Alabama Social Studies SS24.E.9c

Social Studies12th GradeGovernment in Economics

The Standard

SS24.E.9: Explain how fiscal and monetary policy influence price stability, employment, and economic growth, citing examples from the past hundred years.

Correlate fluctuations in government deficits over time to the extent of national debt during those periods.

2024 Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students compare yearly deficits with the total national debt over several years. They track how each year's deficit adds to debt, even when the deficit is smaller than the year before.
What Mastery Looks Like: Given a starting debt and a list of annual deficits, a student calculates the debt after each year. They can explain why debt still rises in a year when the deficit falls.
Common Misconceptions: Students may treat the annual deficit and the total debt as the same number. They may also think a smaller deficit means the debt went down, rather than grew more slowly.
How to Assess It: Exit ticket: Starting debt is $100 billion. The next three yearly deficits are $10 billion, $5 billion, and $20 billion. Find the debt after each year and explain what happens in year two.

Lesson moves

Give pairs 100 counters for starting debt, then have them add counters for deficits of 10, 5, and 20 each year.
Ask students to write two sentences answering: Why does debt rise when the annual deficit falls from $10 billion to $5 billion?
Give groups deficit and surplus cards; have them draw three cards and update a debt ledger after each draw.
Have students graph U.S. annual deficits and year-end debt for 2020 and 2021 using Treasury Fiscal Data.

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