Julie's+Lesson+Plan+6C1

LESSON: Free Market and Trade. Is the Free Market a Zero Sum Game? 12th grade Economics

OBJECTIVES:
 * Students will analyze the video presentation by Milton Friedman using an the SEA method.
 * Students will identify benefits in trade and transactions in the free market.

MATERIALS:
 * [|I, Pencil Clip]
 * which includes a lecture given by Milton Friedman (primary source) along with other tools that help explain what he is saying.
 * Computer/LCD projector
 * SEA Worksheet
 * ELMO projector
 * TV

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

Students will view this video as a part of a unit over market systems. Prior to this unit, students will have already mastered concepts such as supply and demand, and the effect that price and non-price determinants have on each. Students will view this clip in the unit where we combine supply and demand in order to come up with a market price and quantity. Students will be familiar with benefits of trade. They will already know that people do not enter into a transaction unless both parties will end up better off after the transaction takes place. This video will be used to provide a visual example of the benefits of trade among people/nations and clear up some common misconceptions about people being worse off because others are better off.

INTRODUCTION:
 * Students will recieve the SEA worksheet
 * I will briefly introduce who Milton Friedman is. He is considered one of the most prominant economists ever. He was a follower of Adam Smith, but not originally. He first began as a follower of Keyensian Economics. He was for government involvement, and began as an advocate for the New Deal. Friedman then went on to disprove Keyens, arguing monetary policy is a better approach to economic downturns, even the Great Depression, rather than fiscal (governmental) policies. He is also a statistician and won a Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.

BODY:
 * Students will watch I, Pencil clip (see link above)
 * Students will watch the clip twice.
 * The first time they watch the clip, the students will fill in the Scan portion of the worksheet.
 * The second time through, students will fill in the Evaluate portion of the worksheet.
 * Students will then get into groups of 2 or 3 in order to disucss their responses.
 * In the group, students will brainstorm together to fill in the analyzation portion of the video.
 * Each group will put their work onto one SEA worksheet.
 * Each group will then present their findings to the class by placing their SEA worksheets under ELMO which will project to the TV so the other students can see each groups work.

CONCLUSION:
 * I will collect each person and group's SEA worksheet
 * We will briefly review some of the concepts introduced today such as:
 * zero-sum game
 * benefits of trade
 * Adam Smith

ASSIGNMENT
 * Students will have a sheet with the five benefits of the price system
 * Information, Choice, Incentive, Efficiency, Flexibilty
 * Students must define how each of these is a benefit of the price system and provide examples found in today's economy or from personal experience for each example.

Julie,

Although I've only ever taught one section of economics for one year, when I filled in for a teacher who was out, I really am fascinated with the subject and love seeing how others teach the concepts of the discipline. I wonder how Friedman would have responded to all of the people who say American capitalism is dying or dead. The video clip you linked to provided some effective images to communicate the falacy of a free market being a zero sum game. (Joe)