Grades 9-12
Content Partner
Grade 9-12
,
Lesson
Public Goods and Asteroid Defense
Objective
Students will be able to:
- Understand the characteristics of public goods.
- Be able to explain why asteroid defense is unlikely to be provided by the private sector.
- Be able to explain why markets on their own cannot allocate public goods well and why that is a problem.
- Understand the principles of rivalry & non-rivalry, as well as excludability & non-excludability as it relates to the types of goods.
- Be able to identify examples of goods and services that are rival/non-rival as well as excludable/non-excludable.
- Understand the different types of goods, including private goods, club goods, common goods, and public goods.
Standards
Concepts
In this economics lesson, students will learn about public goods.
Description
The subject of public goods is best taught with examples. But why start with the same old examples, like national defense, which put students to sleep? This creative lesson plan jump starts with the (surprisingly real) danger of an asteroid hitting the earth! If this is such a real danger, why aren’t we better prepared for it? The answer is that asteroid defense is a public good. The lesson plan then uses a mix of unique examples, videos, podcasts, and a fun classroom activity to cover the four types of goods: public, private, club, and common.
Related Resources
In this lesson, updated with 2023 statistics, students learn about the challenges of the federal debt and play the Fiscal...
Key Concepts: Budget Deficits and Public Debt, Fiscal Policy, Roles of Government
Grades 9-12
Deceptive Advertising: Crossing the Line - Updated!
Businesses use advertising to tell consumers about the goods and services they are selling. Businesses hope that their advertisements will...
Key Concepts: Advertising, Business Costs and Revenues, Economic Institutions…
Lesson
Grades 9-12
Workplace Safety for Teens
In this economics activity, students will examine workforce safety issues for teens.
Key Concepts: Employment and Unemployment, Roles of Government
20 mins
Activity
Grades 9-12
Examining How Political Beliefs Influence Economic Decisions
In this economics activity, students will analyze a political cartoon to examine how beliefs influence economic decisions.
Key Concepts: Fiscal Policy, Roles of Government
20 mins
Activity