Oklahoma Social Studies TOT.C.1.3.A

Social StudiesGrades 9–12Content Standards

The Standard

TOT.C.1.3: Examine the claim that private enterprise is exploitative and inequality the fault of capitalism.

Analyze the proposition that industrialization and free trade had alienated workers from the fruits of their labors.

Oklahoma Academic Standards for Social Studies (2026) · TOT.C.1.3

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students explain why factory workers might feel little control over the goods they make or the money those goods bring in. They weigh that concern against possible benefits of free trade, such as cheaper goods or more export jobs.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can distinguish a worker's wage from the sale price of a product without calling the whole difference profit. They can use evidence to explain how imports might hurt some workers while helping buyers or other workers.
Common Misconceptions: Students may assume everything left after wages goes to the owner, ignoring materials, rent, and other costs. They may also assume cheap imports always cut jobs, or that lower prices make up for any lost wages.
How to Assess It: Exit ticket: A local shirt sells for $20, with $5 in wages and $10 in other costs. An imported shirt sells for $15. Explain one way workers might be hurt and one reason these prices alone cannot prove they are worse off.

Lesson moves

Give groups 20 counters for a shirt sale: 5 for wages, 10 for other costs, and 5 for business surplus.
Ask students to write: 'Who controls a factory worker's product and pay, and how could imports change that?' Require one counterargument.
Give pairs worker, owner, and buyer cards; draw 'cheap imports' or 'new export orders' and predict each person's gain or loss.
Show two T-shirt labels from different countries and their price tags; ask which workers and buyers might gain or lose from imports.

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