept • People respond to incentives

35. Would You Ride a Bull? • For $5? • for $50? • for $500? • for $5,000? • for $50,000? • Likely to get more risk takers as the reward rises!

36. Are You Willing… • … to be a police person? • For: • $20,000 per year? • $40,000 per year? • $60,000 per year? • $80,000 per year? • $160,000 per year? • $320,000 per year?

37. Why might someone have wanted to… • …leave the comforts of St. Louis to homestead in Colorado in 1866? • Why might some rural counties be willing to secede from the state of Colorado? What would be the costs and benefits of secession?

38. Practice – Identify Incentives Why do some students want good grades? What makes you want to be a good teacher? What makes a company want to build a ski resort? What made Colorado Territory want to become a state?

39. Intended Consequences • If people respond to incentives . . . • then behavior can be altered in desired or intended ways • For example …

40. The Camel Race • Two Bedouins met in the desert, and fell into an argument over their camels, each claiming that his was the slowest, “stubbornest,” most useless camel in all of Arabia. • The argument ended in a bet. They agreed to race to the oasis, two miles away, whichever camel arrived last would be proved slowest, and his owner would win ten dirham from the other.

41. Camel Race continued • . . . They got on their camels, and set off slowly toward the oasis. More slowly, still more slowly. After a while, it became clear that since each Bedouin was trying to win the bet, they were never going to make it to the oasis. • . . . After a while, a wise sheik rode up on a donkey and asked them why they and their camels were standing still, in the middle of the desert, on a hot day, with the oasis less than two miles away.

42. The Treasury, Petra, Jordan The Camel Racecontinued • They got off their camels, and all three sat down in the shade of a rock while the two Bedouins explained about their bet. • The wise sheik whispered two words to them. The Bedouins immediately jumped on the camels and rode off as fast as they could towards the oasis. • What were the 2 words? ________ _________ Switch camels!

43. Consequences • People respond to incentives causing • intended consequences, and • unintended consequences • which can offset the intended benefits

44. The Tax Man Cometh • April 15, 1987 . . . • IRS rule change: • Instead of merely listing each dependent child, tax filers required to provide Social Security number. Result? 7 million children disappeared

45. KeyConcept, Once Again • People respond to incentives • …and the rest is commentary • Armchair Economist • Stephen Landsberg • Freakonomics & Super Freakonomics • Steven Levitt

46. Productive Resources Focus: Grades 3-5 Economics Lesson 1 Rolling for Resources

47. CO Academic Standards • Standard 3 – Economics GLE (2nd grade) – The scarcity of resources affects the choices of individuals and communities 21st Cent. Skills *Economic thinkers analyze how goods and services are produced… *Economic thinkers analyze the scarcity of resources…

48. CO Academic Standards • Standard 3 – Economics GLE (4th grade) – People respond to positive and negative incentives Evidence Outcomes *Explain how the productive resources – natural, human and capital – of Colorado have influenced the types of goods and services provided

49. Goods and Services Goods Things that can satisfy people’s wants. A car A house A dish of ice cream An i-pod Other goods…

50. Goods and Services Services Activities that can satisfy people’s wants. Dentistry (a dentist checking your teeth) Selling you a car (car sales person) Babysitting (babysitter) Playing professional football (professional athlete) Other services…