We started with stocks. We discussed the globally networked marketplace and the fact that they are a game of chance. Companies that have good reputations do well and sell shares. Those with bad reputations have difficulties selling shares. There was a brief introduction to DAX. Selling shares helps the company make money. Buying shares benefits the investor because they have a share in the company and money. There are risks involved when investing. Stocks are shares of the company. Bonds are government I.O.U.s.

Ben remained engaged in an interactive digital platform/video activity and lesson, which used the Nearpod tool to discuss economics the history of the stock exchange. He also updated his stock market game.

Ben started by populating some of the spaces in his Stock Market Game. He was struggling with it, so I guided him through the process. Then, he felt successful doing it on his own.
After that, we started the Nearpod video called "The Great Depression". First of all, they explained that The Great Depression and the stock market crash of 1929 were not the same thing. They focused on the credit and installment payments banks were receiving. During this time, the farmers expanded and mechanized thus leaving them with overproduction and low prices. This caused a massive unemployment with margin buying. Some of the causes of The Great Depression were weak banking systems, credit froze up, and deflation. Banks had no money and couldn't loan companies money nor could they make payroll so people lost wages and ultimately lost their jobs. Herbert Hoover said that World War I was the reason for The Great Depression. Some of the reasons given were that credit dried up and caused global problems, the US raised tariffs and less people bought goods, and the gold standard of world finances froze up and hiked up taxes. (Ben's mother arrived, so we had to end the video.

We discussed the Stock Market Game and the fact that he had completed his homework assignment. Ben chose multiple companies to follow in the Stock Market. I showed him how to look up the values and dividends for each day.
Then, we explored two Nearpod lessons. The first lesson was "How Does the Stock Market Work?". Some takeaways were that private citizens invest in companies, companies advertise, companies go live with an IPO, they buy and sell and focus on supply and demand, if a company appears to be on the decline, investors sell, and long-term investments to avoid the ups and downs of the daily stock price.
Next, we watched "Is the Stock Market Just a Big Casino?". It was mentioned that 1/2 of all Americans do not invest in the Stock Market. A stock is a share/percentage of a company. The S&P 500 is "a broad-based index that includes the cross-section of economic sectors like information technology, healthcare and consumer discretionary, as well as major companies in the financial, energy, industrial, and consumer durable sectors." As consumers we can diversify our money and invest in many different companies. It is also important to have long-term investments that mature over time. Las Vegas casinos have payouts that are set at a certain percentage. Brokerage firms can help you invest with a commission or fee for their services. Consumers may also have mutual funds from retirement funds from their workplaces.

Ben and I discussed his homework from last week. He said he forgot to do it. We'll discuss it at the end of class.
We dove into "What Gets in the Way of Free Trade?" Ben discussed that countries/companies themselves get in the way of free trade. We watched a few videos and slideshows related to free trade. We determined that if we have a recession or have companies pulling out of trade agreements, we'll be in trouble.

I asked Ben to tell me what he knows about stocks and the Stock Market. He explained that he knew enough to know that you shouldn't invest in it. Then, I began by having him view the Why Should We Invest? Nearpod lesson. The takeaway was compound interest is the way to go when investing. Next, we explored the What Is a Stock? Nearpod. The takeaways were securities (shares in a company), it's all a game of chance, and the DAX Share Index.
I introduced the Stock Market Game and told him I would email it to his parents.

Student was absent. He will work on the Stock Market game at home.

We started off by going over his homework from yesterday. Then, we dove right into a Nearpod.com lesson entitled "The 3 Laws of Economics". The first law explored was "Self Interest". We learned that people have a stake in what they buy or trade. The second law was "Competition". We learned that businesses would go to great lengths to win consumers. And the third law was "Supply and Demand". We learned that supply and demand determine profits or losses.
Next, we discussed trade. Ben explained that Taiwan has 98% of the technology/supercomputer market. After that, Ben expressed that gold is what we should be investing in right now and how he has seen the value of gold go up and continue to go up. Lastly, Ben perused the stock market. He expressed some highs and lows.

I asked Ben to navigate to nearpod.com so we could view two lessons. The first one was "Meet Your Teacher". The second one was about Globalization and Poverty. As we went through the lesson, I asked Ben questions along the way that related to the topic. We learned that the iPhone is helping poor countries leapfrog into the current technology. We learned "Profits before People" is what is keeping the poor countries from improving.

I was online and ready to engage Ben to redo his unit assignment.