Civics and Economics

Civics and Economics

CE.1: The student will develop the social studies skills citizenship requires.

SOURCE: BBC Coverage of Election 2000 in Florida http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1372065.stm

This is the BBC news web site that discusses the Florida disenfranchisement from the Election of 2000. The news story talks about the problems with minorities getting to vote in the state of Florida during the last Presidential Election. It gives quotes and statistics from people involved in the election study. The article gives many perspectives on the issue and is not biased towards one opinion.

We chose this article because it had dealings with minority citizens and how their right to vote might or might not have been denied during the election of 2000. It gives the students perspectives on how some groups are treated during elections and other dealings with the government. We believe most students are not aware of the complicated process that goes on during an election and this article will show that issues can arise that makes it difficult to run an election. Students will be able to see the difficulties that can come when a citizen of a non-white background goes to vote.

This article can help students see the difference between fact and opinion by debating the article. The students could also use this article as a starting point to identify a problem and trying to find solutions for it. Students could also use this article to take a position on the issue of election reform and discuss it in a writing assignment or classroom discussion.

SOURCE Excerpts from Slave Narratives http://vi.uh.edu/pages/mintz/primary.htm

This website is a large source for primary sources. It covers the slave trade and living condition as a slave. It covers a broad spectrum of ideas as it begins with letters written about the actual enslavement, and then has writings, which cover the entire slave passage up to the emancipation. These are primary sources and they are from a variety of viewpoints, from those in favor of slavery and some from the writings of slaves themselves. I chose this website because of the large number of primary documents there are to review. Also the variety of viewpoints that it encounters shows the thoughts from many different peoples of that time period. It also shows the entire spectrum of slavery and does not just focus on one thing or another, therefore giving the student a good look at the issue.

This website is a great tool to use in the classroom. As mentioned earlier it uses a large number of primary sources, which helps students, learn to read these sources and how to use primary sources in history. The multicultural use is evident in the subject that will be studied but this resource offers a variety of viewpoints on a difficult topic. It allows the students to see writings from those in slavery and those who ran the slave trade, and study primary documents to better understand the situation. You could use it in activities, which cover studying primary documents, while showing the different opinions of the people during that period.

SOURCE The Immigration Today Webquest http://students.itec.sfsu.edu/EDT628/shovanes/index.htm

This source is a webquest that explores the issues of immigration. The students participating in this webquest are to imagine themselves as an editorial staff compiling information to publish a special series on contemporary immigration issues. The final products include a group multi-media newspaper and an individual editorial article. The students are assigned different jobs such as news editor, statistician, political correspondent, photojournalist and features editor. They work together to write and produce a comprehensive final newspaper series about immigration.

We chose this source because it allows the students to independently explore the issue of immigration. It also gives them a chance to explore and defend their own positions in writing. The webquest is very well written, and the directions are explicit and thorough. The level of work can be adjusted for middle school or high school. After completing this webquest, the students will incorporate a variety of issues pertaining to the topic of immigration into an understanding of the issue

This resource can be used as a supplement for information concerning immigration and naturalization. This webquest could represent a self-contained lesson on immigration. The author’s explicit directions enable this resource to be easily incorporated into the curriculum. The webquest includes links that expose the students to a variety of facts and viewpoints about immigration and the final product allows each student to synthesize the information gathered in this activity while writing a personal editorial. This activity could either precede or follow a lesson/discussion on the process of naturalization and a broader discussion of citizenship.

CE.2 Explaining the significance of…The Constitution of America of the United States, including the Bill of Rights

SOURCE Who is Elian Gonzalez? http://www.civics-online.org/students/explore.cfm

This website is a civics resource site which can be used by teachers and also has student resources. In the student resource area it covers the issue of Elian Gonzalez, and uses this case to bring out a lot of the issues that one may encounter when teaching civics. It asks the fundamental question of whether Gonzalez should stay or go, and then it has links to these documents, Declaration of Independence, What is an American?, Declaration of Sentiments, Emancipation Proclamation, I Have a Dream, and then has the student write their own opinion on the complicated issue. This was a great website and has some really good issues for the students to think about, and does a good job presenting them to the reader.

This is a great way to introduce the topics discovered in the documents which are included on this website. This website also provides a great deal of help for the teacher as well as a wide variety of resources for the students. This could be used as a lesson in its self as it would take a lot of time for the students to read through the documents, which are included and then form their opinion. Also you could use each document and split it into a jigsaw and use groups to form opinions only using one of the documents and then have a class discussion on why, or continue with the jigsaw.

CE.3 The student will demonstrate knowledge of citizenship and the rights, duties, and responsibilities of citizens.

SOURCE The Religious Freedom Page http://religiousfreedom.lib.virginia.edu/

This resource is maintained by the Center on Religion and Democracy at the University of Virginia. It includes information on various aspects of the issue of religious freedom, especially in a Constitutional context. The source provides information concerning religious freedom worldwide and within the United States. It discusses important court cases and organizations, as well as the idea of religious freedom in terms of the United States Constitution.

We chose this website because it is comprehensive and effectively organized. This site discusses the idea of religious freedom in many different contexts. Its focus on the Constitution and important court cases ties in well with the above-cited VSOL. These sections will prove most useful in the classroom setting

The section entitled “Court Decisions” could lend itself easily to a group collaborative project. Each group or various group members could concentrate on a specific case or group reporting its findings to the class. The information could also be used to create a personal essay, analyzing the issue of religious freedom and toleration. This resource could follow a discussion of the First Amendment and/or Bill of Rights. The site addresses a variety of different religions and could also be used in conjunction with further study of different types of religions practiced in the United States. This website reinforces the idea of toleration and respect of individual religious beliefs, an idea central to multicultural education.

SOURCE U.S. Immigration Online http://www.usaimmigrationservice.org/c.htm

This website is the official US immigration service website. It covers all the procedures on how to become a citizen of the United States, and the process that immigrants go through when applying for their green card. This resource is very useful when covering the topic of immigration in the US today, and shows the difficulty in becoming a citizen in the US. It is a valuable resource for the students to look at to understand the process of immigration and it is easy to navigate as well. Also it is an official US website so the material is reliable.

This resource could assist a classroom lesson in a lot of ways. It would be most useful when covering the topic of immigration and the process it requires. You could use this website as a resource to assist a final project which would have the students apply for a visa card, including taking the citizenship test. The students could use this website to guide there project and to use as a guideline for the assignment. It could also be used in a comparison to early 19^th century immigration to modern immigration procedures.

CE.4 The student will demonstrate knowledge of personal character traits that facilitate thoughtful and effective participation in civic life.

SOURCE Patriotism Webpage http://www.patriotism.org/index.html

This is a website created by Miami-Dade County Public School to help educate their students about American culture and heritage. The school states that their multicultural curriculum is designed to meet the needs of “the cultures represented in our community.” This website provides information about National Holidays and asks students to think about why they are important.

We chose this website because it meets the criteria in VSOL CE.4 through explanations of the various holidays. It covers all major holidays and explains why they are important. Themes of honesty, respect, responsibility, and patriotism in civic life are prominent in this website. A lesson plan is attached to each holiday as well, which suggests different classroom activities.

This site lends itself easily to lessons because each holiday already has activities that go along with them. The teacher could use these activities and modify them to his/her own classroom. Another thing a teacher could do would be to have a jigsaw activity using the holidays. The students could be broken into groups. Within those groups each student could be given a holiday and time to research it on this website. After they have read about the holiday they can teach each other its importance.

CE.5 The students will demonstrate knowledge of the political process at the local, state, and national levels of government.

SOURCE The Democratic National Committee Website http://www.democrats.org/issues/index.html

This site is the website for the Democratic National Committee. This site was paid for and put together by the DNC so it is a subjective democratic view of the American political system. There is a section that gives basic information about Democrats such as the party’s history and the main people in the Democratic party. The site has a section of news/issues which are news of interest specifically to the Democratic Party such as the DNC Chairman’s statement on Black History Month or an article about the impact of Trent Lott’s statements on the political world. Additionally, a student can find out where Democrats stand on issues and find out other current events in their local area (by state). The web site also offers opportunities for people to become involved with the DNC and contact local or state representatives on the state or national level.

We chose this site because it gives a lot of current information on where the Democratic Party stands on a group of diverse and multicultural issues. Some of these subjects include: civil rights, children, immigration, voting rights and women. In addition, the site is accessible to Spanish speakers. Everything that is available in English is also available in Spanish if the site explorers click on the “en espanol” section. Since one VSOL is to compare the similarities and differences among the political parties, this site gives the most current information and a general overview of how the Democratic National Committee views issues facing the nation.

Our first instinct was to use this website to compare it to the Republican National site. We figured that the students could have a graphic organizer that would compare the two parties. They would have to fill in the information about where the parties stand on many of the diverse issues. However, the Republican site did not have a lot of information from multicultural perspectives. The students could still use the DNC site and find the Republican information elsewhere (instead of in one central site). The site could also be used to keep a running record or a journal of current events that address multicultural issues. The students could follow specific issues and then write a reaction saying if they agree or disagree with the Democratic policy or if they would side with the Republicans.

SOURCE Creating Jim Crow http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/history/creating2.htm

This page is part of a comprehensive website that addresses life under the Jim Crow laws from many different angles. This particular page provides a brief history of Jim Crow, with an emphasis on the political rights of blacks during this period. I chose this site because many students have come to take voting for granted in today’s political atmosphere. I want my students to understand that the vote has not always been so universal, and that many areas of government went to great lengths to prevent the black population from participating in elections. This essay presents a fairly comprehensive discussion of the creation of Jim Crow culture, and I think that my students would benefit more from seeing the whole picture, as opposed to simply discussing the poll tax and grandfather clause as separate entities.

The discussion of Jim Crow laws, particularly in regards to political rights, presents a picture of a chapter of our history that we, as a nation, have tried hard to forget. I believe that students need to know about this period, so that they can have a fuller understanding of the civil rights movement and of the progress that this nation has made in extending political rights to all. For classroom instruction, I would probably use this article in a jigsaw activity. The material is somewhat dense, and I think that students would benefit from specializing in one area and then putting everything together in a larger picture. This activity would be followed up with an opportunity for student-centered discussion, helping students to gain a more complete understanding of life under Jim Crow.

CE.6: The student will demonstrate knowledge of the American constitutional government .

SOURCE Academy Curricular Exchange: Social Studies http://ofcn.org/cyber.serv/academy/ace/soc/inter.html

This website was designed by the Organization for Community Networks which is a non-profit corporation based out of Ohio. This organization has a group called the Academy which provides a curriculum exchange for different subjects on different grades. This particular link contains a list of social studies lesson plans from the Columbia Education Center’s Summer Workshop that will reach students in grades 6-8. It offers many different ways for children learn about their government. Students are given opportunities to voice their opinions and ideas about government and politics.

We chose this website because it meets some of the criteria of SOL CE.6. It has activities that are designed to be relevant to the student’s lives. Many of the lesson plans focus on using actual people as sources which brings in many diverse perspectives not available in a textbook. The lessons work hard to reach students that may be “hard to reach” through traditional classroom methods. Additionally, it incorporates events that are important to the students in and outside of the community.

The lessons are already organized by grade level and subject matter. However, they can be modified based on the level of the students. Many of the activities involve students forming groups and doing jigsaws and other activities. The information can be used throughout the year since some of the activities involve using current events and relating them to what the students are learning in class specifically in relation to the way state or national governments function. There are also relevant lessons that involve role playing situations where the students can act as politicians within the government structure.

SOURCE Home of the Alaskan Independence Party http://www.akip.org
Cascadian National Party http://www.angelfire.com/wa3/cascadia/index.html
Hawaii – Independent and Sovereign http://hawaii-nation.org
Puerto Rican Independence Party http://www.independencia.net/ingles/welcome.html

Each of these websites offers the views, platforms, and positions of some of political parties that feel marginalized by their current interactions with the federal government. Not surprisingly, each of these states or regions is either quite far away from Washington D.C. or separated from the contiguous nation by ocean or another nation. These sites each offer extensive information about the views of these parties. I chose these sites because many students, especially here in Virginia, feel very close ties to the federal government, due to both geographic and historical proximity. I think it would be very productive for a class to be able to see the perspectives of Americans in distant regions of this nation, to show that the general Virginian perception of government is not universal.

These sites would be quite useful in helping students to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship between state and federal government. By providing four different sites, students will realize that this feeling of marginalization is not held by just a few extremists, but that these sentiments are present in many areas of our country. If I were to use these sites in class, I would probably set up a structured group activity with about six students per group. So as to avoid going to the computer lab, I would probably print out relevant pages from each site (platform, history, editorials, etc.) and distribute copies to each group. The students would then work to present a group presentation arguing for the independence of each area. Presentations would be followed by a question-and-answer/debate period, in which students would have to defend their statements with further evidence.

CE.7: The student will demonstrate knowledge of how public policy is made at the local, state, and federal levels of government.

SOURCE http://www.naacp.org/work/voter/voter_empowerment.shtml NAACP Voter Registration

This is the NAACP’s voter education web site. The site offers a variety of ways to get involved in politics as well we some information on the important issues on the NAACP’s platform. There is a section for youth and college aged students that tries to get young people out and involved in campaigns and elections. The web site uses the principles of registration, education, and mobilization to get communities to vote.

We chose this site because it offered interesting statistics and plenty of information on how interest groups, with citizens as members, can try to implement policy changes. The site gives many different ways that people can get involved in the political world. It has sections for every type of issue and for all age groups. One of the most important sections is the voter registration page that tries to get people registered to vote.

There are multiple ways a teacher could use this web site. One would be to use it as an example during a lecture on interest groups and how they effect public opinion with an emphasis on minority groups. The teacher could also use the web site as an example in an activity where students search for other similar sites that have information about minority group issues. The students could assess which ways work best to have the groups’ agenda heard. This site also provides a section on finding a speaker from the NAACP. They focus on bringing in speakers that “touch peoples’ hearts and minds and empower them to take action.” A teacher could find a speaker to come in and talk to the class from this site.

CE.8 The student will demonstrate knowledge of the judicial systems established by the Constitution of Virginia and the Constitution of the United States by explaining court proceedings in civil and criminal cases.

SOURCE The Justice Project: Campaign for Criminal Justice Reform http://justice.policy.net/cjreform
Pro-Death Penalty.Com http://www.prodeathpenalty.com

These two sites represent polar opposite views on the issue of the death penalty in the United States. The Justice Project is committed to bringing an end to the death penalty, claiming that this practice is both unethical and unjust. They cite many examples of death penalty cases that have been overturned, as well as compelling statistics regarding the perceived racial bias in the system. Pro-Death Penalty.Com takes the opposite position in the debate, providing testimonies from the families of murder victims and news stories about convicted killers that have been released from prison, only to kill again. I chose these sites because I think students would be able to gleam from them a greater understanding of this aspect of the criminal court system. By seeing both sides of the issue, hopefully my students would be able to begin to formulate their own opinions on the death penalty.

To cover this material in class, I would divide the students into two debating teams. The students would be given time to research on their own and would be guided to particularly pertinent pages on the sites. In order to help students look at this issue from a multicultural perspective, I would direct both groups to areas of the sites that address racial bias in the death penalty system, and I would make sure that this issue was one of the key points of debate. The debate would be structured as two separate debates, so that there are two groups within the class arguing each side of the issue. After the debates, we would then reconvene as a class to discuss the results of the activity. I think that this type of debate would be of great value, helping the students to formulate informed opinions on the issue. This lesson would also hopefully teach them to look at the death penalty from the perspectives of those affected, not just from the views of the dominant political parties.

CE.9 The student will demonstrate knowledge of how economic decisions are made in the marketplace.

SOURCE Understanding Economics.
http://www.cyberschool.k12.or.us/ petit_v/colleague/petit.html.

This site offers nine excellent lesson plans about various economics topics listed under this standard, including economic systems, supply and demand, the stock market, U.S. business structures, among others. The lessons typically include short descriptions of the topics, followed by interactive activities that build upon this knowledge. The lessons assume no prior knowledge of economics, and they use analogies to describe economic concepts that can be understood by all students. These lessons easily can be adapted to the appropriate age and ability level, and also can be amended to meet specific lesson objectives.

These nine lessons are packed with valuable information. They can be accessed by teachers for review about economic concepts, they can form the basis of mini-lectures about these concepts, and each lesson is supplemented by activities that reinforce the key points of the lesson. These lessons require input of data and ideas from students and encourage active learning. Each lesson also includes many related hyperlinks which are cited at the appropriate points in the lesson. Also, many of the activities are fun!

The primary reason it fosters a multicultural perspective is that it values the input of the students who use the site. Most of the activities ask students to answer questions about the material, and their answers are evaluated. The site requests students to register for e-mail updates and periodic activities, and it also asks them their opinion of the site and its features. It also asks students to enter information that can be added to the data aggregate. In addition, the site is very international. One lesson about the value of money uses relative values of various national currencies to demonstrate its points, with neutral (non-judgmental) terminology. These activities would serve well as homework assignments or in think-pair-share activities in a computer-equipped classroom.

CE.10: The student will demonstrate knowledge of the structure and operation of the United States economy.

SOURCE National Black Chamber of Commerce Small Business Resource Guide http://www.nationalbcc.org/programs/capital/finresguide.htm

This is a comprehensive guide for minority-owned businesses. It isn’t specific to minorities, though. Information in this guide includes financial terms, descriptions of financial programs for individuals and businesses, business-planning assistance, and state-specific guides.

We chose this site because it offers a wide variety of resources. It covers the first and third section off the SOL quite well. It links to Virginia resources, which could lead to more study of the fourth section. While the site is geared for African-American business creation, the information on it is applicable to other minorities as well as those students not in minority groups.

Students could develop a list of state and federal programs assisting entrepreneurs. Another thing the class could do is analyze the different types of financial institutions that assist with investing and business ownership. With this they could develop a ‘menu’ that would link different types of financial needs with the most appropriate institutions. A third thing students could do is obtain information from the state resources on the different types of companies in Charlottesville. Student groups could contact companies in their field of interest to get more information on global opportunities and how these are changing in respect to new technologies. This could lead to job shadowing, site visits, and other hand-on applications.

SOURCE Focus-Middle School Economics: Lesson #1 The Path Not Taken. http://econed-in.org/lesson_plans/focus_ms.1.html.

The source is a middle school lesson plan that is linked to an entire series of lesson plans about economics. The lesson plan in this site is explicitly about opportunity costs; that is, the value of the alternative plans that were decided against. After reading a brief biography of Madam C.J. Walker, students are asked to construct flow charts about the economic decisions made by Walker, and the opportunities she decided against. This seems an ironic person to choose for forgone opportunities, since this woman born to former slaves carefully chose her business path, built a large company out of nothing, and became a millionaire by 1920. So, a primary lesson within the lesson is the amazing obstacles of racism and sexism that this entrepreneur overcame.

The central character in this lesson is an African American woman who was born to slaves only two years after the end of slavery, and who became a wealthy entrepreneur. She is the type of character who is a likely hero for middle school girls who are not acculturated to view the business world as a woman’s place. This African-American broke down barriers for blacks and for women at a very early and unlikely time in U.S. history, and it seems to me that she should be a household name!

The paragraph above addresses its usefulness as a multicultural resource. In addition, web-based information about economics derives from a white, male perspective and is aimed at the white middle class. I was unable to find information explicitly about economics and multiculturalism, so finding this black female from the 19^th century was so remarkable. She can be utilized as an important historical figure in economics lessons about entrepreneurs and in American history lessons.

CE.11: The student will demonstrate knowledge of the role of government in the United States economy.

SOURCE Closing / The Life and Death of an American Factory http://www.emji.net/bamberger/

This is a site of photographs and audio files from the 1993 closing of a North Carolina furniture factory. It has a number of photos of the factory and its workers. It also has quite a few interviews with workers as the plant was closing on a number of subject relating to the factory and community as well as American business and economics.

We chose this site because it shows a number of men and women who are diverse in ethnicity and age, and because it has some excellent photography. The site and subject are recent, so it will help eliminate some of the problems with historical photographs in class (the clothes will look familiar, the cars won’t be so old). Also, it’s combination of visual and audio presentation appeals to different learning styles while being a great way to introduce some economic concepts through their real application.

One thing the students could do is analyze the factors that contributed to the closing This could be done through the information on the site as well as contacting some of the people in the photos and interviews. A second suggestion would be for students to research on recent factory closings in this area and their impacts on this community. We may find that some of the students have personal experiences here. A third suggestion is that students could look at existing federal programs that may help keep business going such as tax incentives, loans or bankruptcy protections. They could then research which of these were used or not used in this case. Further, they could evaluate whether these programs need to change in order to help businesses compete more strongly in the marketplace, and make recommendations accordingly.

SOURCE A Pedestrian’s Guide to the Economy. http://www.amosweb.com/pdg/.

The site is a clearinghouse for topics on the economy, from public goods and services, and taxation, to inflation, interest rates, and foreign trade. The site is divided into two major sections: “The Seven Facts of Economic Life”, and “A Whole Bunch of Issues”. If those titles sound lighthearted, then you understand the tone of the writing. The breadth of topics is very wide and each one is addressed very thoroughly, without being pedantic. The topics are not aimed specifically at middle or secondary students, but the content can be tailored to both of those levels. The site is also well-organized and contains many links to additional sites.

I admire this source for taking a dry subject and making it more lively. No topic is addressed in theoretical terms. Instead, the topics are discussed through the experiences of a certain “Shady Valley” community and its citizens. In these stories, the people are realistic, because (for example) they want to pay as low a tax rate as they can, the politicians are very concerned about getting re-elected, and the business owners all want to make a lot of money. Without being cynical, the writing places economic concepts in a context that everyone, including students, can easily relate with. Since each topic brings another story about Shady Valley, you’ll want to read on as though you’re reading a novel.

I think this site assists a multicultural perspective because it addresses controversial subjects with an even-handed approach. It addresses sensitive issues such as privatizing government services and paying down the national debt without sounding like a raving Libertarian, while it addresses the necessity of taxes and the many benefits of public goods in society without sounding like an ultra-Liberal. Its pedestrian (as in the title) tone doesn’t assume its readers are economists, but it doesn’t talk down to the reader either. It is multicultural primarily in its accessibility and usefulness to a very wide audience. By creating the fictitious community of “Shady Valley” and many plot lines addressing various economic topics, the authors enable teachers and students to create their own story lines to illustrate additional issues. It empowers students who may have difficulty grasping mathematical or logical /analytical concepts to learn through a linguistic and interpersonal way.

CE.12: The student will demonstrate knowledge of career opportunities.

SOURCE Feature Story: One Woman’s Story of Marketing on the Internet Asian Women in Business www.awib.org.

This is a case study of Julie Azuma, who started a company selling toys for learning disabled children in 1995. This article covers the SOL quite well--her learning to use technology, funding to start the business, how she personalizes a computer business, and how she came to choose this business.

We chose the source because it’s an example of how the Internet can be a start-up for business, how personal needs can be translated into business ideas, and how individuals can market their ideas while still maintaining their family obligations. Finally, we chose it because it does not have a lot of jargon—it makes the idea of business ownership personal instead of daunting. This would be particularly important in a junior high school class which is when these SOLs are addressed.

This website is friendly to students in a lot of ways so it would be easy to use in a classroom. Ms. Azuma’s contact information is listed, so students could develop a set of questions and then get her responses. This site might also encourage students to search for similar success stories and also contact these business owners with a list of questions.

Also, the class could come up with a list of characteristics of the business owners that cut across cultural lines based upon online research or business owner interviews. Another way this site might be useful is it would inspire students to develop their own business ideas that would incorporate the Internet and/or other technologies.

SOURCE Career Exploration. http://csis.pace.edu/schools/nr/sorourke/sorlesson.htm.

This is a site created by two middle school teachers who wanted to give middle school kids a chance to explore different jobs and careers and then to write about them. It is composed entirely of descriptions of various jobs that these students have researched in their communities, and then have reported on at this web site. The site is organized alphabetically by job title, and many titles have several descriptions written by different students. The site is constantly evolving, and it asks students to register and to add their work to the site. This site also has several links to other sites (which are not compiled by students) with information pertaining to career opportunities.

I think that this site is a great resource for pre-teens to learn about various jobs from people whom they can best learn from: their peers. Although all of the information may not be entirely accurate (according to adults), it addresses the topics that the studentsthemselves want to learn. I like that it encourages students to do research (and is therefore student-centered), and it puts a high value on their efforts (after all, it’s valuable enough to be accessible to millions of readers!)

This source is multicultural because it values information generated entirely by children. It seems to be a thoroughly democratic concept, since it invites the input of all kids without censoring the viewpoints of anyone. It also assists a multicultural perspective by concentrating on a topic that is not explicitly in the school curriculum, but is one that is in the forefront of most kids’ minds: what am I going to be when I grow up? Teachers may use this site in many ways. Kids can use it as a source to learn about various careers in an economics unit about careers. Teachers can have their students post essay assignments about careers on this site. Therefore the site becomes the final assessment for a unit on careers. Information already posted on the site assists the teacher in modeling the writing activity. I love this site!