Strand

Economics 

Standard 1: Understand that scarcity and choice impact economic activity of individuals, families, communities, and nations

Topic

Opportunity Costs and Trade-offs

Benchmark SS.12E.1.1

Describe how individuals, families, communities, and/or nations use marginal costs and marginal benefits to make economic decisions

Sample Performance Assessment (SPA)

The student: Uses current personal or family budgets, goals, and values to describe how marginal costs and marginal benefits are related to economic decisions.

Topic

Productivity

Benchmark SS.12E.1.2

Identify the factors of production (e.g., land, labor, capital) and explain how these factors influence the production of goods and services

Sample Performance Assessment (SPA)

The student: Identifies the factors of production in coffee manufacturing and explains how these factors affect its production.

Strand

Economics 

Standard 2: Understand markets and the role of supply and demand in determining price and resource allocation

Topic

Role and Function of Markets

Benchmark SS.12E.2.1

Explain the laws of supply and demand and illustrate how their determinants affect the supply or demand curve (e.g., how changes in technology or price of inputs affect supply; how consumer income, tastes, and preferences affect demand)

Sample Performance Assessment (SPA)

The student: Uses the laws of supply and demand to explain how changes in the price of oil may affect the supply of alternative sources of energy.

Topic

Role and Function of Markets

Benchmark SS.12E.2.2

Explain how money makes it easier for countries to borrow, save, invest, and compare the value of goods and services

Sample Performance Assessment (SPA)

The student: Explains how nations with different currencies are able to buy and sell goods and services globally.

Strand

Economics 

Standard 3: Understand the sources of income and growth in a market-based economy

Topic

Economic Growth

Benchmark SS.12E.3.1

Describe the characteristics of an entrepreneur (e.g., how he or she accepts business risks for profit) and explain the role of entrepreneurs in a market-based economy (e.g., how they introduce new products and production methods)

Sample Performance Assessment (SPA)

The student: Describes a local entrepreneur or a historically significant entrepreneur and explains how his or her innovation or methods of production contributed to the growth of the community or nation.

Topic

Economic Growth

Benchmark SS.12E.3.2

Explain how stock markets function, what influences their performance, and how they impact national economies

Sample Performance Assessment (SPA)

The student: Explains the impact of a bankruptcy of a major corporation on the performance of the stock market.

Strand

Economics 

Standard 4: Understand how to use personal economic decision-making to maximize the net benefits of personal income

Topic

Personal Economic Decisions

Benchmark SS.12E.4.1

Analyze the types of personal economic decisions and choices that individuals make (e.g., determining how to budget money; establishing short- and long-term financial goals and plans related to income, saving, and spending; utilizing loans and credit cards; considering investment options)

Sample Performance Assessment (SPA)

The student: Develops a financially solvent retirement plan for people in various careers.

Topic

Economic Reasoning

Benchmark SS.12E.4.2

Identify how economic reasoning is used to make to make personal decisions (e.g., purchasing a car; deciding on a college, career choices)

Sample Performance Assessment (SPA)

The student: Identifies the trade-offs and opportunity costs of buying a new car.

Strand

Economics 

Standard 5: Understand the various economic institutions of a market-based economy

Topic

Economic Institutions

Benchmark SS.12E.5.1

Explain the significance of economic institutions (e.g., the banking system and its interaction with business firms and consumers; the function of financial and securities markets; the impact of labor unions on the American economy) in a market-based economy

Sample Performance Assessment (SPA)

The student: Explains the importance of banking and how it serves as a medium of exchange in a market-based economy.

Topic

Competition

Benchmark SS.12E.5.2

Explain the nature and role of competition in a market-based economy (e.g., the determination of market price through competition among buyers and sellers; conditions that make industries more or less competitive; the effect of domestic and international competition in a market-based economy)

Sample Performance Assessment (SPA)

The student: Describes how the number of sellers of a similar good or service in a market affects the quality, quantity, and price of those goods or services.

Strand

Economics 

Standard 6: Understand the national economy and economic policies

Topic

National Economy

Benchmark SS.12E.6.1

Explain various measures of economic health (e.g., the Gross Domestic Product [GDP], consumer price indexes [CPI], personal income, disposable income, rates of inflation and deflation, unemployment rates)

Sample Performance Assessment (SPA)

The student: Uses various measures of economic health (such as GDP, CPI, income statistics) to assess the economic health of the nation.

Topic

Economic Policies

Benchmark SS.12E.6.2

Explain the various roles government plays in a market-based economy, including monetary policy, market regulation and oversight, and fiscal policy

Sample Performance Assessment (SPA)

The student: Explains how monetary and fiscal policy are used to control inflation.

Topic

Revenue

Benchmark SS.12E.6.3

Explain major sources of government revenue (e.g., personal income and payroll taxes, sales taxes, property taxes) at the federal, state, and local level

Sample Performance Assessment (SPA)

The student: Uses data on taxes to explain government revenue sources.

Strand

Economics 

Standard 7: Understand the principles of global trade and economic development

Topic

Characteristics of Global Trade

Benchmark SS.12E.7.1

Explain the characteristics of global trade (e.g., tariffs, foreign exchange market, trade agreements, balance of payments, specialization)

Sample Performance Assessment (SPA)

The student: Explains how the foreign exchange market affects the cost of an imported skateboard.

Topic

Economic Development

Benchmark SS.12E.7.2

Explain how global trade affects a nation's economic development (e.g., increases in consumer choice, standards of living, production efficiencies)

Sample Performance Assessment (SPA)

The student: Explains how trade agreements affect economic development in partner nation(s).

Topic

Economic Development

Benchmark SS.12E.7.3

Compare the advantages and disadvantages of economic systems (i.e., traditional, command, market-based)

Sample Performance Assessment (SPA)

The student: Compares a capitalist nation to a communist nation in terms of economic advantages and disadvantages.