Indiana Social Studies GE.8.1

Social StudiesGrades 9–12Trade

The Standard

Define and explain the impact of trade barriers, such as quotas and tariffs, and analyze why countries erect them.

2026 Indiana Academic Standards: K-12 Social Studies

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students tell apart a tax on imports and a limit on how much can be imported. They explain who may gain or lose from each policy and why a country might use it.
What Mastery Looks Like: Given a tax on imported shoes or a limit on imported rice, a student names the right barrier. They predict an effect on buyers and local producers, then give a reason for the policy.
Common Misconceptions: Some students think a quota is a tax or that the exporting country pays a tariff directly. Others assume trade barriers help everyone, overlooking higher prices for buyers.
How to Assess It: Exit ticket: A country adds a $3 tax to imported shoes and limits imported rice to 1,000 tons. Name each barrier, predict one effect on buyers, and give one reason for either policy.

Lesson moves

Give groups 12 paper shoe tokens priced at $5; add a $2 import tax, then cap imports at six and compare costs and supply.
Ask: "Why might a country tax imported steel even if local builders pay more?" Have pairs name one group that benefits.
Hand out cards showing import taxes and import limits; teams sort them and name one likely winner for each card.
Print supermarket listings that show tomato origin and price; compare them, then predict how an import tax could change shelf prices.

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