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7th grade · Social Studies · Unit 9 of 13

Oil & the Modern Economy

Booms, busts and world markets

What your child practices

How oil industrialized Texas, boom-and-bust cycles, the Depression and World War II, urbanization and changing jobs, national and world markets, supply, demand, profit and competition, and the aerospace, medical and computer industries.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: 7.7(A); 7.7(B); 7.7(E); 7.11(A); 7.11(B); 7.12(A); 7.12(B); 7.12(C) · the oil industry and industrialization, boom-and-bust cycles, urbanization, and the Texas economy in national and world markets

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Oil, from Spindletop (1901) on, industrialized Texas but brought boom-and-bust cycles.
  2. Prices follow supply and demand: when demand falls, prices fall.
  3. World War II, cities and new industries like aerospace (NASA in Houston) changed jobs. Many people moved from farms to cities.

Example: If world demand for cotton falls, what will likely happen to cotton prices? Less demand means fewer buyers. Sellers lower prices to sell their crop. Answer: They will fall

Oil & the Modern Economy in Texas

In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 9 of 13 in 7th grade Social Studies, after Cotton, Cattle & Railroads and before Reform & Civil Rights.

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: Texas Education Agency (TEA)

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

    Spindletop (1901) changed Texas because it…

    • ended the Civil War
    • ended ranching
    • began large-scale oil production and new industries
    • made Texas a republic

  2. Question 2

    If world demand for cotton falls, Texas cotton farmers will likely…

    • get lower prices
    • get higher prices
    • see no change
    • stop all farming forever

  3. Question 3

    The computer industry in Texas grew when…

    • railroads reached Galveston
    • vaqueros worked ranches
    • the Republic was founded
    • engineers and companies in Dallas and Austin made chips and computers

  4. Question 4

    During World War II, Texas…

    • stayed out of the war
    • closed its factories
    • built military bases, shipyards and aircraft plants and trained many soldiers
    • became part of Mexico

  5. Question 5

    The Great Depression in Texas brought…

    • full employment
    • falling crop and oil prices, lost jobs and failed banks
    • record wealth
    • a new republic

  6. Question 6

    Why can a bust in one industry spread to others?

    • industries are never connected
    • workers lose jobs and spend less, and banks lose loans
    • busts help everyone
    • prices always rise in a bust

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