Georgia SS7E10

Social Studies7th GradeSouthern and Eastern Asia

Georgia Standard (Element Cluster)

Understand that a basic principle of effective personal money management is to live within one's income.

Georgia Standards of Excellence for Social Studies

Cluster contents

SS7E10 is a Georgia social studies standard. These are the elements under it.

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students compare income with expenses and make spending choices that do not exceed earnings. They build a simple budget, separate needs from wants, and cut costs when expenses are too high.
What Mastery Looks Like: Given an income and a list of expenses, students can calculate whether the budget has a surplus or deficit. They can revise a deficit budget and explain their choices.
Common Misconceptions: Students may treat credit cards or loans as extra income. They may also forget irregular expenses, spend on wants before needs, or assume savings only includes money left over.
How to Assess It: Give students a $1,800 monthly income and $1,950 in listed expenses. Ask them to identify the problem and make two specific changes to balance the budget.

Lesson moves

Give pairs $2,000 in play money and expense cards, then have them fund needs, savings, and wants without overspending.
Ask students to write which expense they would cut first when a budget exceeds income by $150, and explain why.
Run a budget relay where teams total expense cards, label surplus or deficit, and swap one card to balance each budget.
Have students use a sample first-job paycheck and a grocery flyer to create a weekly plan that stays within take-home pay.

Free download

A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to SS7E10, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.

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