Are you a history or social studies teacher who is starting off the year teaching economics and is wondering, “What is even economics?!” “How do I teach it?” “What are some ideas for economics project?” “Where do I even start?” “How do you make economics fun?” I know the feeling and I’ve been there before. Teaching economics to high school seniors can seem like a daunting task, especially if you’re new to teaching this subject. But it is also an exciting time! Teaching economics is an awesome opportunity to teach students concepts and terms that they use in their daily lives! In fact, I found that economics turned out to be one of my most favorite subjects to teach! A great way to bring economics to life and make the content more accessible, fun, and relevant for high school students is through engaging projects for high school economics!
Economics projects help students understand the content better and allows them to put into practice economic terms and concepts. It also helps students realize that economics isn’t as difficult as it seems and a lot of the concepts used in economics are concepts they actually use in their everyday lives! If you’re not sure about where to start with creating economics projects or you’re wondering, “How do I even come up with economics project ideas for high school students?” You’ve come to the right place! I’ll go over some examples of economic projects that I’ve done with my own students!
Economics Project Ideas for High School Number 1
When I first started teaching economics, I was thrown into the subject and was unfamiliar with it. I spent countless hours learning economic terms trying to figure out how to make economics meaningful to my students. Most of the time, I was just trying to figure out what economics even was. Needless to say, my first year teaching economics didn’t go so well. I used the textbook most of the time and didn’t show students how economics was something that they actually used in their everyday lives. Which actually brings me to the first example of projects for economics students that can be used in high school classrooms!
One Economics project that will resonate with students is to have students create a budget based on their lifestyle. Since economics is about making choices, this project has students practice economic terms, such as opportunity costs, trade-offs, and cost-benefit analysis as they decide whether or not they are able to support their lifestyle with the salary they are earning.
How to set it up
The first step is to set a salary for students. For this project, I set their salary to $17 or $2,947 a month. Feel free to set their salary to whatever you would like. Next, students had to find an apartment and furnish their apartment based on their salary. Students had to show proof that the apartment existed and then had to find furniture for their apartment. They also had to take into account things like water and utility bills. Next, students had to decide their mode of transportation. After all, they have to get to and from work. Will they rent a car? Buy a car? Take the bus? The next step of this project was for students to decide how they would use their leisurely or free time. Will they go to the movies, order out, go to a concert? All of these activities cost money.
Students had to think about their housing cost, their transportation cost, and their free time. Do they have all the money they need to support their lifestyle? The last part of this project was for students to write a reflection based on their experience. In their reflection, they had to use the following economic terms: scarcity, choices, wants, needs, opportunity costs, benefits, and trade-offs.
Project ideas for economics students for high school classes number 2
Another great way for students to get invested in economics is to create a project where students have to analyze how the coronavirus pandemic affected society. Many students felt the effects of the pandemic especially since schools were shut down. This project is still very much relevant to their lives. The economic terms involved in this project and that students should be familiar with are wants needs, trade-offs, opportunity costs, and cost-benefit analysis.
How to set up project
The first step of this project is for students to identify three objects or items that became scarce during the covid19 pandemic. After identifying the items that became scarce, students must describe how people, businesses, or the government reacted to these items being scarce. Next, students must explain why these scarce items suddenly became “valuable.” The next step of this project is for students to conduct a cross-benefit analysis on closing the economy. They must research 5 cons and 5 pros to closing the economy. Finally, students are asked to act as President of a country with 1 million people. Covid-19 has begun to spread and they must decide whether or not to close the economy. Students must make an argument explaining what they will do in this situation using evidence to support their claims.
Examples of economic projects for high school students number 3
Another project that can be used to gain students interests in economics is for students to create their own Music Festival Lineup. With this project, students should be familiar with the concepts of demand, law of demand, determinants of demand, supply, law of supply, equilibrium price, shortages, and surplus. Students enjoyed this project because they are interested in music and know about popular musical festivals.
How to set it up
For the first part of this project, students will decide on 3 musicians or musical groups that they would want to headline their festival. However, students must keep in mind that the musicians they choose should be musicians that are in high demand. To figure out which musicians are in high demand, students must do some market research and create an evidence-based argument for their act. Students also make a Festival Poster to advertise their Music Festival. Next, students must conduct a survey to determine at which prices their classmates would be willing and able to purchase tickets to their musical festival. After conducting a survey, students will then plot their data into a graph to determine the equilibrium price. After finding the equilibrium price, students write a reflection where they discuss the equilibrium price, shortages, and surpluses.
These are all projects I have used in my classroom! If you don’t want to make them yourself, feel free to check out my store! They have helped to make economics enjoyable to teach and have increased student buy-in in my economics classes! Teaching economics doesn’t have to be scary. A project-based approach and with these Ideas for economics projects for high school students, teaching economics is manageable and you’ll find joy in watching students have fun!
