We compared our learning materials and the core financial literacy concepts that are covered in our Budget and Stock Games to the social studies standards for the state of Michigan.
A list of the Michigan Social Studies Standards are below, along with a selection of activities from our games and library that align with each standard. Our Learning 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.
Students will learn through playing the interactive online games, as well as completing the self-graded lessons that were designed to keep young learners engaged.
When you order PersonalFinanceLab® for your class, you’ll also get access to course outlines, lesson plans, student activities and grading rubrics that tie everything together.
Check out our course outlines, we’ll walk you through every step of the way!
We’re here to help engage your students to learn how to manage their money responsibly. Learn more about each of the main features and see how we can help transform your class.
Build your students confidence in the financial markets as they learn how to invest their money wisely.
Learn moreDiscover how the fully customizable platform can be tailored to fit the needs of your class by talking to a member of our team. Our curriculum specialists can guide you on how to integrate our lessons and games into your existing curriculum.
Schedule a callFind out which of our lessons or games reinforce the individual
knowledge statements from the Michigan K-12 Social Studies Standards.
Legend:
Long-Term Game
Comprehensive Chapter
Short Lesson
Interactive Calculator
Includes Automatically-Graded Assessment
Standard | Activity | Long-Term Game | Comprehensive Chapter | Short Lesson | Interactive Calculator | Graded Assessment |
The Market Economy | ||||||
Scarcity, Choice, Opportunity Costs, Incentives – using examples, explain how scarcity, choice, opportunity costs, and incentives affect decisions made by households, businesses, and governments. | Lesson – Why is there Scarcity?Lesson – Opportunity CostLesson – What are Incentives?Lesson – Government impact on the economy | |||||
Entrepreneurship – analyze the risks and rewards of entrepreneurship and associate the functions of entrepreneurs with alleviating problems associated with scarcity. | Lesson – Starting a BusinessLesson – What is Entrepreneurship?Lesson – Why is there Scarcity? | |||||
Marginal Analysis – weigh marginal benefits and marginal costs in decision making. | Lesson – Marginal Benefit and Cost | |||||
Institutions – describe the roles of various economic institutions and purposes they serve in a market economy. Examples may include but are not limited to: banks, labor unions, markets, corporations, co-operatives, sole proprietorships, partnerships, and not-for-profit organizations. | Lesson – Banks, Credit Unions, and Savings and LoansLesson – Types of CompaniesLesson – What is Cottage Industry | |||||
Market Structures – identify the characteristics of perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, and monopoly market structures. Examples may include but are not limited to: number of producers, similarity of products, barriers to entry, control over prices. | Lesson – Benefits of CompetitionLesson – Supply and Demand Examples in the Stock Market | |||||
Supply And Demand – use the laws of supply and demand to explain household and business behavior. Examples may include but are not limited to: determinants of demand and determinants of supply. | Lesson – Supply and Demand Examples in the Stock MarketLesson – What is Supply?Lesson – What is Demand? | |||||
Price, Equilibrium, Elasticity, and Incentives – analyze how prices change through the interaction of buyers and sellers in a market, including the role of supply, demand, equilibrium, and elasticity, and explain how incentives (monetary and non-monetary) affect choices of households and economic organizations. | Lesson – Supply and Demand Examples in the Stock MarketLesson – What are Incentives?Lesson – Marginal Benefit and Cost | |||||
Public Policy and the Market – analyze the impact of a change in public policy on consumers, producers, workers, savers, and investors. Examples may include but are not limited to: an increase in the minimum wage, a new tax policy, a change in interest rates, or price controls on the quantity of a good or service. | Lesson – Importance of Interest RatesLesson – UnemploymentLesson – Labor and Productivity | |||||
Government and Consumers – analyze the role of government in protecting consumers and enforcing contracts (including property rights), and explain how this role influences the incentives (or disincentives) for people to produce and exchange goods and services. | Lesson – Property RightsLesson – What are Incentives?Lesson – Consumer rights and responsibilities | |||||
Government Revenue and Services – analyze the ways in which local and state governments generate revenue and use that revenue to supply public services. | Lesson – Taxation OverviewLesson – Sales TaxLesson -Monetary Policy | |||||
Market Failure – explain the role for government in addressing both negative and positive externalities. Examples may include but are not limited to: pollution, vaccinations, education, medical research, government/private partnerships. | Lesson – Externalities | |||||
Consequences of Governmental Policy – assess the incentives for political leaders to implement policies that disperse costs widely over large groups of people and benefit small and politically powerful groups. Examples may include but are not limited to: subsidies, tariffs, import quotas. | Lesson – Government impact on the economyLesson – International trade | |||||
Price Controls – analyze the impact of price ceilings and price floors on the quantity of a good or service supplied and demanded in a market. | Lesson – What are Price Controls? | |||||
The National Economy of the United States of America | Activity | Long-Term Game | Comprehensive Chapter | Short Lesson | Interactive Calculator | Graded Assessment |
Circular Flow and the National Economy – using the concept of circular flow, analyze the roles of and relationship between households, business firms, and government in the economy of the United States. | Lesson – What is Economics?Lesson – Government impact on the economyLesson – Analyzing Consumer Behavior | |||||
Economic Indicators – using a number of indicators, such as gross domestic product (GDP), per capita GDP, unemployment rates, and consumer price index, analyze the current and future state of an economy. | Lesson – Major Economic Indicators (GDP, CPI, Jobs)Lesson – Gross Domestic Product | |||||
Government Involvement in the Economy – evaluate the three macroeconomic goals of an economic system (stable prices, low unemployment, and economic growth). | Lesson – What is Economic Growth?Lesson – Government impact on the economyLesson – Labor and Productivity | |||||
Government Revenue and Services – evaluate the ways in which the federal government generates revenue on consumption, income, and wealth, and uses that revenue to supply government services and public goods, and protect property rights. Examples may include but are not limited to: parks and highways, national defense, social security, Medicaid, Medicar | Lesson – Fiscal Policy ExplainedLesson – Sales TaxLesson – Government Impact on the Economy | |||||
Fiscal Policy and its Consequences – analyze the consequences (intended and unintended) of using various tax and spending policies to achieve macroeconomic goals of stable prices, low unemployment, and economic growth. | Lesson – Fiscal Policy Explained | |||||
Federal Reserve and Monetary Policy – explain the roles and responsibilities of the Federal Reserve system and compare and contrast the consequences (intended and unintended) of different monetary policy actions of the Federal Reserve Board as a means to achieve macroeconomic goals of stable prices, low unemployment, and economic growth. | Lesson – What is the Federal Reserve?Lesson – Monetary PolicyLesson – What is Economic Growth?Lesson – Unemployment | |||||
The International Economy | Activity | Long-Term Game | Comprehensive Chapter | Short Lesson | Interactive Calculator | Graded Assessment |
Developing Nations – assess how factors such as availability of natural resources, investments in human and physical capital, technical assistance, public attitudes and beliefs, property rights, and free trade can affect economic growth in developing nations. | Lesson – International tradeLesson – What is Specialization?Lesson – Labor and Productivity | |||||
International Organizations and the World Economy – evaluate the diverse impact of trade policies of the World Trade Organization, World Bank, or International Monetary Fund on developing economies of Africa, Central America, or Asia, and on the developed economies of the United States and Western Europe. | Lesson – International trade | |||||
Comparing Economic Systems – compare and contrast the characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages of traditional, command, market, and mixed economic systems. Examples may include but are not limited to: GDP, inflation, unemployment. | Lesson – Comparative Economic Systems – Capitalism, Socialism, and Communism | |||||
Absolute and Comparative Advantage – use the concepts of absolute and comparative advantages to explain why goods and services are produced in one nation or locale versus another. | Lesson – What is Specialization?Lesson – Comparative Advantage | |||||
Domestic Activity and World Trade – assess the impact of trade policies, monetary policy, exchange rates, and interest rates on domestic activity and world trade. Examples may include but are not limited to: tariffs, quotas, export subsidies, product standards, other barriers. | Lesson – International Trade | |||||
Exchange Rate and World Trade – analyze the effects on trade from a change in an exchange rate between two currencies. | Stock Game – Core Component | |||||
The Global Economy and the Marketplace – analyze and describe how the global economy has changed the interaction of buyers and sellers. | Lesson – What is Cottage IndustryLesson – Labor and Productivity | |||||
Personal Finance | Activity | Long-Term Game | Comprehensive Chapter | Short Lesson | Interactive Calculator | Graded Assessment |
Earning Income – conduct research regarding potential income and employee benefit packages, non-income factors that may influence career choice, benefits and costs of obtaining the necessary education or technical skills, taxes a person is likely to pay, and other possible sources of income. Examples may include but are not limited to: interest, dividends, capital appreciation, income support from the government, social security. | Lesson – Income and CompensationLesson – Career DevelopmentLesson – Work vs StudyLesson – What is Money? | |||||
Buying Goods And Services – describe the factors that consumers may consider when purchasing a good or service, including the costs, benefits, and the role of government in obtaining the information. | Budget Game – Core ComponentLesson – Researching PurchasesLesson – Planning for Long Term Purchases | |||||
Saving – identify the incentives people have to set aside income for future consumption, and evaluate the impact of time, interest rates, and inflation upon the value of savings. | Lesson – Pay Yourself FirstLesson – Inflation Lesson – Planning for RetirementLesson – BudgetingLesson – Spending and Savings PlansActivity – Use the Investment Return Calculator | |||||
Using Credit – evaluate the benefits, costs, and potential impacts of using credit to purchase goods and services. | Budget Game – Core ComponentLesson – Using CreditLesson – Credit CardsActivity – Use the Credit Card Payments Calculator | |||||
Financial Investing – analyze the risks, expected rate of return, tax benefits, impact of inflation, role of government agencies, and importance of diversification when investing in financial assets. | Investing101 CertificationLesson – Investing StrategiesLesson – Building a Diversified PortfolioLesson – Risk | |||||
Protecting and Insuring – assess the financial risk of lost income, assets, health, or identity, and determine if a person should accept the risk exposure, reduce risk, or transfer the risk to others by paying a fee now to avoid the possibility of a larger loss later. | Lesson – Renter’s InsuranceLesson – Home Owner’s InsuranceLesson – Car InsuranceLesson – Life InsuranceLesson – Health Insurance |
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