Part I: Unit Overview and Instructor Background Knowledge a). Unit Title/ Information: Making Cents of Economics!

Third Grade Social Studies b). Family/ Parent Letter: See attached. c). Social Studies Content: See attached. d). Big Ideas 1. There are three types of resources: natural, human and capital; these types of resources have influenced the production of goods and services both in the ancient civilizations of Rome, Greece and Mali, and also in present day. 2. People and regions specialize because they cannot produce everything they want; therefore people must trade in order to possess the things they do not have. 3. People make choices because they cannot have everything they want; all choices require giving up something else (opportunity cost). e). Key Concepts 1. Human resources: People working to produce goods and services. 2. Capital resources: Goods made by people and used to produce other goods and services (machines, tools, buildings). 3. Natural resources: Materials that come directly from nature (e.g., water, soil, wood, coal) 4. Goods: Things that people make or use to satisfy needs and wants. 5. Services: Activities that satisfy peoples needs and wants. 6. Specialization influences trade: Specialization occurs when people and/or regions focus on the production of selected goods and services; specialization encourages trade because people want goods and services that they do not have. People trade when individuals or groups benefit from the trade. 7. Economic choice vs. opportunity cost: Economic choice is the choice of or the decision among alternatives or possibilities. An opportunity cost is the next best choice that is given up when an economic choice is made. Economic decision-making requires comparing both the opportunity cost and the monetary cost of choices with the benefits.

f). Rationale: Economics is an essential aspect of every individuals life; in fact, it is everywhere. Therefore, having an understanding of economics is crucial in helping individuals comprehend

the modern world and make positive decisions that will shape the future. It is our job as teachers to influence economic confidence by educating students on the decisions they will make now and in the future. In result, based on this emphasis of student development as citizens, during this unit on economics, students will: 1. Identify various types of goods and services in present day as well as in the ancient civilizations of Rome, Greece and Mali, 2. Explore the three types of resources (natural, human and capital) and their influence on production in both society today and the ancient civilizations 3. Compare the two concepts of opportunity cost and economic choice- making economic decisions of their own. 4. Identify a purpose for regional/individual specialization and its effects on trade. Students will find this content beneficial to them in understanding why society works the way it does. For example, based on this unit, students will identify that individuals contribute to society through specialization. Rather than trying to be good at everything, we can count on each other to fulfill wants or needs that we cannot fulfill ourselves. Furthermore, the budgeting activity in relation to economic choice and opportunity cost will enlighten students as to why their parents, family or friends are unable to buy them everything they have ever wanted. The essential goal for this activity is to encourage students to save their money and make meaningful and smart economic choices in the future. This unit can also be integrated into other subject areas such as mathematics, science, and reading. In terms of mathematics, students will have the opportunity to work on their addition and subtraction skills during the budgeting activity planned for the lesson on economic choice and opportunity cost. Furthermore, in terms of science, students will have a chance to build on their categorizing skills when identifying the three types of resources. In addition, due to the fact that students learn about the various types of natural resources (renewable and non-renewable) in the third grade, this would be a great way for students to build on past knowledge! Connecting this unit to reading, students will continue to explore economics through childrens books as well as assigned readings from the childrens Time magazines. This integration of all subject areas allows students to apply more meaning to the subject topic of economics. g). Goals Understand the three types of resources (natural, human and capital) and how they influence goods and services. Understand how resources compare and contrast in ancient civilizations and presentday Virginia, based on location. Appreciate (Know) the causes and benefits of specialization that exist in both the small and large scale of society (within the community vs. outside the country). Know that economic decision-making requires comparing both the opportunity cost and the monetary cost of choices with the benefits. Make (Do) smart decisions in purchases based on monetary costs and benefits.

 Classify (Do) various examples of the three types of resources and apply various examples of goods and services influenced by these types of resources. Apply (Do) knowledge of specialization to draw conclusions and make generalizations about why it exists and works. h). Unit Objectives 1. Identify various examples of goods and services in present-day Virginia and the ancient civilizations of Rome, Greece and Mali. 2. Identify the three types of resources and explain how they influence goods and services. 3. Define specialization and explain why it occurs and how it encourages trade. 4. Define economic choice & opportunity cost and explain the decision- making that influences both. i). Virginia Standards of Learning

Economics
3.7 The student will explain how producers in ancient Greece, Rome, and the West African empire of Mali used natural resources, human resources, and capital resources in the production of goods and services. The student will recognize that because people and regions cannot produce everything they want, they specialize in what they do best and trade for the rest. The student will identify examples of making an economic choice and will explain the idea of opportunity cost (what is given up when making a choice).

3.8 3.9

c). Social Studies Content

The overall substance of this unit plan is directly connected with the overarching and crucial topic of economics. Within this unit, lessons will consist of four related subtopics of basic economics in which students will explore the most important essential understandings. The basic concept of economics may come as a review to some students, however for the majority of the class this topic will be foreign and unheard of. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the teacher to fully understand the topic at hand by first noting any prior knowledge and then deciding what needs to be learned in order to provide students with accurate and detailed information. In addition, it is imperative to understand what might be challenging in terms of connecting teacher level knowledge to childrens capacities for understanding this topic. By having a complete grasp on the information pertaining to this unit topic, students too will discover the most essential understandings related to economics. As stated previously, there will be four related subtopics to be addressed during this unit on economics. These subtopics include: Goods & Services- relating to present day and the Ancient Civilizations of Greece, Rome, and Mali; Resources; Opportunity Cost & Economic Choice; Specialization; and Economics in Society. The basis of all economic understanding starts with the concept of goods and services due to the fact that A national economy comprises a countrys production of goods and services (USA.org, 2013). In terms of economics, a good is a commodity, or a physical, tangible item that satisfies some human want or need; or something that people find useful or desirable and make an effort to acquire (WebFinance, Inc, 2013). Similarly, a service is the performance of any duties or work for another; a helpful or professional activity (VirtEd, 2013). In comparing the two, goods and services, goods are tangible whereas services are intangible.

Goods and services varied in the Ancient Civilizations of Rome, Greece and Mali based on the accessibility of resources, in result directly influencing the specialization of each civilization. Specialization is the social phenomenon of individual human beings or organizations each concentrating their productive efforts on a rather limited range of tasks (Johnson, 2005). In terms of these ancient civilizations, due to fact that access of specific resources was limited, civilizations were forced to specialize in specific goods and services and rely on trade to access goods and services inaccessible to their region. In both ancient Rome and Greece, the people found trade with other cultures, including ancient Egypt, by traveling on the Mediterranean Sea. In result goods and services related to both these ancient civilizations had a major focus on ship building, farming, and making pottery. However, ancient Mali which had access to the Niger River, had gold and crops as resources. Furthermore, common trade in Mali consisted of accessing salt in turn for gold. In result, services in this civilization called for farming, mining, trading, and defense (Crabhill, 2005). Relating back to the impact of varied resources on goods and services, there are three types of resources: capital, natural, and human. In the production of goods and services, workers use capital and natural resources. Natural resources are those supplied by planet Earth: air, water, trees, coal, and soil. Capital [resources] include physical capital: tools, machines, technology; intellectual property: copyrights, patents, trademarks; [and] human capital [or human resources]: training, skills, and experience. Therefore, to produce goods and services, business managers organize and direct labor, capital and natural resources in response to market signals (USA.org, 2013). Once these goods and services are presented to the public, it is then the role of the consumer to make meaningful economic decisions and assume opportunity costs.

Consumers face economic decisions when they must choose between goods and services based on the monetary cost of the choices and their benefits. Therefore, the economic choice is, the choice of or decision among alternatives or possibilities (VDOE, 2008). In return, consumers face opportunity costs, which are, the next best choice that is given up when an economic choice is made (VDOE, 2008). Based on the substance of this unit, it is appropriate to state that students are supplied with the knowledge to identify the most important essential understandings about the topic of economics. These understandings include: 1). There are three types of resources: natural, human and capital; these types of resources have influenced the production of goods and services both in the ancient civilizations of Rome, Greece and Mali, and also in present day; 2). People and regions specialize because they cannot produce everything they want; therefore people must trade in order to possess the things they do not have; 3). People make choices because they cannot have everything they want; all choices require giving up something else (opportunity cost). After completing full research in defining the substance of this unit on economics, it is evident that there was little knowledge that I, as the teacher, lacked on this topic. One main component that I needed to further delve into, in order to learn more about this topic, entirely involved the role of economics in the ancient civilizations of Rome, Greece and Mali. In effort to relate how economics has existed in all of time, it was crucial that I had the fundamental understanding of the various resources and trade that existed in each of these regions in order to emphasize the roles of goods & services, resources, and specialization in each of these civilizations. Although it was easy for me to research and comprehend all information related to this unit topic, based on Piagets theory of cognitive development, childrens capacities for

understanding may hesitate students from fully comprehending this information as easily as I did. At the third grade level, students are in the concrete operational stage of cognitive development. During this time, children begin thinking logically about concrete events, but have difficulty understanding abstract or hypothetical concepts (about.com). Therefore, students are cognitively able to identify between goods and services; and further identify between goods and services in the ancient civilizations of Rome, Greece and Mali. However, students may begin to have difficulty when introduced to the topic of specialization and its impact on trade. Although students will be able to understand that specialization is a result of a lack of wide range resource and economic efficiency, they may not be able to grasp the idea in hypothetical terms that we must trade in order to obtain goods and services that we cannot provide using our own resources. Furthermore, it is crucial to understand that students most likely have never had the experience of budgeting or spending their own money, in the same extent as the teacher, therefore it important to take a step back when teaching about economic choice and opportunity cost. One way to meet the needs of students at this stage of cognitive development is to provide definitions for vocabulary in child friendly terms and scenarios that are most meaningful and applicable to the audience of students. In doing so, students will be given the opportunity to apply self to content in an effective way that fosters Powerful Social Studies. Overall, through this unit plan students will be able to grasp the essential understandings of the concepts and generalizations related to economics!

Part III: Knowing Your Students and their Prior Knowledge a). Student knowledge and interests. b). Linguistic, social and academic challenges, resources and supports. Due to the diversity of students that will be taught this unit, it is only necessary to have accommodations for all students in order to create an effective and meaningful learning environment. This diversity of students includes: English Language Learners (ELLs), advanced learners, students with processing delays and restless students. Within this class, there are about five to seven students that are Spanish-speaking, English Language Learners. It is important to understand that the topic of social studies does not allow for many manipulatives to apply. Instead, literacy skills are more essential in the understanding of this content area. One way to accommodate to ELLs is by pre-teaching key vocabulary so that students are given the opportunity to comprehend the text. It would be a good idea to keep the associated, unit vocabulary visible in the classroom at all times during the unit, with pictorial support. By having the keywords and definitions visible at all times, ELLs will be provided further support during each of the lessons. In accommodating these learners, it is also a good idea to have students seated in groups so that they are integrated with native English language speakers. By doing this, ELLs will be able to build on their oral skills necessary for success during this unit and will also be provided with further support from their peers. This support in literacy and oral skills will provide ELLs with the equal opportunity to be successful in reaching the unit goals. Also in this classroom are several advanced learners. In better accommodating their accelerated rate of learning, it would be best to first pretest these students to check what they already know about the coming unit on economics. Based on what these students already know, individual plans will be provided and agreed upon by each of the students. Some accommodating features for these students may include: having them help teach other students- as a tutor or in small groups- and providing an array of reading materials that delve into the topics further or materials that offer various perspectives based on the topic at hand. It is important that gifted students are not ignored, therefore by providing them extensions on the various subtopics of economics, students will be given an appropriate learning experience. Another accommodation during this unit is necessary for special education learners. Specific to the student in my classroom, it is important that organization is provided for the individual and class as a whole. Therefore, in terms of the individual, the student is given numerous binders in which he is able to separate and organize documents in the most fitting way for him. In terms of the class as a whole, it is best that a daily routine is enacted so that the student knows what to expect and is not given any surprises. During individual work, instructions and questions should be read out loud so that the student is able to comprehend the task at hand. Furthermore, during group work, it is important that the student is paired with the same group every time and provided with a clear role in completing the task at hand. Finally, the last of accommodations necessary for this unit is for restless students. In dealing with students who need to be constantly moving around, it is a great idea to supply the student with his or her own area of space. Taping a circle or square around the area of the students desk can do this. By creating this space around the students desk, the restless learner will have the opportunity to move around and do work on the ground or their desk based at their

own discretion. Overall, it is important that accommodations are provided for all types of learners so that an effective and meaningful learning experience is achieved by all.