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5th grade · Social Studies · Unit 11 of 12

Economies & Trade

Economic systems, resources and trade

What your child practices

Traditional, market and command economies, needs, wants and scarcity, what countries of the Americas make and sell, imports and exports, and why countries depend on each other through trade.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 5.7a; 5.7b; 5.7c · traditional, market and command economies, economic activities across the Americas, and trade between interdependent countries

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Every economy answers: what to produce, how to produce it, and for whom.
  2. Traditional economies follow custom; market economies let buyers and sellers decide prices.
  3. Needs are things you must have to live. Countries trade resources, like Venezuela's oil.

Example: In a market economy, who mostly decides prices? Market means people buy and sell freely. So buyers and sellers decide. Answer: buyers and sellers

Economies & Trade in New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 11 of 12 in 5th grade Social Studies, after Governments of the Americas and before The Americas Through Time.

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: New York State Education Department (NYSED)

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

    The USMCA trade agreement (which replaced NAFTA) is between…

    • Brazil, Peru and Chile
    • Cuba and Jamaica
    • The United States, Mexico and Canada
    • Spain and Portugal

  2. Question 2

    In a market economy, prices and production are mostly decided by…

    • The weather
    • One king
    • Buyers and sellers
    • The army

  3. Question 3

    In a traditional economy, people…

    • Buy everything online
    • Let the government decide everything
    • Make choices based on custom and what families have long done
    • Trade only in stock markets

  4. Question 4

    Venezuela has huge reserves of…

    • Coffee
    • Wool
    • Oil
    • Diamonds

  5. Question 5

    Canada exports a lot of…

    • Lumber, oil and wheat
    • Copper and silver from Peru
    • Sugarcane and cacao
    • Bananas and coffee

  6. Question 6

    Opportunity cost is…

    • The price of a ticket
    • A tax on imports
    • Money saved in a bank
    • What you give up when you make a choice

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