Celebrate #FinLitMonth with us by finding ideas for you and your students!

Content Partner

Grade 9-12
,
Lesson

Public Goods and Asteroid Defense

Time: 45 mins,
Updated: December 28 2020,
Author: Marginal Revolution University
Teacher Version
Objective Standards Summary Description
Print

Objective

Students will be able to:

  • Understand the characteristics of public goods.
  • Be able to explain why asteroid defense is unlikely to be provided by the private sector.
  • Be able to explain why markets on their own cannot allocate public goods well and why that is a problem.
  • Understand the principles of rivalry & non-rivalry, as well as excludability & non-excludability as it relates to the types of goods.
  • Be able to identify examples of goods and services that are rival/non-rival as well as excludable/non-excludable.
  • Understand the different types of goods, including private goods, club goods, common goods, and public goods.

Standards

State Standards

Concepts

Roles of Government
 Open Lesson

In this economics lesson, students will learn about public goods.

Description

The subject of public goods is best taught with examples. But why start with the same old examples, like national defense, which put students to sleep? This creative lesson plan jump starts with the (surprisingly real) danger of an asteroid hitting the earth! If this is such a real danger, why aren’t we better prepared for it? The answer is that asteroid defense is a public good. The lesson plan then uses a mix of unique examples, videos, podcasts, and a fun classroom activity to cover the four types of goods: public, private, club, and common.

Subjects:

Related Resources

Grades 9-12

Deceptive Advertising: Crossing the Line

Businesses use advertising to tell consumers about the goods and services they are selling. Businesses hope that their advertisements will...
Key Concepts: Advertising, Business Costs and Revenues, Economic Institutions…
Lesson

Grades 9-12

Federal Budget: The Fiscal Ship Game

In this lesson, updated with 2023 statistics, students learn about the challenges of the federal debt and play the Fiscal...
Key Concepts: Budget Deficits and Public Debt, Fiscal Policy, Roles of Government
120 mins
Lesson

Grades 9-12

Workplace Safety for Teens

In this economics activity, students will examine workforce safety issues for teens.
Key Concepts: Employment and Unemployment, Roles of Government
20 mins
Activity