Standards for Peanuts, Pecans, and Peas, Please

Standard: 5

Name: Business Decisions and Market Structure

Businesses typically make decisions to maximize profit. Competition among sellers usually lowers costs and prices for buyers. A lack of competition in some types of markets can lead to higher prices and less-favorable outcomes for buyers.

• K-5: In elementary school, students learn that businesses use resources to produce goods and services, and that buyers and sellers interact in the market. Entrepreneurship is also introduced.
• 6-8: In middle school, students learn about the idea of profit and how businesses and consumers interact. Students learn more about how businesses are legally organized and their goals. Students learn how the behavior of buyers and sellers affects market outcomes. Students then explore the costs and benefits of being an entrepreneur.
• 9-12: High school students, while they do not learn about specific market structures, investigate why competition may vary across different markets. They also learn how businesses decide how much to produce and why competition prevents businesses from influencing the market price. Students learn why some markets have less competition, with concepts such as network effects being introduced.Benchmark Students will know that: Students will use this knowledge to: 5.E.1 Producers use natural resources, human resources, and capital resources to make to make goods and services.Identify a good they can make and sell (e.g., friendship bracelets) and determine what resources they need to produce 20 units, including how many hours of labor. 5.E.2 Competition exists when there are multiple buyers and sellers of similar products.Explain whether the opening of a second vendor selling the same product at a farmers market is good for buyers, sellers, or both.

Standard: 16

Name: Growth and Fluctuations

Investment in factories, machinery, and technology, and in the health, education, and training of people can encourage economic growth and increase the standard of living in a country. Economic fluctuations, such as recessions, result in a temporary worsening of economic conditions as people have a harder time finding jobs and companies cut back or shut down production.

• 6-8: At the middle school level, students learn the importance of labor productivity in stimulating economic growth. Students learn what can improve labor productivity.
• 9-12: At the high school level, students learn about policies and institutions that could improve economic growth. They also learn about short-run fluctuations in the economy such as recessions and expansions.Benchmark Students will know that: Students will use this knowledge to: 16.M.1 Economic growth is a sustained increase in the quantity of the goods and services produced in a country.Research the real GDP of various countries and draw conclusions about the differences in economic growth between those countries. 16.M.2 Labor productivity is output per worker.Calculate the class’s average labor productivity after completing an activity (i.e., paper airplane production, solving calculations, jumping jacks, etc.). 16.M.3 One way an economy can grow over time is by increasing the number of workers. Another important way for an economy to grow over time is by increasing the output per worker.Perform a simple task such as making paper airplanes and then determine if more students engaged in the task will increase the production of the good or the workers’ productivity. 16.M.4 Workers can improve their labor productivity by using physical capital such as tools and machinery.Provide examples where using tools (an excavator to dig a hole, AI to write a summary of information) can increase the productivity of a worker. 16.M.5 Workers can improve their productivity when they learn new ideas or use better tools that help them perform more efficiently.Estimate the time required to complete tasks (solving a Rubik’s Cube, making an origami animal, or assembling a piece of furniture) with and without instructions. Analyze the differences and draw conclusions on how learning new methods and using tools can enhance workers’ productivity.M: MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS National Content Standards in K–12 Economics | 56 Standard 16: Growth and Fluctuations