Social Studies - Economics

One of the Social Studies units for second grade is focused on economics.  Students learn many vocabulary words including: needs and wants, producers and consumers, goods and services, tax, volunteer, etc.   

These can be tricky words for second grade students.  So, we work to do various activiites to help them understand these concepts.  I created worksheets where students can fill out the definitions of the words.  This helps the students remember what the words mean. I also showed video clips that helped the students understand these terms.  

Here a few of the links: 

Chocolate Factory 

Needs and Wants

Producers, Consumers, Goods, and Service 

Some things I showed included: a chocolate factory video to help students learn about a factory.  I also showed farmers working in the field.  I had students bring in items from home and we discussed whether they were needs or wants.  We also discussed if they were a service or a good.

Students also learned about a savings plan.  We talked about the importance of saving.  I bought each child a small container to place their money in.  They loved these! 

After we learned about the various vocabulary words, I had students focus on creating a mini economy store.  This was their favorite part! I thought it was a great way to combine everything we learned.  

Students researching and starting to work on their store. 

A student making an item for their store. 

Some students chose to sell a service while other students chose to sell goods.  Their ideas were adorable and creative! We then took turns shopping each day. I started each student with $10. It was their responsibility to keep track of their money and purchase what they could afford.  I also charged each store rent.  This helped them see that do not get everything for free.  

One store was a bean bag toss game!

Another store sold cards! They made them a Valentine theme.  

This is the craft store.  Students would come and make a craft! 

This was a puppet show.  They were so cute! They wrote scripts and everything. 

In the pack you will find a lesson plan outline for the unit, as well as the worksheets I created.  I've also included the test that I gave at the end of the unit to check for understanding.  You will find it by clicking here!

I hope you find this useful!  :)