Georgia Standards Alignment
We compared our curriculum and the core financial literacy concepts that are covered in our Budget and Stock Games to the social studies standards for the state of Georgia.
A list of the Social Studies Georgia Standards of Excellence are below, along with a selection of activities from our games and library that align with each standard. Our curriculum library contains over 300 total lessons that can be customized for every class, so this may not include every lesson that may apply for each standard.
Legend:
- : Long-Term Game
- : Comprehensive Chapter
- : Short Lesson
- : Interactive Calculator
- : Includes Automatically-Graded Assessment
| Standard | Activity | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evaluate various sources of income and analyze variables that affect a person’s income. | ||||||
| Analyze income as a scarce resource that must be allocated. | Budget Game – Core Component Lesson – Budgeting Lesson – Budgeting and Spending Strategies Lesson – Spending and Savings Plans Lesson – Pay Yourself First | |||||
| Compare different types of income including hourly wages, salary, tips, independentcontractor services (Form 1099), dividends, and capital gains. | Lesson – Income and Compensation Lesson – What is Money? Lesson – Investing Strategies Lesson – Dividends and Changes of Ownership Lesson – Taxation Overview | |||||
| Analyze how career choice, education, skills, and economic conditions are related to income and levels of unemployment. | Lesson – Income and Compensation Lesson – Career Development Lesson – Unemployment and other programs Lesson – Unemployment Lesson – Labor and Productivity | |||||
| Describe how income taxes affect disposable income. | Budget Game – Core Component Lesson – Taxation Overview Lesson – Tax Filing and the Form 1040 | |||||
| Review and complete a sample federal individual income tax form 1040EZ or 1040A. | Lesson – Tax Filing and the Form 1040 | |||||
| Describe the basic components of a pay-stub including gross pay, net pay, and commondeductions (i.e. federal and state income tax, Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA– which includes Social Security and Medicare), and elective deductions like insuranceand tax-deferred savings). | Budget Game – Core Component Lesson – Income and Compensation Lesson – Payroll Best Practices | |||||
| Describe how budgeting and actively reviewing finances can be used to allocate scarce income. | ||||||
| Explain the importance of setting short-term, medium-term, and long-term savings goals. | Lesson – Pay Yourself First Lesson – Preparing for spending shocks Lesson – Preparing For Retirement Lesson – Planning Long Term Purchases Lesson – Family Planning Activity – Use the Saving to be a Millionaire Calculator | |||||
| Differentiate between needs and wants. | Budget Game – Core Component Lesson – Budgeting Lesson – Pay Yourself First | |||||
| Analyze the basic components of a personal budget including income, expenses, and savings. | Budget Game – Core Component Lesson – Budgeting Lesson – Pay Yourself First Lesson – Budgeting and Spending Strategies Lesson – Spending and Savings Plans | |||||
| Explain how to reconcile a checking account, either online or on paper, including how to account for transactions that have not been posted (i.e. checks or weekend debit card transactions). | Lesson – Automatic Payments Lesson – Debit Cards | |||||
| Describe overdraft fees including why they are assessed and how to avoid them. | Lesson – Debit Cards | |||||
| Explain the concept of net worth. | Budget Game – Core Component Activity – Use the Net Worth Calculator Lesson – What is Wealth? | |||||
| Evaluate different methods for paying for goods and services. | ||||||
| Describe advantages and disadvantages of paying for goods and services with cash,checks, debit cards, credit cards, and other options. | Budget Game – Core Component Lesson – Using Credit Lesson – Credit Cards Lesson – Debit Cards Lesson – Short-term Financing | |||||
| Compare and contrast debit, credit, and prepaid cards in terms of how they work,acceptability, and the costs associated with each. | Budget Game – Core Component Lesson – Using Credit Lesson – Credit Cards Lesson – Debit Cards Lesson – Short-term Financing Lesson – What is Money? | |||||
| Explain how to avoid fees when using debit, credit, and pre-paid cards. | Budget Game – Core Component Lesson – Using Credit Lesson – Credit Cards Lesson – Debit Cards | |||||
| Explain the major consumer protections related to debit, credit, and pre-paid cards, especially if they are lost or stolen. | Lesson – Credit Cards Lesson – Debit Cards Lesson – Protecting Against Fraud | |||||
| Evaluate alternatives for life after high school including college, technical school,internships, working, military, doing nothing (taking a “gap year”), traveling, or otheroptions. | ||||||
| Use a rational decision making model to identify the most appropriate alternative from the options in SSPFL4. | Lesson – Career Development Lesson – Work or Study Lesson – How To Choose an Internship Lesson – Student Loans | |||||
| Describe opportunity cost as it relates to the options in SSPFL4. | Lesson – Opportunity Cost Lesson – Career Development Lesson – Labor and Productivity | |||||
| Evaluate costs and benefits of various ways to pay for post-high school life including scholarships, employment, work-study programs, loans, grants, savings, prior investments, and other options. | Lesson – Work or Study Lesson – Career Development Lesson – Biggest Mistakes of Job Seekers | |||||
| Describe the importance of credit and having a favorable credit score. | ||||||
| Define credit and interest rates. | Lesson – Using Credit Lesson – Credit Cards Lesson – Good Debt, Bad Debt Lesson – The Importance of Interest Rates | |||||
| Describe factors that affect credit worthiness and the ability to receive favorable interestrates including character (credit score), collateral, and capacity to pay. | Lesson – Credit Reports Lesson – Mortgages | |||||
| Describe the basic components of a credit score including payment history, debt toincome ratio, amount owed, length of credit history, types of credit used, amount ofavailable credit, and recent credit applications. | Lesson – Credit Reports Lesson – Using Credit | |||||
| Describe different ways financial institutions, employers, and other parties use credit reports and credit scores. | Lesson – Credit Reports Lesson – Managing Debt | |||||
| Describe how to access one’s credit report and credit score. | Lesson – Credit Reports | |||||
| Analyze and evaluate a sample credit report. | Lesson – Credit Reports | |||||
| Explain how to begin building a good credit history at an early age. | Budget Game – Core Component | |||||
| Explain causes of personal bankruptcy and describe consequences of declaring bankruptcy. | Lesson – Bankruptcy Lesson – Good Debt, Bad Debt Lesson – Credit Reports | |||||
| Analyze the purpose and functions of various financial institutions. | ||||||
| Analyze services offered by different financial institutions including banks, credit unions, payday lenders, and title pawn lenders. | Lesson – Banks, Credit Unions, and Savings and Loans Lesson – Short-Term Financing | |||||
| Explain that some financial institutions are for profit and others are non-profit and how that affects the lending behavior of the institution. | Lesson – Banks, Credit Unions, and Savings and Loans | |||||
| Compare the benefits and drawbacks of different financial institutions including banks,credit unions, payday lenders, and title pawn lenders. | Lesson – Banks, Credit Unions, and Savings and Loans | |||||
| Explain how interest rates affect various consumer decisions. | ||||||
| Explain how actions taken by the Federal Reserve System affect interest rates. | Lesson – What is the Federal Reserve? | |||||
| Compare interest rates on loans and credit cards from different institutions including banks, credit unions, pay-day loan facilities, and title-pawn. | Lesson – Short-Term Financing Lesson – Using Credit | |||||
| Define annual percentage rate and analyze how different interest rates can affect monthly payments on loans. | Lesson – Importance of Interest Rates Lesson – Credit Cards Activity – Use the Credit Card Payments Calculator Activity – Use the Car Loans Calculator | |||||
| Explain the difference between simple and compound interest and the difference between fixed and variable interest. | Lesson – Mortgages Lesson – Importance of Interest Rates Activity – Use the Compound Interest Calculator | |||||
| Define nominal and real returns and explain how inflation affects savings and investment accounts earning interest. | Lesson – Inflation Lesson – The Importance of Interest Rates Activity – Use the Saving to be a Millionaire Calculator Activity – Use the Investment Return Calculator | |||||
| Evaluate reasons for and various methods of investment. | ||||||
| Evaluate the risk and return of a variety of savings and investment options including savings accounts, certificates of deposit, stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. | Stock Game – Core Component Investing101 Certification Lesson – Investing Strategies Lesson – Building a Diversified Portfolio Activity – Use the Investment Return Calculator | |||||
| Explain the advantages of using tax-advantaged retirement planning including a tradition Individual Retirement Account (IRA), a Roth IRA, a myRA, and a company 401K or403b. | Lesson – Preparing For Retirement | |||||
| Describe the importance of diversification investing. | Lesson – Building a Diversified Portfolio | |||||
| Describe the differences in strategies used for long-term investing vs. short term investing. | Stock Game – Core Component Investing101 Certification Lesson – Investing Strategies Lesson – Building a Diversified Portfolio | |||||
| Describe how insurance and other risk-management strategies protect against financial loss. | ||||||
| Define insurance as an agreement where one party agrees to pay for another’s damage orloss in exchange for payment. | Lesson – Renter’s Insurance Lesson – Home Owner’s Insurance Lesson – Car Insurance Lesson – Life Insurance Lesson – Health Insurance | |||||
| Define risk as it relates to various assets (i.e. your person, property, or investments). | Lesson – Risk Lesson – Investing Strategies Lesson – Building Wealth | |||||
| Describe various types of insurance including automobile, health, life (whole and term),disability, and property. | Lesson – Renter’s Insurance Lesson – Home Owner’s Insurance Lesson – Car Insurance Lesson – Life Insurance Lesson – Health Insurance | |||||
| Review and describe the basic components of a sample automobile, health, and property insurance policy. | Lesson – Renter’s Insurance Lesson – Home Owner’s Insurance Lesson – Car Insurance Lesson – Health Insurance | |||||
| Analyze different methods for obtaining health insurance including through an employer, private purchase, Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), andthrough various health insurance exchanges. | Lesson – Health Insurance Lesson – Income and Compensation | |||||
| Analyze the costs and benefits associated with different types of insurance, including co-pays, deductibles, premiums, shared liability, and asset protection. | Lesson – Renter’s Insurance Lesson – Home Owner’s Insurance Lesson – Car Insurance Lesson – Life Insurance Lesson – Health Insurance | |||||
| Define insurability and explain why insurance rates can vary. | Lesson – Renter’s Insurance Lesson – Home Owner’s Insurance Lesson – Car Insurance Lesson – Life Insurance Lesson – Health Insurance | |||||
| Describe how government taxing and spending decisions affect consumers. | ||||||
| Define progressive, regressive, and proportional taxes. | Lesson – Sales Tax Lesson – Tax Overview | |||||
| Analyze the purpose of different types of taxes including income, property, sales, excise,and capital gains. | Lesson – Sales Tax Lesson – Tax Overview Lesson – Common Tax Deductions Lesson – Common Tax Additions | |||||
| Explain how an increase in sales tax affects different income groups. | Lesson – Sales Tax Lesson – Tax Overview | |||||
| Describe government programs designed to provide assistance to low income individuals such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assisstance Program (SNAP) (including the specialprogram for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)), Medicaid, State Children’s HealthInsurance Program (SCHIP), and public housing. | Lesson – Unemployment and other programs Lesson – Government impact on the economy Lesson – Employer and Employee Rights and Responsibilities | |||||
| Explain how unemployment insurance is provided by federal and state governments. | Lesson – Unemployment and other programs | |||||
| Explain and evaluate various forms of consumer protection. | ||||||
| Describe the roles of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Federal TradeCommission (FTC), National Credit Union Association (NCUA), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) inprotecting consumers. | Investing101 Certification Lesson – What is the Federal Reserve? Lesson – Government impact on the economy | |||||
| Compare different methods for lodging consumer complaints (e.g., Better BusinessBureau, usa.gov/consumer-complaints, direct contact with business). | Lesson – Consumer rights and responsibilities | |||||
| Explain the primary purpose of important consumer legislation including the Truth inLending Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, and theDodd-Frank Act. | Lesson – Consumer rights and responsibilities | |||||
| Explain sources of and protection against identity theft. | ||||||
| Describe common ways identity theft happens including dumpster diving, skimming,phishing, stealing, and hacking. | Lesson – Protecting Against Fraud | |||||
| Analyze ways to protect yourself from identity theft including shredding important documents, not opening attachments to unknown emails, not revealing personal information over the phone or email, using secure networks, regularly checking yourcredit score, and changing passwords on accounts. | Lesson – Protecting Against Fraud Lesson – Reconciling accounts Lesson – What are Financial Records? | |||||
| Describe steps that should be taken if a person is the victim of identity theft including getting replacement credit cards, freezing credit histories, alerting appropriate officials,and changing passwords. | Lesson – Protecting Against Fraud | |||||
| Describe the basic characteristics of investment scams such as Ponzi schemes, pump and dumps, and “advance fee” scams and how to avoid them. | Investing101 Certification Lesson – Protecting Against Fraud |
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