12th Grade Economics

There has been much debate about the role of corporations and how they function in today’s global society. Arguments abound as to whether or not these entities pay their fair share of taxes to the governments of the countries in which they operate and whether or not they have a social responsibility to act according to basic principles of human rights. Although corporations are said to provide jobs and direct investment in the economy, some argue that corporations should expand their missions to solve local and global problems. After considering the costs, benefits, and realities of corporate social responsibility (CSR), students should be able to make claims supported by evidence as to whether corporations should develop a conscience beyond their bottom line. This inquiry embeds the Taking Informed Action sequence throughout.

The Heart of Social Studies

Inquiries

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Corporate Social Responsibility

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Great Recession

This inquiry leads students through an investigation of the 2007–2008 subprime-mortgage crisis that ultimately led to the Great Recession, the worst economic downturn in the United States since the Great Depression of the 1920s. The US Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission concluded that the “crisis was avoidable” and that entire sectors of the economy (e.g., financial…

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Labor Market

This inquiry explores some of the dynamic changes occurring in the US labor markets through the investigation of the compelling question “Does it matter what I want to be when I grow up?” The importance of understanding labor markets in this inquiry is twofold: (1) students should be able to understand some of the changes…

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Free Trade

Nobel Prize–winning economist Milton Friedman once said, “There is a standard cliché which I am sure you have all heard, that if you have two economists in one room, you are bound to have at least three opinions.” Drawing on disciplinary experts who disagree on a fundamental free-market economic tenet, this inquiry asks students to…

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Economic Happiness

This inquiry leads students through an investigation of recent studies that try to quantify a country’s happiness through different economic measures. By investigating the compelling question about whether Americans could be happier, students consider the ways in which economic values (e.g., freedom, security, sustainability) impact our perspectives on happiness and the extent to which we…

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Gender Wage Gap

This twelfth grade annotated inquiry leads students through an investigation of a hotly debated issue in the United States: the gender wage gap. The compelling question “What should we do about the gender wage gap?” asks students to grapple not only with how to quantify and interpret the gap but also to consider ways of…

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