Indiana Social Studies E.5.3
The Standard
Identify the different causes of inflation (i.e., cost-push and demand-pull), and explain the impact of inflation on economic decisions.
2026 Indiana Academic Standards: K-12 Social Studies · Students explain that because resources are limited, people must make choices, understanding the role that supply, demand, prices, and profits play in a market economy. Key elements of the course include study of scarcity and economic reasoning, supply and demand, market structures, the role of government, national economic performance, the role of financial institutions, economic stabilization, and trade.
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students identify whether rising prices come from stronger demand or higher business costs. They explain how inflation changes what people can buy and the choices households and businesses make.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can explain why a spending surge and a rise in shipping costs can each push prices up. They can show how a fixed grocery budget buys fewer items and choose what to cut.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may call a price increase for one product inflation. They may mix up more people buying goods with businesses paying more to make them. Some assume a raise always offsets inflation, even when prices rise faster than pay.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: A storm raises shipping costs for many stores. In a separate case, shoppers spend new $500 bonuses. Label the cause of rising prices in each case and name one spending choice a household might change.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Run a paper bakery: keep loaves fixed and add buyer tokens, then raise flour costs; students set prices after each change.
Ask students to write what they would change if weekly groceries rose from $50 to $65 but their pay stayed the same.
Hand out six event cards, including a fuel shortage and a holiday spending surge; students sort them by cause and explain their choices.
Give students a grocery flyer and a $60 budget, then raise every price by 10%; they revise their shopping lists.
Free download
Printable E.5.3 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to E.5.3, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.
Download the worksheetKeep exploring
Related Standards
- E.1.2
Identify incentives and explain how they influence economic behavior and decision-making.
- GE.5.7
Investigate the effect of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), unemployment, and inflation on economies.
- GE.5.5
Analyze the effects that higher or lower interest rates can have on economic growth and inflation.
- E.5.4
Explain the causes and effects of business cycles in a market economy.
Turn this exact standard into a lesson
Grade, subject, topic, and the complete standard are prefilled. Create one free, no account needed.
Also for this standard:Make a WorksheetMake a QuizMake a Sub Lesson