Wisconsin Economic Standard
D.8.4

Investment and Growth

Describe how investments in human and physical capital, including new technology, affect standard of living and quality of life

Economic Concepts
Human capital || Physical capital || Standard of living || Productivity

Links to Content Information
Links to Lesson Plans and Teaching Strategies
List of Curricular Materials and Learning Activities
National Content Standard & its benchmarks
Email an Expert

Links to Content Information

	Closing: The Life and Death of an American Factory - This site gives us a rare and intimate view of a community of workers at the moment of its dissolution.
	The effects of economic growth on the standards of living of individuals - Includes an explanation for teachers and a student activity for grades 4-5.
	Encyclopedia of the New Economy presents definitions of Capital and Capitalism.
	Exploring Countries and Regions - This page links to World Bank information for regions of the world, including standard of living, economic growth, and much more.
	Material Life, Markets and Capitalism, Chapter 2 of Human Society and the Global Economy - After a brief look at the roles of tradition and command, this chapter examines the emergence of the market as a primary force in the orchestration of material life. It will then provide our first look at the nature of capitalism.
	What is Sustainable Development? - A definition from the World Bank.
	Wisconsin by Socioeconomic Categories - Includes poverty rate, food stamps, and crime index.

Links to Lesson Plans and other Suggested Teaching Strategies

	Developing a Financial Investment Portfolio - Grades 9-12; can be adapted for grades 7-8. Students are given scenarios for three individuals. They act as financial advisors and develop a financial investment portfolio for each client using internet references as they analyze the various saving options.
	Development Education Program - From the World Bank. This page contains links to information for teachers and lessons to use in the classroom related to economic development.
	Martin Luther King Jr. Day - Students will explain how the legacy of Jim Crow impeded economic prosperity for African-Americans and how investment in human capital and willingness to seek new economic opportunities produced economic improvement for African-Americans.
	Rice: The Global Crop - Grades 6-12 - This mini-unit on rice as a basic food source gives students a concrete sense of basic economic terms and understanding of the relationships between land and civilization. From the Ask Asia lesson series.
	Two Different Worlds - Help your students discover the differences between the economies in the world's developed and developing nations.
	Other Web Sites - This page lists web sites offering a wealth of lesson plans for teaching economics, in addition to these lesson plans.

List of Curricular Materials and Learning Activities

	*Focus: Middle School Economics* from Economics America (search catalogue), available from Economics Wisconsin. Unit 3, Lesson 7: The T-Rrific T's Company: Production Decisions - Students help the managers of a T-shirt company make business decisions about the production process. They analyze the costs and benefits of investing in new capital equipment in order to increase productivity.
	*Econ and Me* - Grades 3-6. An award-winning program of five 15-minute, sequentially arranged video lessons, each focusing on a specific economic concept: scarcity, opportunity cost, consumption, production, and interdependence. Also included are two videotapes with background information for teachers. From Economics America (search catalogue).
	*Economics for the Elementary Classroom* by Elaine C. Coulson and Sarapage McCorkle, 1982. St. Louis, MO: SPEC Publishers. The following lessons for grades 2-6: * Practicing Computation - pp. 177-180 * Widget Production - pp. 181-184
	*Virtual Economics: An Interactive Center for Economic Education, Version 2* - Each exhibit includes teaching tips, background information, a list of lessons, and video and audio clips that give additional information about the topic. Available from Economics America (search catalogue). In section Fundamental Economics, see exhibit: Productivity In section MicroEconomics, see exhibit: Income Distribution
	Focus on Economics: United States History, from Economics America (search catalogue), available from Economics Wisconsin. Lesson 11 - Where Did the African-American Middle Class Come From? - After a discussion of segregation and racism, students examine data and formulate explanations regarding the development of an African-American middle class.

National Content Standard 15.

Scroll down the linked page to locate the grade 8 benchmarks.

Email an expert

Professor Larry Weiser, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point

Developed by Lynn Kirby, Ph.D., Education and Technology Consultant and Larry Weiser, Ph.D., Program Director, EconomicsWisconsin
University of Wisconsin--Stevens Point