EconEdLink: Where Does the Money Come From?

Icebreaker Activity

• Begin with a quick discussion on what students already know about taxes.
  • Ask questions like "What are taxes?" and "Why do we pay taxes?" to get students thinking and engaged.
• Show a short, engaging video about the history of taxes and their importance (e.g., from YouTube or another educational resource).

Discuss the Importance of Taxes

• Explain how taxes fund essential services such as education, healthcare, and infrastructure.
• Introduce the different types of taxes (income tax, sales tax, property tax, excise tax, etc.).
   

Overview of Federal Tax Revenues

• Present different scenarios where students will calculate federal tax revenues.
• Use a visual aid (like a PowerPoint or chart) to show the various tax brackets and rates.

Types of Taxes

• Explain each type of tax with real-life examples.
• Use interactive tools like an online quiz or drag-and-drop activity to match types of taxes with their descriptions.

Activity 1: Calculating Federal Tax Revenues

• Hand out the worksheet and have students work through each problem in pairs. Encourage collaboration and discussion.
• Walk around the classroom to provide assistance and check for understanding.
• Ask for volunteers to solve problems on the board and explain their thinking.

Activity 2: Types of Taxes

• Discuss the various kinds of taxes and provide students with a worksheet to answer related questions.
• If possible, have students take the drag-and-drop matching quiz on the types of taxes on their tablets or computers.
• Facilitate a group discussion on why different types of taxes are important.

Formative Assessment

• Review the worksheet answers as a class and provide immediate feedback.
• Conduct a quick quiz using an online platform (like Kahoot!) to assess students’ understanding of different types of taxes.

Summative Assessment

• Collect the completed worksheets and grade them to evaluate individual understanding.
• Use the results of the online quiz as part of the overall assessment.

Activity: Exploring Sales Tax

• Introduce the concept of sales tax and how it varies from state to state.
• Provide a worksheet with problems related to calculating sales tax in different states.