After reading a story about a supermarket, students examine the change in supermarket jobs due to the advances in technology. Students observe two demonstrations. One simulates the checkout process at a grocery store using a cash register, and the other uses scanners that are in stores today. Students conclude which method is faster and more accurate and why.

The seventh episode of our podcast series discusses the supply side of the market – the law of supply, slope of the curve and the difference between a change in supply and a change in quantity supplied.

This video is 4 minutes long and will cover standard EPF.3 (a). Student will be able to identify the parts of a supply curve and what causes the shift in the curve.

All of the videos that are part of the FED of St. Louis Economic Lowdown series have an accompanying teacher portal with handouts to accompany each video:

To provide students with online questions following this video, register your class through the Econ Lowdown Teacher Portal at https://www.econlowdown.org/

This series of slides aids students in reviewing the determinants of supply and demand, provides an exercise for them to choose which of the curves shift and why, and allows them to determine which curve will shift given a market event.

Supply and demand are among the most fundamental concepts in economics. An understanding of these topics helps students better understand the economic world in which they live. This course includes three interactive lessons that introduce supply, demand and market equilibrium. This course uses a fictitious chocolate market to help explain the concepts.

Use these slides to demonstrate the shifting tax burden and changes in tax revenue and deadweight loss when taxes are applied. Students have the opportunity to identify tax burden, revenue, and deadweight loss when slopes of supply and demand change.

Refund anticipation checks are often offered by tax preparers as a way to get your tax refund faster than normal—especially if you don’t have a bank account. Also, some check-cashing stores and payday lenders are able to issue refund anticipation loans. This video takes a look at the costs of these options and suggests some cheaper alternatives.

In this multidisciplinary lesson, students work in small groups ("work crews") while participating in a production activity. Students learn about competition, division of labor, and incentives. They also demonstrate how division of labor and incentives help lead to greater productivity.

The study of economics is built on the foundation of three very important concepts: scarcity, choice, and opportunity cost. In this episode of the Economic Lowdown video series, economic education Coordinator Scott Wolla uses these three concepts to explain why there is no such thing as a free lunch.

Students observe the teacher produce a paper taco and then produce their own paper tacos. Students learn about the productive resources and intermediate goods used to make final goods and services. They listen to the book Tortilla Factory and identify the productive resources and intermediate goods used to produce corn tortillas. Students classify the resources used to produce their paper tacos.

Modern economies rely heavily on financial intermediaries to channel funds between borrowers and lenders. In this issue, the role of traditional banking is outlined and a parallel system—shadow banking—is explored.

U.S. taxpayers expect the government to be a careful steward of taxpayer money. The October 2017 issue of Page One Economics: Focus on Finance explains how the Treasury Offset Program recovers taxpayer money from people who have received government benefits in error or by fraud and also recovers delinquent child support.

Students listen to the book Uncle Jed's Barbershop, about an African-American barber who, despite significant setbacks, saves enough money to buy his own barbershop. From the story, students learn about saving, savings goals, opportunity cost, and segregation. The students participate in a card game to further investigate what it takes to reach a savings goal.

Understanding Bonds is the fourth video in the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis series, "No-Frills Money Skills." The video host employs high-tech tools to foil Miss Information in her attempts to misguide investors. The video provides viewers with information about government bonds, corporate bonds, coupon and non-coupon bonds, and the potential risk and return of investments.

Understanding Car Insurance: Paving the Way is the seventh video in the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis series, "No-Frills Money Skills." This episode uses a radio talk show format to explain various aspects of car insurance. From the responses to questions from callers, students learn several key concepts and terms related to car insurance. The content for these videos was reviewed by members of the Missouri Insurance Education Foundation.

Episode 1 of the Continuing Feducation Video Series, Understanding How a FICO Credit Score is Determined, provides a short overview of credit scores—how they are determined and why they are important.

The fifth episode covers the basics of unemployment—how it is defined, how it is measured, and how it is categorized into three types. A "gameshow" quiz winds up the nine-minute lesson.

In this video (7 minutes long) student will learn what unemployment is, how it is measured and the different types of employment that exist. This video will help with mastery of standard EPF. 5(b) and review of standards EPF. 2(g).

Today, every state has an unemployment insurance program. This provides some income to qualified, unemployed workers who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. But how did these programs begin and how does the federal-state partnership work? The December 2020 issue of Page One Economics®: Focus on Finance describes this partnership that began in 1935.

Students will determine the costs, benefits, and unintended consequences of policies, beginning with analysis of a policy that would allow them to take two years off of school between grades 10 and 11. They will then analyze the costs, benefits, and unintended consequences of various government policies.