PBS Teachers™
Thematic Teaching
money in america: related resources
About the Authors | Activity Ideas | Related Resources
Find Below: PBS Web Sites, Other Recommended Links, Recommended Books
pbs online
NewsHour Online - The Economy (Background Reports):
http://www.pbs.org//newshour/bb/economy/economy.html
NewsHour Online - In the Red (Budget Deficit):
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/economy/jan-june04/deficit_01-26.html
NewsHour Online: Executive Excess:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour//newshour/bb/business/july-dec02/ceo2_12-03.html
NOW With Bill Moyers - Politics and Economy:
http://www.pbs.org//now/politics/index.html
Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/
Think Tank with Ben Wattenberg: The Economics of Professional Sports:
http://www.pbs.org/thinktank/show_720.html
PBS Mathline:
http://www.pbs.org/teachers/mathline/concepts/moremathconcepts.shtm
NewsHour Extra - Math and Economics:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/students/math/
Cyberchase - For Parents and Teachers:
http://www.pbskids.org/cyberchase/parentsteachers/index.html
recommended web sites
Fed101
http://www.kc.frb.org/fed101/
Written for secondary students, this site introduces the Federal Reserve's purpose, history, structure, and functions. Activities include following how a check clears through the banking system and a simulation of how monetary policy decisions affect the economy. There is a teacher guide with printable quizzes and lesson plans. The site is available in Flash or HTML format.
Subject: Math
More Recommended Math Links
Practical Money Skills
http://www.practicalmoneyskills.com/english/index.php
No matter what age student you are, there are lessons for everyone from primary grades through college, related to budgeting, spending, and saving money. Older student topics include credit card use, suggestions for avoiding or getting out of financial trouble, and living on your own. Each lesson has student materials, activities, and a quiz. There are helpful handouts for parents about how to talk about money issues with your children and lesson plans for teachers in pdf format. Teachers can search by state standards.
Subject: Math
More Recommended Math Links
Banking on our Future
http://www.bankingonourfuture.org/master.cfm/main/home
Learn the basics of banking, checking, savings, investing, and budgeting. Different portals are given for upper elementary students, middle school, and high school students. Try out the online ATM for practice, use the calculator, or search the glossary of banking terms if you need help understanding new terms. There is also an assessment for each grade level as well as teaching tips, which can be downloaded in pdf documents. Audio and captions are a benefit for students and adults who learn best by listening or prefer to read along with the audio. Flash is required.
Subject: Math
More Recommended Math Links
Consumer Jungle
http://www.consumerjungle.org/
Created as a site to promote consumer literacy among young adults, you'll be introduced to financial topics such as renting an apartment, car loans, and credit cards by entering the student, parent, or teacher areas. Students will find interesting games that provide facts and reinforcement without being didactic. Teachers will find detailed unit plans, and parents will find tips, resources and activities to help their soon to be independent children along the way.
Subject: Math
More Recommended Math Links
Economic Statistics for NOAA
http://www.pco.noaa.gov/documents/economicstatisticsv4.pdf
Bet you thought NOAA only focused on weather and oceans, but did you know they are part of the Department of Commerce? Much of what the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration does is to calculate the economic impact of natural events such as harmful algae blooms and coastal storms on the fishing industry, coastal tourism, insurance, and other industries. For example, "weather and climate sensitive industries account for nearly 30 percent of the Nation's GDP." Other topics include satellites, seafood, pollution, and defense. This pdf document is loaded with facts and citations to further resources.
Subject: Science & Technology
More Recommended Science & Technology Links
America's Career INfoNet
http://www.acinet.org/acinet/
Whether or not you know what you want to do when you graduate from high school or college, this site has lots of useful information about careers, skills required for specific jobs, occupational outlook, wages and trends, and career tools you will want to investigate. Several videos describe occupations for people choosing non-traditional careers, apprenticeships, jobs requiring two year degrees, or working outside. There are also over 400 captioned video clips related to a wide variety of careers. Videos are available in Windows Media Player and Real Player. Career tools relate to financial aid, scholarships, writing a resume, and a skills profiler.
Subject: Science & Technology
More Recommended Science & Technology Links
National Priorities Project
http://www.nationalpriorities.org/
The National Priorities Project focuses on the impacts of federal tax and spending policies at the community level on human services, including education and child welfare, housing, health care and the environment. The interactive database can be used to find how much of your annual tax payment goes to military spending, education, payment on national debt, and other expenditures. You can select state or issue to see how the national budget can impact where you live. Did you know that if you paid $1000.00 in taxes in 2002, $226 would go to pay interest on the national debt and $32 would go to education? Use the interactive income tax chart for more surprises.
Subject: Math; Social Studies
More Recommended Math Links
More Recommended Social Studies Links
recommended books
Math Fables
By Greg Tang and Heather Cahoon
Published March 2004
Grades: PreK-2; 3-5
Subjects: Math
Familiar fables are the framework for a counting book that explores all the possible combinations of numbers that make 1-10. A final spread reviews combining numbers to make numbers and gives more practice.
More Recommended Math Books
Speed Mathematics: Secrets Skills for Quick Calculation
By Bill Handley
Published October 2003
Grades: 3-5; 6-8
Subjects: Math
Handley once taught a young boy some of the mathematical strategies in this book before he entered first grade, and the boy was treated like a prodigy all the way through school. Is the ability to do math quickly important? The author believes so and lists seven reasons, the most important being that we use math every day. Speed math is a non-technical book that anyone can use. Each chapter contains examples. Practice and you'll beat a calculator too.
More Recommended Math Books
The Constants of Nature: From Alpha to Omega--the Numbers That Encode the Deepest Secrets of the Universe
By John Barrow
Published January 2003
Grades: 9-12; Professional Development
Subjects: Math; Science & Technology
Change is the norm, but there are some things that remain constant. This book looks at some of the last scientific mysteries that challenge physicists. Why, for example, are all electrons alike? Barrow is a professor of mathematical sciences at the University of Cambridge. In this book, he explores at the numbers and values that set reality, the strength of gravity, speed of light, and masses of elementary particles.
More Recommended Math Books
More Recommended Science & Technology Books
Lab Math: A Handbook of Measurements, Calculations, and Other Quantitative Skills for Use at the Bench
By Dany Spencer Adams
Published October 2003
Grades: 9-12; Professional Development
Subjects: Math
This is a practical text for the lab. It covers the basics about numbers and generic types of measurements, numbers used in chemistry, calibration and the use of lab equipment, methods and short cuts for making solutions, methods used in molecular biology, an introduction to statistics and reports and the communication of numerical data, and reference tables and equations. The book is spiral-bound.
More Recommended Math Books
Point of Purchase: How Shopping Changed American Culture
By Sharon Zukin
Published November 2003
Grades: 6-8; 9-12
Subjects: Social Studies
From the five-and-dimes and the mail-order catalogs of the 19th century to the Internet markets of today, the author examines American shopping behavior and how it has influenced public and private life. Zukin, a sociology professor at the City University of New York, explores how and where we shop and why shopping has become so important to many of us. She argues that one of the most important results of shopping is the development of community.
More Recommended Social Studies Books
The Progress Paradox: How Life Gets Better While People Feel Worse
By Gregg Easterbrook
Published November 2003
Grades: 9-12
Subjects: Social Studies
While real income has more than doubled since the 1950s, the number of Americans who claim to be happy has not changed. Almost every aspect of Western life has improved in the last century, yet many complain that life is going downhill. Maybe it's time to play the Glad Game. The author offers a sunny view of tomorrow, arguing that today's problems are as solvable as yesterday's.
More Recommended Social Studies Books
The Marketplace of Revolution: How Consumer Politics Shaped American Independence
By T.H. Breem
Published February 2004
Grades: 9-12; Professional Development
Subjects: Social Studies
According to this historical interpretation, the real American Revolution took place in the marketplace before 1776. Breen argues that the colonist's shared experience as consumers provided the cultural resources needed to develop a bold new form of political protest, the consumer boycott. Consumer choices became political acts that created shared trust among the colonists.
More Recommended Social Studies Books