Teaching Economics
Are your students interested in choosing a career in Economics?
What if you told them: Suppose you have to make a choice between buying concert tickets and purchasing a new phone because your budget is tight. Studying economics can help them answer questions like this because economics teaches people how to make the best choices when they face limited resources. Private companies must also make difficult choices with limited resources, so students with training in economics can work in many different sectors of the economy. Economics teaches them how to make the best decisions when you cannot have everything!
Hear from our students in the two videos below and choose a vodcast, presentation, activity to supplement your teaching materials. Most of our materials are short clips (2-10 min.) and ready to use. Enjoy!
Invite your Students to Explore Careers in Economics
Lesson Plan Ideas: Career Exploration in Economics
Black School of Business alumni share their knowledge and expertise in the field. They discuss accounting basics, and careers in public and private accounting in a series of vodcasts. Click on the links below to find out more!
| Author | Company | Materials | Source | Time (min.) | Grades | Date | |
| Economist Working for the Government | Patty Moroz | US Department of Housing | Video | Behrend | 16 | 8-12 | 2021 |
| Working in Human Resources | Ted Wisinski | City of San Francisco | Podcast | Behrend | 15 | 8-12 | 2021 |
| Technical Analyst for Indeed | Dylan Rossi | Indeed | Podcast | Behrend | 10 | 8-12 | 2021 |
You may also be interested in inviting a Guest Speaker
Please find below a list of possible presentations that could be conducted in your classroom either virtually or in person by one of our faculty members. To schedule a presentation, click on the green button.
Should You Invest in a College Education? - 
Students will learn how to apply economic principles to make the best choice when they are confronting one of the most consequential decisions in their lives. Economic concepts such as opportunity cost, the present value of lifetime earnings, and investment in human capital will be emphasized. Historical estimates of the benefits of a college degree will also be presented. At the end of the session, students will understand how to compare their “age earnings profile” with and without a college degree to see if investing in college is the best decision for them.
Schedule this presentation
PA Standards:
- Career Awareness and Preparation
- Career Retention and Advancement
Topics:
- Economic Concepts: Opportunity Costs, Lifetime Earnings, and Investment in Human Capital
- Benefits of a College Degree
- Comparing Life Experience with and without a Degree
Appropriate for grades 8-12
Why Do We Trade with Other Countries? - 
Virtually everything you touch or consume each day, from the time you wake up in the morning to the time you go to bed at night, has some connection to the rest of the world.
The sweater you wear, the coffee you drink, the car you drive to school, the computer you use to write your term paper, the smartphone you use to text your friends – all of these items would not be as readily available if they were not for international trade.
Students will learn the underlying reasons why countries trade, the main attributes of contemporary global trade, the consequences of this trade, and policies governments use to influence the extent and patterns of trade. At the end of the session, students will know where to find data and information on the international trade for virtually any country in the world.
Schedule this presentation
PA Standards:
- Career Awareness and Preparation
- Economic Interdependence
- Identify and define imports, exports, inter-regional trade and international trade.
- Understand how trade impacts a society’s standard of living.
- Understand how the location of resources affects economic patterns.
- Understand how individual consumers participate in the global production of goods and services.
- Understand how government policies influence trade.
Appropriate for grades 8-12
Materials Needed/Requirements: Students will have to have access to a computer with an internet connection.
Economic Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic - 
The COVID-19 global pandemic has wreaked havoc in the lives of ordinary citizens across the world. In addition to the tremendous toll in terms of human lives lost, the pandemic has created significant economic disruption in the U.S., including unemployment and lost earnings for workers, substantially diminished revenues for private businesses, and lost output for the national economy. Students will learn how to apply economic concepts to estimate the economic impact the pandemic has had, both on the U.S. national economy and on the Erie local economy.
Students will also learn about historical comparisons of the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic impact with that of the Great Recession of 2007-2009 and the Great Depression of 1929-1933.
At the end of the session, students will know where to find data and information on the economic dimensions of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Schedule this presentation
PA Standards:
- Markets and the Functions of Governments
- Scarcity and Choice
- Work and Earnings
- Identify the economic concept the COVID-19 pandemic has had.
- Explain the importance of the essential workplace skills: communication.t
- Understand its impact on the local economy.
Materials Needed/Requirements: Students will have to have access to a computer with an internet connection.
