Adam Smith described self-interest and competition in a market economy as the "invisible hand" that guides the economy. This episode of "The Economic Lowdown" explains these concepts and their importance to our understanding of the economic system.

Students listen to a story and answer questions about a family in Central or South America that barters to get the ingredients for chicken sancocho, a kind of stew. The students complete sentences that record the various trades carried out by the family to obtain all of the ingredients for the sancocho. They also participate in trading activities that illustrate money's advantages over barter.

In this lesson, students learn that saving is essential to economic well-being, especially in times of extreme economic downturn. They read Saving Strawberry Farm, a story about a Depression-era family attempting to save a neighbor's farm by waging a penny auction. Students hear about the lack of goods and services available and the high rate of joblessness during this terrible time. They simulate a bank run to see how even those with savings were affected. Finally, they learn that savings are safe in banks today.

In this video from the Explore Economics series, kids learn about income, spending, saving, and savings goals. They are encouraged to save for the future. They draw a picture of a savings goals and are encouraged to post the picture near their piggy banks. They learn a song about saving and spending.

Growing up means making big decisions, and decisions about college are among the most important. The second episode of the Continuing Feducation Video Series, Saving for College, follows high school student Martina as she learns about the basics: investing in human capital, factors to consider when choosing a college, and ways to fund higher education.

In this lesson, students read about incidences of racial discrimination and how those incidences were met with methods of protests. They engage in an activity that matches programs for low-income people with the type of economic inequity the program addresses and observe an activity simulating tax payments and transfers.

Students listen to a story about sheep that go shopping for a gift. Unfortunately, they don't have quite enough money and must barter wool to obtain the gift they want. The students discuss what barter is and suggest other solutions to the sheep's problems. Students earn cotton balls and pennies for work that they do. They use the cotton balls to decorate a sheep and use extra cotton balls and pennies to buy additional decorations for their sheep.

In this lesson, students learn about human resources, productivity, human capital, and physical capital. They participate in three rounds of a reasoning activity. From round to round they receive training and tools to help them improve their reasoning ability and thus increase their productivity. Students will then listen to a story about how the Empire State Building was built and identify examples of key concepts mentioned or shown in the book.

The familiar magnetic stripe credit cards used for decades in the United States are being phased out. Read about the new smart-chip credit cards, designed to reduce fraud and improve security, in the March 2016 issue of Page One Economics: Focus on Finance.

Spending patterns change over time because of changes in income, education, the structure of our families, and technology. The April 2018 issue of Page One Economics: Focus on Finance addresses how phone technology has changed our lives and our budgets.

The life cycle model shows that saving for the future requires people to limit consumption during their working years and save so they will have a "nest egg" to draw on during retirement. Recent changes in how people save for retirement have shifted some responsibility from firms to individuals. Read more in the November 2014 issue.

tudents learn about scarcity, alternatives, choices and opportunity costs by reading So Few of Me. The class participates in an activity to help Perdita figure out her morning schedule at summer camp. The students identify Perdita's alternatives, choose activities for her and identify the opportunity costs of those choices. Then, students work in groups to make choices and identify opportunity costs for Juan's after-school schedule.

Soar to Savings provides tips for saving and describes the impact of individual saving on the overall economy. As a result of this course, users will have a better understanding of opportunity cost, interest, down payments, and financial investment.

What skills do you need to develop for future success? Academics for sure, but soft skills are also important. Learn more about soft skills, the labor force, and unemployment in the May 2016 issue of Page One Economics: Focus on Finance.

In this lesson, students read the story of Sojourner Truth and discuss events that took place during her lifetime. Among these were the abolition of slavery and the effects of policies pertaining to abolition. Students will determine the costs, benefits, and unintended consequences of policies, beginning with an analysis of costs, benefits, and unintended consequences of a policy that would allow them to take two years off of school before advancing to middle school. They will analyze the effects of policies noted in the book and continue the analysis by examining government policies.

In this lesson, students learn about the act of saving and how the accumulation of money saved is termed savings. They are read a story about a family that saves and how savings can be used to make a large purchase the family would not ordinarily be able to make. They recognize that there is an opportunity cost to saving, as well as an opportunity cost to spending.

Students make a choice between a cookie and an ice cream cone and state the opportunity cost of their decisions. They then listen to the story Something from Nothing and identify all the items Grandpa makes his grandson Joseph, beginning with a blanket. Using a sheet of paper that represents Joseph's blanket, students cut out the various items Grandpa made and identify the opportunity cost for each item they cut out.

In this lesson, students participate in a market activity in which a market for cake ingredients is set up to demonstrate the process of using a spending budget. They listen to the story Splat the Cat Takes the Cake and answer comprehension questions through a student-led Q&A. By participating in the opening market activity and reading the story, students use what they have read and learned to conclude that the ingredients Splat used were purchased with money that was earned. They participate in a read-aloud activity to identify specific long-vowel sounds and earn Splat bucks. They use the Splat bucks to purchase materials to decorate a cake and track their spending.

Stock market mutual funds offer investors diversified stock market portfolios, but there are several types. Actively managed funds attempt to “beat” the market by using research, forecasts, and judgment to pick stocks with the best growth prospects. Passively managed funds attempt to replicate the market by buying a representative sample of the stocks on a specific stock market index. Which to choose? The April 2016 issue of Page One Economics explains the efficient market hypothesis and how it might influence your investment decisions.

How do we know how many people are unemployed? Why are they unemployed? What can be done to get people back to work? Students get the answers to these and other questions in The Story of Unemployment, including why education might be the best way to avoid unemployment in their futures.