Massachusetts Our Cities and Towns

Grade 3

Economics

Overarching Question: How do people get the goods and services they need and want?

 

 

Essential Questions:

·                   What are taxes?

·                   What are resources?

·                   Why are taxes necessary?

·                   Are some resources limited?

·                   What are examples of some ways people can earn money?

 

 

Enduring Understandings

MA History/Social Science Curriculum Framework (2003)

sample Assessments and

Learning Experiences

People make choices because they cannot have everything they want.

 

All choices require giving something up.

 

Tax is money people pay to the government for the greater good.

 

Money is used as a means for getting goods and services people want and need.

 

Governments use taxes to pay for things a community needs and wants.

 

 

 

Vocabulary

 

¨        tax

¨        barter

¨        goods

¨        services

¨        community

¨        specialization

 

Learning Standards:

Define what a tax is and the purposes for taxes, and give examples of different kinds of taxes (e.g. property, sales, or income taxes)

 

Define specialization in jobs and businesses and give examples of specialized businesses in the community.

 

Define barter, give examples of bartering (e.g. trading baseball cards with each other), and explain how money makes it easier for people to get things they want.

 

Give examples of goods and services provided by local businesses and industries.

 

Give examples of tax-supported facilities and services provided by local government such as public schools, park, recreational facilities, police, and fire departments, and libraries.

 

Sample Assessments:

Define if activities or services are tax supported or not;

 

Identify local businesses and local goods produced

 

Sample Learning Experiences

 

Interview family members about what taxes they pay, and what types of jobs they hold.