Indiana Social Studies GE.3.5
The Standard
Assess the influence of monopolies and oligopolies on marketplaces.
2026 Indiana Academic Standards: K-12 Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students identify when a market has one seller or a few large sellers. They explain how limited competition can affect prices, choices, and new businesses trying to enter.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can compare a town with one internet provider to a town with three. They can predict possible effects on prices and choices, then support the prediction with evidence.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may call any popular company a monopoly, even when buyers have other choices. They may assume a few large sellers always agree on prices, or that fewer sellers always means higher prices.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: One town has one internet provider, and another has three. Predict one effect on prices or choices in each town, and explain your reasoning.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give five buyers tokens and run two rounds selling identical pencils, first with one seller, then with three. Record prices.
Ask students to write: Why might three airlines serving one route still charge high fares? Have them consider airport gate fees.
Give pairs market cards showing seller counts and startup costs. Have them sort the cards, then predict prices and choices.
Have students compare internet providers available at two local addresses. Ask what the number of providers might mean for customers.
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Printable GE.3.5 Worksheet
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Related Standards
- GE.4.6
Evaluate the effects of trade agreements among nations and barriers to trade.
- E.3.2
Compare and contrast the basic characteristics of the four market structures: monopoly, oligopoly, monopolistic competition, and pure competition.
- E.3.3
Explain how competition in markets affects price and quantity.
- 3.E.6
Explain that prices are influenced by interactions between buyers and sellers in markets.
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