Free Enterprise

Just how much does our economy produce? How does it compare to other countries? How can we understand the health of economies across the world? Gross domestic product is a comprehensive measure of an economy’s output. Use this LAP to teach your students all about gross domestic product, how to calculate and use it, and its advantages and flaws for governments and businesses. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP...

Owning your own business is risky, but if you do it right, you’ll receive something for your efforts: profit, which is your reward for taking the risk involved in investing in a business. The financial gains realized from profit provide business owners with a real incentive to build successful businesses. Use Risk Rewarded to teach your students about types of profit, the benefits received from profit, the external and internal factors that affect profit, as well as ways to gain more profit....

Your students take risks all the time, but do they realize how to translate their everyday risk experiences into the business world? If not, Lose, Win, or Draw can show them how! Use this LAP to teach your students the types of risk that businesses face, as well as how to handle them. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a student handout (with CopyIT! permission) that includes information about...

Do your students know where their stuff comes from? Chances are, their favorite products have traveled a great distance to get to them. In this LAP, students will discover the impact of globalization – both on their everyday lives and on the buying and selling of goods across the world. They will learn why countries engage in global trade, the economic benefits of global trade, and the many barriers to trade. In the Gray Zone, students will examine the ethicality of sweat-shop labor, an...

How does specialization of natural resources, capital goods, and human resources affect businesses and employees? Teach your students the advantages and disadvantages of specialization, how job scope and depth tie in, and how to combat the downside of division of labor. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. Each LAP includes a student handout (with CopyIT! permission) that includes information about specialization and...

Competition isn’t just for sports teams—it’s also essential in the business world. This LAP explains how businesses compete directly and indirectly, how price and nonprice competition work, and the different types of market structure. It also explains why competition is so beneficial for businesses, customers, and society. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. Each LAP includes a student handout (with CopyIT! permission)...

Your students might think they understand supply and demand, but do they know about buyer’s and seller’s markets, achieving equilibrium, and elastic and inelastic demand? It’s the Law will teach them all these concepts and more! They’ll learn all about how supply and demand work together and affect every business. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. Each LAP includes a student handout (with CopyIT! permission) that...

Businesses have a lot to do with utility—they can create it, and they can enhance it. That’s why it’s so important for your students to learn what utility is and how businesses influence it. Teach them with Use It! This LAP explains the four types of utility, as well as what businesses can do to give their products more utility. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a student handout (with CopyIT!...

Do your students know the characteristics that make up the private enterprise system? Do they even know what private enterprise is? With People Power, you can help students learn the benefits and disadvantages of the private enterprise system, as well as the effects it has on the people who live in it. LAPs are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a student handout (with CopyIT! permission) that includes...

Government plays an important role in our private enterprise system—but how? This LAP explains how government’s role in business has changed and expanded over the years, as well as how government regulates and protects businesses. LAPs (Learning Activity Packages) are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a performance-oriented lesson plan. This LAP includes a student handout (with CopyIT! permission) that includes information about government and business, a (So...

Productivity involves working hard and keeping busy, but there’s more to it than that. What can businesses and individuals do to improve productivity? And what will get in the way of productivity? Help your students learn the answers to these questions, as well as the ways that productivity affects businesses, workers, consumers, society, and the economy with Make the Most of It. LAPs (Learning Activity Packages) are comprehensive instructional packages that include all elements of a...