For award winners prior to 2021, please navigate to one of the following pages: platinum, gold, silver, bronze

Platinum - 2022

Mathematics and Economics: Grades K-5

Rachel Carpenter, Cindy Fitzthum, Colleen Gray, Valerie Walker, Lisa Wiener, MCEE

Math and Economics was developed in response to an increased need for an interdisciplinary curriculum within the K-5 grade levels. The collection of lessons and K-5 MN academic standards-based (Social Studies-Economics 2011 & 2021 draft standards and Math 2007 standards) and national academic standards-based (National Economic Standards and Common Core Standards for Mathematics) lessons and pre/post assessments. to produce more milk in less time with fewer workers.

Platinum - 2022

Earl and Starla Go to the Farm

Mike Raymer, GCEE

Earl and Starla Go to the Farm is a children's book that explores how the concepts of specialization and productivity help two farmers run a successful dairy farm. By continually updating their capital goods and human capital, the dairy farmers have increased the overall productivity on their farm, and are now able to produce more milk in less time with fewer workers.

Gold - 2022

What Should Danny Do?

Erin Yetter, Mezrah Consulting

In this 60-minute lesson for grades 2 and 3, students will first discuss the choices they made for breakfast. Next, they listen to a choose your own adventure story about a boy who makes many choices throughout the day. They help him make choices and see how his day unfolds. Then they create their own storybook. They conclude by identifying the opportunity costs of their choices in the story by completing a handout.

Gold - 2022

How Technology and Specialization Increase Productivity: Earl and Starla Go to the Farm

Joyclyn Battle, GCEE

Students will listen to a read aloud of Earl & Starla Go to the Farm in which dairy farmers explain how technology increases their productivity. Students will then engage in an activity in which they see as the use of technology increases, productivity increases as well. There is also discussion about how specialization contributes positively to productivity.

Gold - 2022

Spend It!

Andrea J. Caceres-Santamaria, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Students listen to the story Spend It! This story is set in Bunnyland where carrots are money. Sonny the bunny has three carrots in his allowance jar. Sonny wants to buy everything, and he learns that he must make a choice because he does not have enough carrots to spend on everything he wants. Students will learn and review new vocabulary from the story (spend, wants, and choice) by completing a spelling activity, and complete a statement using the words. Students will also earn carrots by completing addition and subtraction math problems. Using the carrots they earn, students work with a partner to calculate if they have enough to purchase a toy they want from a list provided to them.

Gold - 2022

Mini-Economy Econ Explorers Box

John Kruggel, James Madison University Center for Economic Education

Because teachers have limited class time for teaching economics in the elementary setting, the author worked with teachers to reduce the Mini-Economy curriculum down to eight lessons to implement a shortened Mini-Economy unit.

Gold - 2022

Wilma's Way Home: The Life of Wilma Mankiller

Lynne Stover, James Madison University Center for Economic Education

These two lessons are based on the picture book biography of Wilma Mankiller who made history in 1985 when she became the first woman elected to lead the Cherokee Nation which is one of the largest Native American tribes in the United States. 

Gold - 2022

Efficient Time Travel with Financial Intermediaries

Megan Kirts, University of Arizona Office of Economic Education; Thomas R. Brown Foundation

In this lesson students will participate in a simulation that demonstrates the importance of financial institutions in helping people accomplish their goals. Students will learn that commercial banks match savers with borrowers; and investment banks match entrepreneurs with investors.

Silver - 2022

Hamilton's National Bank

Eva Johnston, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

In this lesson, students participate in two rounds of a role play to help them understand the role of banks in facilitating economic growth through loans. Round 1 is conducted without a bank. After the first round, students read excerpts from Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton’s 1790 report to Congress in which he proposes a national bank because the United States had few banks at the time. Students then conduct Round 2 of the role play with a bank. After the round, students read excerpts from and summaries of the statute creating a national bank, Thomas Jefferson’s opposition, and Hamilton’s rebuttal.

Platinum - 2022

What Happens When the Federal Reserve Raises Interest Rates?

Mary Suiter, PhD, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Andrea Caceres-Santamaria, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Students will learn that the Federal Reserve uses interest rate policies to promote maximum employment and price stability. They will participate in an activity to demonstrate how a change in the target range for the federal funds rate transmits through the economy.

Gold - 2022

Building Young Entrepreneurs

Robin Palmer, ACEE

This entrepreneurship course is designed to help students understand the decisions and actions that should be taken when deciding to become an entrepreneur. The materials are set up in 10 modules beginning with understanding the role that entrepreneurs play in our society to developing a pitch for investors and ending with marketing your business. Each module includes activities that require students to think and act to make decisions for their own entrepreneurial venture. 

Gold - 2022

FRED Blog Reading Questions & Answers

Diego Mendez-Carbajo, St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

The instructional resources described here use Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED®) to place economic arguments related to diversity and inclusion topics in their historical and social context. FRED® Blog Reading Questions and Answers (Q&As) are comprised of a short essay based on a FRED® graph and include a four-question, multiple-choice, quiz. There currently are 45 resources freely available to educators and the public at large. They employ FRED® data to broach a wide range of topics in the areas of gender, race, and inequality.

Gold - 2022

Learning and Earning Digital Badges

Scott Wolla, Diego Mendez-Carbajo, Andrea Caceres-Santamaria, Mary Suiter, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Digital badges are learning tools. Rather than asking learners to absorb information, our digital badging programs present learners with dynamic opportunities to acquire and demonstrate their new or existing expertise. Many of our individual badges can be stacked into an overall marker of achievement, identifying the owner of the badge as a highly skilled or well-informed individual.

Gold - 2022

GDP and Pizza Video Series

Scott Wolla, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

This series of short videos provides an overview of this very important measure of economic production and covers some key ideas, such as the components of GDP expenditures, how imports are measured, why it’s important to control for inflation when examining GDP over time, why economists often use percentages to explain changes in GDP, how potential GDP is used to discuss the business cycle, and how automatic stabilizers can be used to smooth the business cycle.

Gold - 2022

Monetary Policy - The Economic Lowdown Video Series

Scott Wolla, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

The Federal Reserve, “the Fed,” is the central bank of the United States. One of its important functions is to promote a strong U.S. economy. In fact, Congress has given the Fed two main goals: maximum employment and price stability. These videos explain how the Fed uses monetary policy to reach those goals.

Silver - 2022

AP Econ - Entrance and Exit Tickets

Eva Johnston, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Michael Kaiman

These entrance and exit tickets for AP Micro- and Macroeconomics align with the AP Micro- and Macroeconomics curriculum. They are short (less than five minutes), formative assessments intended to give instructors immediate feedback on the day’s lessons.