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MIDDLE SCHOOL ECONOMICS

 

Since first studying economics at university, it has always fascinated me.

I initially struggled with the concept of self-interest, as I believed it contrary to the how people actually behaved. However, the more I considered the concept, the more I came to believe the concept to apply to the real world.

As an idea that intrigued me, I had always thought to introduce the subject with a discussion on self-interest. However, what fascinates me and what fascinates students is often quite different and when I have tried this approach, it has been less successful than I had hoped.

When developing a new middle school subject at my school, I hit upon the idea of using real estate instead.

Real estate is relatively easy to understand, for almost everyone in the western world lives in a house or apartment. As a ‘good’ it is easy to understand why it is valuable, and factors that can impact upon its value.

With this in mind, I developed a resource that enables students to participate in a simulated auction process, and then introduced a range of variables such as debt, competition and changes in wealth.

My colleague (who had no prior experience teaching economics) and I have
subsequently used the resource to great effect. Students loved the competition of bidding against each-other, as well as the false drama that an auction creates.

As a teacher, it was fantastic to see a resource that I produced engaging my students and making them think about how the market prices goods and services.

The resource can be purchased below on teachers pay teachers.com on the link below:

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