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9th grade · Social Studies · Unit 7 of 7

Markets & the Economy

Supply, demand and economic indicators

What your child practices

Economics: supply and demand, shortages and surpluses, GDP, inflation and unemployment, the Federal Reserve and fiscal policy, specialization, comparative advantage and trade, and economic systems, with examples from Maine.

Maine Learning Results learning standard: Economics; Global Connections · markets, financial institutions, economic indicators and policy, and economic systems around the world

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. When price rises, quantity demanded falls and quantity supplied rises.
  2. A poor harvest cuts supply and raises the price.
  3. Command economies are run by government, market economies by buyers and sellers; most countries, including the US, are mixed.

Example: A poor wild blueberry harvest would most likely do what to the price? A poor harvest means fewer blueberries to sell. Less supply pushes the price up. Answer: raise it

Markets & the Economy in Maine

In the Maine Learning Results, this is unit 7 of 7 in 9th grade Social Studies, after Money Smarts.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Maine Department of Education

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    A recession is…

    • a significant decline in economic activity lasting months
    • a rise in prices
    • a new tax

  2. Question 2

    A tariff is…

    • a type of bank account
    • a tax on imported goods
    • a loan to a business

  3. Question 3

    In a command economy, the main economic decisions are made by…

    • individual consumers
    • small businesses
    • the government

  4. Question 4

    Which is an example of a public good?

    • a candy bar
    • a lighthouse
    • a private car

  5. Question 5

    Specialization means…

    • focusing on producing what you do best
    • making everything yourself
    • refusing to trade

  6. Question 6

    Why might a government subsidize a crop or industry?

    • to keep it running or lower its prices
    • to raise its taxes
    • to stop people from buying it

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