"Measuring Your State's Economy"
Introduction
Students have learned how economists use key statistics and
indicators to measure the health of the economy. In this lesson,
students will look at one of the federal agencies charged
with keeping tabs on the figures—the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Lesson Description
Students will use information from the Bureau of Economic
Analysis Web site to learn about their state's gross state
product and other information. They can browse the site to
collect information from the "BEARFACTS" and "Personal Income
and Per Capita Personal Income" categories. Students will
answer four questions and then use what they have learned
to create a circle graph showing industries that contributed
to the gross state product. Previous
Knowledge Expected
gross state product: total dollar value of all final
goods, services, and structures produced in one year within
a state's borders Applied
Content Standards (from the National Council on Economic Education)
Standard 18: A nation's overall levels of income, employment,
and prices are determined by the interaction of spending and
production decisions made by all households, firms, government
agencies, and others in the economy. Instructional Objectives - Students will understand the figures that go into creating
the gross state product.
- Students will learn the amount of their state's latest
gross state product and what industries comprise that figure.
- Students will use this information to create a circle graph
of the industries in their state that contributed to the gross
state product.
Student
Web Activity Answers
1-4. Students' answers will vary.
5. Students' circle graphs will vary. Ask students to use different colors for the categories and to remember to label
and provide a key for their circle graphs. | 
