Economic+Knowledge,+Concepts,+Themes,+and+Patterns

Pre-K-2
Students understand the nature of economics as well as key foundation ideas.

a. Describe economics as how people make choices about how to use scarce resources to meet their wants and needs. b. Describe how money is earned and managed in order to buy goods and services and save for the future.

3-5
Students understand personal economics and the basis of the economies of the community, Maine, the United States, and various regions of the world.

a. Explain that economics includes the study of scarcity which leads to economic choices about what goods and services will be produced, how they will be distributed, and for whom they will be produced. b. Explain how entrepreneurs and other producers of goods and services help satisfy the wants and needs of consumers in a market economy, locally and nationally, by using natural, human, and capital resources. c. Describe situations in which personal choices are related to the use of financial resources and financial institutions including the use of money, consumption, savings, investment, and banking.

6-8
Students understand the principles and processes of personal economics, the influence of economics on personal life and business, and the economic systems of Maine, the United States, and various regions of the world.

a. Explain that economics is the study of how scarcity requires choices about what, how, for whom, and in what quantity to produce, and how scarcity relates to market economy, entrepreneurship, supply and demand, and personal finance. b. Describe the functions of economic institutions and economic processes including financial institutions, businesses, government, taxing, and trade. c. Identify factors that contribute to personal spending and savings decisions including work, wages, income, expenses, and budgets as they relate to the study of individual financial choices.

9-Diploma
Students understand the principles and processes of personal economics, the role of markets, the economic system of the United States, and other economic systems in the world, and how economics serves to inform decisions in the present and future.

a. Explain that the study of economics includes the analysis and description of production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services by business, and is the basis of individual personal finance management including saving and investing. b. Explain and analyze the role of financial institutions, the stock market, and government, including fiscal, monetary, and trade policies, in personal, business, and national economics. c. Evaluate different forms of money management, and the positive and negative impacts that credit can have on individual finances, using economic reasoning. d. Identify and explain various economic indicators and how they represent and influence economic activity. e. Analyze economic activities and policies in relationship to freedom, efficiency, equity, security, growth, and sustainability. f. Explain and apply the concepts of specialization, economic interdependence, and comparative advantage. g. Solve problems using the theory of supply and demand.