Oklahoma Social Studies WG.P.2.4.C

Social StudiesGrades 9–12Social Studies Practices

The Standard

WG.P.2: Use interdisciplinary tools to acquire, apply, and evaluate content understanding of the four strands of social studies.
WG.P.2.4: Identify the principles of economic systems and develop an understanding of the benefits of a market system in local, national, and global settings.

Evaluate the impact, both intended and unintended, of government policies on market outcomes at national and global levels, past and present.

Oklahoma Academic Standards for Social Studies (2026) · WG.P.2.4

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students track how a tariff changes prices, jobs, and trade at home and abroad. They compare past and recent policies, then judge whether the planned gains outweighed the side effects.
What Mastery Looks Like: Given price and trade data from 1930 and 2018, a student identifies who gained and who paid more in each case. They use the data to judge whether each tariff met its goal.
Common Misconceptions: Students may think a foreign government pays a tariff, when the importer pays it and may pass the cost to buyers. They may assume a gain for one industry helps the whole economy, or miss the effects of retaliation.
How to Assess It: Exit ticket: A tariff helps local steel mills sell more, raises costs for carmakers, and leads another country to tax farm exports. Name the intended gain and two unintended costs, then say who faces each cost.

Lesson moves

Give pairs cards labeled steel sales, carmaker costs, and farm export losses; have them sort intended and unintended effects at home and abroad.
Ask students to write: Did the 2018 steel tariffs help domestic mills enough to justify higher costs for carmakers? Use one figure to support your answer.
Run a card match: teams pair 1930 and 2018 tariff scenarios with price, sales, and retaliation outcomes, then explain one match.
Show price tags for local and imported honey jars; add a $2 import tariff and have students predict which shoppers and sellers gain or lose.

Free download

A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to WG.P.2.4.C, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

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