SUBJECT: Economics
GRADE: High School
TECHNOLOGY: Spreadsheet
BY: Jennifer Zecher
Target Grade/Subjectt: 12th grade economics. This material will be covered at this
age because it fits the Virginia SOL’s. Also, students who are preparing to attend college will find
this lesson beneficial because they will eventually be taking
macroeconomics. The Gross National
Product is an important concept to understand in order to continue studying in
the field of economics. Also, as a
responsible citizen students should know how certain statistics are obtained.
Objectives:
Define GNP.
Students will be able
to explain why the GNP is not a totally accurate measure of a
nation’s output.
Students will be able to identify four streams of
expenditures that go into computing the GNP.
Explain NNP, NI, and PI.
Design a spreadsheet with the U.S. economic indicators from
1960-1995.
Convert the spreadsheet into a line graph or any other type
of graph.
Materials:
Billings, Henry F.
Introduction To Economics, EMC Publishing, St. Paul, Minnesota,
1991. Using Chapter 14: The Gross
National Product. This text is a
great introduction to the concepts related to the Gross National product.
Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet Program. This allows the student to see the
formulas in action without having to do them by hand. Also, the graphing will give a visual representation of the
U.S. economy.
Description of Lesson:
Students will be assigned to read Chapter 14 the night
before the classroom activity.
They will be given the following questions to answer for
homework:
What values make up the Gross National product?
Why is the GNP not an accurate value of a nation’s
total output?
What four streams of expenditure combine to form the GNP?
What are the NNP, NI, and PI?
I will discuss any questions they had with the reading. We will go over the answers to the
homework.
I will introduce the calculation activity using the
spreadsheet. In this exercise, I
will give the students the value of the GNP for the United States for the years
1960, 1970, 1980, 1990, 1994, and 1995.
Students will need to calculate the Net National
Product. The formula for this
is: GNP- Capital Consumption
Allowances = NNP.
Finding the National Income is alittle more
complicated. The formula is NNP-
indirect business tax and nontax liability- business transfer
payments-statistical discrepancy + subsidies less current surplus of government
enterprises = NI.
The last calculation is determining the Personal Income for
the U.S. from 1960 to 1995. The
formula is: NI- corporate profits
with inventory valuation and capital consumption adjustments- net interests-contributions
for social insurance – wage accruals less disbursements + goverment
transfer payments + Personal interest income + Personal dividend income +
Business transfer payments = Personal Income.
I will give the students all the numbers for the various
categories they need to calculate.
They will be able to find the values for the Net National Product,
National Income, and Personal Income from 1960-1995.
The graph they will create will be strictly their own
decision. It could be a pie graph,
bar graph, line graph or any other variation. As long as the trends of economic growth can be seen.
Evaluation Procedure:
Students must have all homework questions complete. (25 pts.)
Student must use the correct formulas on the spreadsheet to
calculate the Net National Product, National Income, and Personal Income of the
United States from 1960 to 1995.
(40 pts.)
Students can interpret the graph and view the U.S.
economy’s expansion. (35
pts.) This are will account for
neatness and presentation. The
students will have to summarize their findings based on their graph and
spreadsheet calculations.
All work must be done in class.