Who would consider teaching Arkansas history without including economics? I don’t think it could be done! To assist you, the Moore Center has collected or developed lessons or curricula on economics as it is applied to Arkansas history. Be sure check them out. They are all hands-on and activity based. Some, such as Ballooning through Arkansas History and Arkansas Park Development make good use of Internet resources. Don’t miss the special page on Economic Dimensions of Arkansas history including a lesson and an Internet based Jeopardy formatted game. Students and teachers LOVE it!
Economic Dimensions of Arkansas History
This curriculum was developed by the Bessie B. Moore Center for Economic Education in the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas.
Ballooning through Arkansas History: Experiencing Scarcity
Arkansas Then and Now: Specialized Production
Students work in groups using limited resources to produce goods to satisfy the wants of Arkansans.
Arkansas Park Development: Scarcity of Land
Students research the six natural divisions of the state to determine the location for a new state park. Due to scarcity of resources, only one new park can be developed. The goals of the park and the opportunity cost are important criteria to be considered in this important decision.
Arkansas: Specializing to Produce a Great State
Through active participation in assembling an Arkansas puzzle and playing a card game, the students will learn about specialization in early Arkansas. Interdependence and specialization come to life when students first produce Arkansas puzzles on their own and then in production groups. Students learn how division of labor can increase productivity. They then relate these economic concepts to their lives as they go out into the community and interview modern day specialists.
Cotton In My Sack
Early Arkansas Economies: A Scarcity of Goods
Hello, Buenos Dias, Bonjour: Arkansas and NAFTA
Through active participation in assembling an This lesson utilizes three types of reading strategies to teach the impact that NAFTA has had on the economy of Arkansas. Students will read a handout explaining NAFTA and its effects on Arkansas. Using a pre-reading activity, a vocabulary builder activity, and a comprehension activity, students will show their understanding of international trade, trade barriers, tariffs, imports and exports. These reading strategies have been proven to be effective to helping students increase their literacy and should be helpful to students taking the ACTAAP.
The Pioneer Log Cabin: Productive Resources in Arkansas
Sample Music
Arkansas Stories
Charley Sandage
Performed by: Harmony
Track 7: Sultana (2:44) |
Middle School Arkansas History w/Songs
These lessons were developed by middle school social studies/language arts education majors during the spring of 2006. Each lesson is based on one of Charley Sandage's songs from his Arkansas Stories CDs volume I or II.
- Arkansas Post
This lesson focuses on the trade among the French and the Indians at Arkansas Post. Students learn about the benefits of voluntary trade and the types of goods traded at the Post. The activity involves production of goods and costumes, assembling of desks into fort, and the actual trade of goods.
- Free Land
Students learn about life in Arkansas in 1811 and the New Madrid Earthquake. They learn how this natural disaster affected people's lives and started social programs to aid people in need. Students work in groups to understand how different Arkansans were impacted by this remarkable disaster.
- Pick My Cotton
Students learn about how the Civil War affected the lives of Arkansans, especially on cotton plantations. Slaves provided labor for the plantations. In the aftermath of the war new institutions emerged to provide labor and/or land resources went unused. Students are drawn into the lesson by the song about a steamboat that exploded killing many soldiers returning home.
About the song... Sultana
- Riding the Rails
This lesson has students research cities on the early railroads in Arkansas. They use an Arkansas map and then add train tracks through cities with train stations. The train created a positive economic impact on communities that later died as the rail industry became a less important form of transportation.
- Segregation
This lesson looks at segregation by exploring the costs of offering separate schools for blacks and whites. Students use mathematics to justify the best decision about costs of education. They debate their positions.
- Walking Through the Arkansas Post
This lesson focuses on the role of the Arkansas Post in the development of Arkansas and the Louisiana Territory. It focuses on the reasons for locating and continuously moving the Post. Students understand the importance of rivers for transportation in the early development of our state. They also learn about the Post as a trading center and for defense purposes.
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