The Impact of Unemployment on Industry

GRADES: 5th – 8th
 

Guiding Questions: 

  • What impact does unemployment in one industry have on other industries?
  • What factors contribute to unemployment rates?
  • How did unemployment spread during the Great Depression?
  • How is unemployment currently influencing our economy today?

Objectives:  Students will 

  1. Demonstrate the “trickle-down” effect of unemployment.
  2. Understand the impact that unemployment had during the Great Depression.
  3. Recognize Tennessee industries that suffered during the Great Depression.
  4. Identify industries that are currently suffering or experiencing increased unemployment rates.

Assessments:

  • Assessment will be based on student-made charts about the trickle-down effects of unemployment in a chosen industry.

Procedure:   

  • As a class, read “The Rise of Unemployment” in the Great Depression section of the website. http://www.tn4me.org/article.cfm/a_id/65/minor_id/16/major_id/8/era_id/7 Download and print copies of the “How Unemployment Spreads” chart http://www.tn4me.org/images/upload/File/FlowChart.pdf and learn about the trickle-down effects of unemployment in the automotive industry.
  • Divide the students into small groups. Have them look at the “How Unemployment Spreads” chart. Pass out assigned industries. As a group, the students will speculate about connections to other industries, and substitute these different industries for those shown in the unemployment chart.  
  • Have the students design their own chart and present it to the class. Chart presentations can be followed by a discussion about the types of jobs whose employment rates might often be dictated by trickle-down effects and the state of the economy.

Extensions:

1.      Students can also research current unemployment statistics by investigating the Employment Situation on http://www.bls.gov/cps/. Have them discuss which jobs have been affected by the current economic downturn.
2.      Have students research which jobs are being affected by the stimulus bill passed by Congress in the spring of 2009.

Standards:

 State Standards
  • 5.2.01 Describe the potential costs and benefits of personal economic choices in a market economy.
    • B. Describe economic issues of the 1920’s and 1930’s.
  • 5.2.03 Understand fundamental economic concepts.
    • A. Explain how supply and demand affects production and consumption in the United States.
  • 5.2.spi.4. interpret economic issues as expressed in maps, tables, diagrams, and charts (i.e., automobile sales, unemployment rates, or airplane production).
  • 8.2.01 Understand fundamental economic concepts and their application to a variety of economic systems.
    • A. Describe the role that supply and demand, prices, incentives, and profits play in determining what is produced in a competitive market system.
    • E. Analyze the impact of economic phenomena within the free enterprise system such as supply and demand, profit, government regulation, and world competition on the economy of Tennessee and early America.
  • 8.2.02 Understand global economic connections, conflicts, and interdependence.
    • B. Apply economic concepts to evaluate historic and contemporary developments.
    • D. Analyze the impact of national and international markets and events on the production of goods and services in Tennessee and early America.