Economics

Government plays an important role in our private enterprise system—but how? This LAP explains how government’s role in business has changed and expanded over the years, as well as how government regulates and protects businesses. LAPs (Learning Activity Packages) are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a student handout (with CopyIT! permission) that includes information about government and business, a (So...

From farms to factories, every business must consider how the law of diminishing returns affects its productivity. This LAP explains the stages of production, marginal revenue and marginal cost, and how companies use the law of diminishing returns to make production decisions. LAPs (Learning Activity Packages) are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a student handout (with CopyIT! permission) that includes...

To be successful in international trade, businesses must pay attention to all aspects of culture, both organizational and global. On Top of the World (Impact of Culture on Global Trade) will help you teach your students about the cultural differences and social issues that affect business, as well as practical ways that businesses can address these differences to keep things flowing smoothly.  LAPs (Learning Activity Packages) are comprehensive instructional packages that include all...

What are the types of businesses, and how do they fulfill their duty to contribute to the well-being of society? This LAP explains how businesses are responsible to their product users, their communities, their employees, and themselves. LAPs (Learning Activity Packages) are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a student handout (with CopyIT! permission) that includes information about business and society, a...

Just as the human body needs to accomplish certain activities to live and maintain health, companies need to engage in primary business activities to survive—and thrive. In this LAP, students will discover the core business activities of financial analysis, human resources management, information management, marketing, operations, and strategic management. Students will also learn about the interdependence of these activities and how they shift and adapt during changing circumstances. LAPs...

Individuals aren’t the only ones who are responsible for paying taxes—businesses pay them, too! Teach your students why businesses pay taxes, what types of taxes they pay, and where their tax dollars go. Pay Your Share (Business Taxes) also covers different tax structures, business deductions, and the role of the IRS. LAPs (Learning Activity Packages) are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a student handout...

The effects of unemployment are felt by individuals, families, communities, and the nation as a whole. Teach your students about the types, causes, and costs of unemployment. LAPs (Learning Activity Packages) are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a student handout (with CopyIT! permission) that includes information about the impact of unemployment rates, a (So What?) discussion of why it's important to learn,...

Inflation doesn’t just affect businesses—it affects consumers, too. In Up, Up, and Away (Inflation), students will discover the impact of inflation both on the economy and in their own lives. They will explore the pros and cons of inflation levels and learn how governments attempt to control inflation rates. In the activities, students will delve into inflation rates over time, learning how inflation has impacted the prices of common products and services throughout the years. LAPs (Learning...

Nearly every day, huge amounts of currency are traded all over the world. The foreign exchange market depends on exchange rates to operate. In this LAP, students will learn more about these rates—what they are, what they mean, who uses them, and how they’re determined. In the corresponding activities, students will explore factors affecting current exchange rates. LAPs (Learning Activity Packages) are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented...

Well-planned organizational design is crucial to the success of any business. In Designed to Work (Organizational Design of Businesses), students will learn the importance of structure within an organization and discover the many types of organizational design used by successful companies today. In the Gray Zone, students will evaluate a situation in which a manager potentially abuses their authority within an organization’s hierarchy. LAPs (Learning Activity Packages) are comprehensive...

The world is getting “smaller” all the time. Teach your students how globalization affects businesses and ways that businesses can venture into foreign markets. LAPs (Learning Activity Packages) are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a student handout (with CopyIT! permission) that includes information about the global business environment, a (So What?) discussion of why it's important to learn, ideas (Make it...

Do your students understand that businesses are impacted by factors beyond the businesses’ control? Teach your students about external factors in the business environment and what smart businesses do to respond to environmental changes appropriately. LAPs (Learning Activity Packages) are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a student handout (with CopyIT! permission) that includes information about factors...

What to do in business situations is not always black or white, right or wrong. Help students understand the critical need for business ethics when the right course of action is not clear. LAPs (Learning Activity Packages) are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a student handout (with CopyIT! permission) that includes information about business ethics, a (So What?) discussion of why it's important to learn,...

Change is inevitable! Teach your students more about the current business environment and the strategies that smart organizations use to survive and thrive in the midst of rapid change. LAPs (Learning Activity Packages) are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a student handout (with CopyIT! permission) that includes information about adapting to markets, a (So What?) discussion of why it's important to learn,...

Writing down everything that you want isn’t easy. That’s because we all have unlimited, competing wants, but our resources are limited. As a result, we must learn to make wise economic choices. Economics is all about decision-making—determining how to get the most satisfaction with the fewest resources. LAPs (Learning Activity Packages) are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a student handout (with CopyIT!...

What’s the difference between economic and noneconomic wants? What are goods and services? How can goods and services be classified? This LAP answers these questions and explains even more about economic goods and services. LAPs (Learning Activity Packages) are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a student handout (with CopyIT! permission) that includes information about economic goods and services, a (So...

Economic resources (factors of production) enable businesses to produce the goods and services that consumers want. Regardless of a business’s product or size, a significant consideration affecting the business’s success is its ability to choose and use the best combination of natural resources, human resources, and capital goods. Use this LAP to help your students learn about the different types of resources and their limitations, how to respond to limited resources, and why economic...

Businesses have a lot to do with utility—they can create it, and they can enhance it. That’s why it’s so important for your students to learn what utility is and how businesses influence it. Teach them with Use It (Economic Utility)! This LAP explains the four types of utility, as well as what businesses can do to give their products more utility. LAPs (Learning Activity Packages) are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP...

Your students might think they understand supply and demand, but do they know about buyer’s and seller’s markets, achieving equilibrium, and elastic and inelastic demand? It’s the Law (Supply and Demand) will teach them all these concepts and more! They’ll learn all about how supply and demand work together and affect every business. LAPs (Learning Activity Packages) are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a...

Why do we pay what we do for the things we buy? Help your students understand the importance of price, the functions of relative prices (information, incentives, and rationing), and the impact of supply and demand on the prices we pay for products and services. LAPs (Learning Activity Packages) are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a student handout (with CopyIT! permission) that includes information about...

Each of the four basic economic systems—traditional, communist, socialist, and market—has its own problems and its own way of answering three important economic questions. Help students understand the challenges that economic systems face, the decisions that they must make, and ways in which these decisions impact everyday life. LAPs (Learning Activity Packages) are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a student...

Do your students know the characteristics that make up the private enterprise system? Do they even know what private enterprise is? With People Power (The Private Enterprise System) you can help students learn the benefits and disadvantages of the private enterprise system, as well as the effects it has on the people who live in it. LAPs (Learning Activity Packages) are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a...

Owning your own business is risky, but if you do it right, you’ll receive something for your efforts: profit. The financial gains realized from profit provide business owners with a real incentive to build successful businesses. Use Risk Rewarded to teach your students about types of profit, the benefits received from profit, the external and internal factors that affect profit, as well as ways to gain more profit. LAPs (Learning Activity Packages) are comprehensive instructional packages that...

Your students take risks all the time, but do they realize how to translate their everyday risk experiences into the business world? If not, LAP-EC-911—Lose, Win, or Draw (Business Risk) can show them how! Use this LAP to teach your students the types of risk that businesses face, as well as how to handle them. LAPs (Learning Activity Packages) are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a student handout (with...

Competition isn’t a bad thing—it turns the wheels of our private enterprise economy! This LAP explains the types of competition, the four main types of market structures, and how competition benefits businesses, customers, and society. LAPs (Learning Activity Packages) are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a student handout (with CopyIT! permission) that includes information about competition, a (So What?)...

Productivity involves working hard and keeping busy, but there’s more to it than that. What can businesses and individuals do to improve productivity? And what will get in the way of productivity? Help your students learn the answers to these questions, as well as the ways that productivity affects businesses, workers, consumers, society, and the economy with Make the Most of It (Productivity). LAPs (Learning Activity Packages) are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements...

Teach your students about the advantages and disadvantages of specialization and division of labor, the impact of specialization on businesses and employees, and the relationship between job scope and depth. LAPs (Learning Activity Packages) are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a student handout (with CopyIT! permission) that includes information about specialization and division of labor, a (So What?)...

Before the Industrial Revolution, many workers labored for low wages in poor working conditions. Organized labor began when workers joined together to demand better treatment. Teach your students what labor unions are, how they negotiate with employers, and what effects they have on employees and businesses. LAPs (Learning Activity Packages) are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a student handout (with...

Do your students know where their stuff comes from? Chances are their favorite products have traveled a great distance to get to them. In this LAP, students will discover the impact of globalization—both on their everyday lives and on the buying and selling of goods across the world. They will learn why countries engage in global trade, the economic benefits of global trade, and the many barriers to trade. In The Gray Zone, students will examine the ethicality of sweatshop labor, an important...

What is gross domestic product and how can it be used to measure the health of economies across the world? Use LAP-EC-917 to teach your students all about gross domestic product, how to calculate and use it, and its advantages and flaws for governments and businesses. LAPs (Learning Activity Packages) are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a student handout (with CopyIT! permission) that includes information...

Explore the unpredictable business cycle and its expansions, contractions, peaks, and troughs with your students. Examine the difference between a recession and a depression, and help your students learn about the up-and-down business cycle, its phases, and internal and external factors that cause booms and busts. LAPs (Learning Activity Packages) are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a student handout (with...