Economics Project - iPhone Example

Below is a sample project created for assessment purposes only. The intention is to look at the rubric to assess if it meets all the standards for this project. If yes, how does it meet them? If no, what can we do to make sure it does? Hint: this project does demonstrate a lot of learning; however, there is definitely room for improvement - your challenge is to identify the next steps to make it better.

For the past few weeks, we have been studying economics and trying to answer the compelling question:

How does economics impact the individual and society.

For this unit, we showed our learning by choosing a product or company and producing supporting questions. I chose iPhones. My supporting questions - with the key concepts highlighted - were:

1. What role does innovation play in the product of iPhones?
2. What are the global and/or local costs and benefits of iPhones?
3. What are iPhones so much higher than competitor product prices.

I decided to create a website to show my learning because I wanted to be able to embed different media. A website also allowed me to present the information I found in easy-to-read sections.

Take 4 minutes to watch my presentation below.

All done? Visit my site here and then take complete the Quizizz on the 'Test Yourself' page to see what you have learned.

Remember to come back and let us know what you learned or post any questions you have!

Update:
Now that we've completed this activity, I've embedded your feedback below. To add to this and make expectations clear, I would remind you:

• you do not need to include every economic term in your video, because the economic terms are already in your materials in a way that shows your understanding
• speaking slowly and clearly is very important
• notice the typo in the 3rd supporting question above - such errors easily be avoided by having a peer or family member check your work 
• if citing, use MLA format and then add to your Sources / Works Cited / Bibliography section of your presentation

Was this helpful? Let us know in the comments.

Happy learning and put your best effort into your project - I'm sure they will be fascinating and we will learn a lot from each other!

The International Trade Game

Today we launched our economics unit with a simulation called 'The International Trade Game'. Students were grouped into countries and asked to manufacture products (shapes) with the technology (tools), finance (money), natural resources (paper) and knowledge at their disposal. Little did they know that the countries had uneven resources and - just like in the real world - some had relatively little technology with lots of natural resources (Leah suggested this was like East Timor), while others had lots of technology and knowledge, but few natural resources (Yilin mentioned this was similar to Singapore). This lead to some initial confusion and cries of 'Not fair!' but they soon got on with trying to find ways to make the best of their situations.

Negotiations were heated - sometimes successful, sometimes not.

It was fascinating to see how students negotiated, bartered, traded and even stole from each other in order to come out with the most money. Some countries chose to work together for their mutual benefit, while others were ruthless in their exploitation of others. Just like in the real world, incidents affected the outcomes such as strikes (when equipment was removed from teams for a limited period of time), discovery of new resources (usually in the poorer countries) and sanctions (for when countries behaved in ways other countries did not approve).

Workers working, traders trading, and negotiators negotiating!

Sign in with your ISKL account to see more pictures and video footage from the activity here.

Once the time limit had elapsed, we came together for a debrief. During this discussion, we talked about how the simulation reflected the real world. To watch students' takeaways, see the video below.

If you're interested in hearing more from the students, check out their blogs on the right-hand side where you'll find their reflections on the activity.

Whatever you do, happy learning!