Indiana Social Studies GE.1.6

Social StudiesGrades 9–12Basic Economic Concepts

The Standard

Explain measures of a country's economic performance such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP), unemployment, and inflation.

2026 Indiana Academic Standards: K-12 Social Studies

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students explain what GDP, unemployment, and inflation measure. They read a data table to describe changes in production, joblessness, and overall prices.
What Mastery Looks Like: Given real GDP, unemployment, and inflation figures for two years, a student correctly describes how each measure changed. They can explain why rising GDP does not mean every household is better off.
Common Misconceptions: Students may treat GDP as average income rather than total production. They may count retirees or people who stopped looking for work as unemployed. They may think inflation means every price rises.
How to Assess It: Exit ticket: Real GDP rises from $20 trillion to $21 trillion, unemployment falls from 6% to 4%, and inflation rises from 2% to 5%. Describe each change and give one reason these figures cannot show whether every household is better off.

Lesson moves

Give pairs grocery price tags from two years and a fixed shopping list; have them total both baskets and calculate the percent price change.
Present a factory that produces more after replacing workers with machines; ask students how GDP and unemployment could both rise.
Give groups six news cards about production, job searches, and prices; have them race to match each card to the correct measure.
Show the latest U.S. GDP, unemployment, and inflation figures from BEA and BLS; ask students to write a headline that mentions all three.

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