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Award-winning teacher-developed projects and courses in economics are described. The projects are designed for use in grades K-12. Descriptions indicate grade level, project background, time allotment, objectives, activities, and evaluation. Chapter 1 suggests ways to teach economic concepts in grades K-3. The projects included a year-long study of two agricultural products of Arkansas--chickens and rice--and the effect these two products have on students' daily lives, teaching economics through an Easter theme, a unit about money, and a third-grade lesson on common property resources. In the projects described in the second chapter, students in grades 4-6 study about productive resources from prehistoric to modern times, international trade, and interdependence, and create their own country. The junior high projects of the third chapter deal with lifestyles, world trade, and a class developed money system. Projects for the senior-high level in chapter 4 focus on capitalism and entrepreneurs and involve students in reading utopian literature. The concluding chapter describes projects that fit into what is called an "open category." Included are strategies for using economics in a media center, an economics curriculum guide, an application of the Program for Effective Teaching (PET) to a system-wide approach to teaching economics, and a description of classroom materials developed to teach about the economics of the American food system. (RM)

Eighteen award winning, teacher-developed programs, projects, courses, and materials in economic education are presented in condensed versions. The case study projects are designed to be used in primary, intermediate, junior high, senior high, and college, and are organized into five chapters by grade level. Chapter I suggests ways to teach economic concepts in grades K-3 through activities using a minisociety simulation, a classroom corporation, discussion of economic roles throughout history, and building a house. Chapter II, for grades 4-6, focuses on neighborhood economics, comparison of interdependence in bees' systems with that of humans, the role of transportation in society, and the economics of running a school. Chapter III offers projects on the relationship of economic and political decisions through use of a simulation, a work experience painting classrooms, a study of market economy, and career education for junior high school students. Chapter IV, for high school, teaches practical economics to low-income students, some of them slow learners; economic concepts within a western civilization context; and consumer education. The concluding chapter, for college students, focuses on economic concepts and issues analysis through studies of the market system. An appendix at the end of each chapter provides brief overviews of additional courses and programs in economic education. For each case study, information is presented on grade level, project background, time allotment, objectives, activities, and evaluation. (CK)

Sixteen award-winning teacher-developed programs, projects, courses, and materials in economics education are presented. The projects are designed for use in primary, intermediate, junior high, and senior high schools and are organized into four chapters. Chapter I suggests ways to teach economic concepts in grades K-3. Projects include an auction conducted by students, a classroom toystore in which items are purchased with play money, a field trip based on the story, "The Little Red Hen," and a year-long third grade project for teaching basic economic ideas through communication. Chapter II, for grades 4-6, focuses on establishing a classroom "city," an economic study centered around energy, a study of industry, and a study of the economic history of the Brandywine River in Delaware. Chapter III offers projects for junior high school students through incorporation of the instructional television series "Trade-offs," an interdisciplinary program in social studies and mathematics, a "disco survey" of the economic impact of American teenagers in the marketplace, and formation of a business in a classroom of physically handicapped students. Chapter IV, projects for high school students, includes marriage and childrearing simulations to help students learn how to design rational goals for living, a joint educational effort by bankers and educators, a mock corporation formed by students, and an inquiry approach to the Great Depression. For each project the grade level, project background, time allotment, objectives, activities, and evaluation are provided. (KC)

Award winning projects in K-12 and college level economics are described in this publication. There are two major sections. Section I describes winning projects for 1979-80. A senior research seminar in economics offered undergraduate students a chance to build inexpensive, simplified forecasting models of the U.S. economy. Each student develops one sector of a macroeconomic model. These models are then used to forecast aggregate demand and supply, inflation, and monetary variables over the next four quarters. An introductory course entitled "Principles of Microeconomics" helped students understand how the price system works in the U.S. economy. In another project elementary and secondary teachers from Indiana attended a workshop on money, banking, and economic stabilization policies sponsored by a local bank. After the workshop each teacher was required to develop a curriculum unit and to participate in a 1-day internship experience at the sponsoring bank. Section one ends with very brief descriptions of some additional projects. Projects of previous winners are described in section two. Included is a college-level, problem-solving course in consumerism, a college course which uses role playing to teach economics, a macroeconomics development game, and a Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) simulation. (RM)

Twenty-five award winning teacher developed projects and courses in economics are described. The projects are designed for use in primary, intermediate, junior high, and senior high schools. Descriptions indicate grade level, project background, time allotment, objectives, activities, and evaluation. The publication consists of five chapters. Chapter I suggests ways to teach economic concepts in grades K-3. Projects include a year long unit for teaching children to become more efficient energy consumers, an "Economics Open House" for parents sponsored by a third-grade class and fifth-grade remedial reading students, and a "Kentucky Kinder Crafts" business in which kindergarten children used local resources to produce unique items to sell. Chapter II for grades 4-6 includes projects which focus on computer assisted instruction, the construction of a miniature town, and a study of the recent Cuban refugee situation. Chapter three describes a course which uses social studies skills lessons to teach economic concepts and analysis; an economic project for educable mentally handicapped students; and a 6-week seminar on simplified modeling of a free-enterprise system. Chapter four, projects for senior high school students, includes a description of how a field trip to Old Sturbridge Village brought economic concepts to life, presents a method for teaching students to analyze economic proposals critically, and looks at how high school students in a first-year accounting class learned about economics by studying a local cheese making business. The concluding chapter describes projects that fit into what is called an "Open Category." For example, how the Minnesota community studies curriculum teaches economics is described. (RM)

Designed for use in grades K-12, award winning teacher-developed projects and courses in economics are described. Descriptions indicate grade level, project background, time allotment, objectives, activities, and evaluation. Arranged into 5 chapters, chapter 1 suggests ways to teach economic concepts to grades K-3. Projects include a lesson on specialization and technology, economics through literature and song, the economic impact of weather, and using stories such as the "Elves and the Shoemaker" to present basic economic principles. Chapter 2, for grades 4-6, investigates economic aspects of education, the economic impact of pets on our society, and the interrelationships between the ocean, ecology, and development of natural resources. Chapter 3 presents ideas for learning activities in the junior high social studies curriculum, a simulation game relating economic concepts to Alaska, a unit on the fluctuating economy of the 1920's and 1930's, and games to teach the economics of colonial America. Chapter 4, projects for senior high school students, includes tips for teaching economic concepts in Latin class, a minicourse entitled "The Westward Movement: The Cost of a New Beginning," interdisciplinary approaches to teaching economics, and an economic parable designed to foster economic reasoning. The concluding chapter discusses buying a home, the relationship between changes and economics, and a project designed to provide economic education for inner city parents. (LH)