"Understanding the Federal Budget"Introduction
Students have already learned that the federal budget is an
annual plan outlining the proposed revenues and expenditures
for the coming year. A good source for further information
about the budget is the Citizen's Guide to the Federal
Budget released by the Government Printing Office. This
document is designed to provide an outline of how the government
raises revenues and spends money; how the budget is enacted
by the president and Congress; reasons for the budget deficit
and debt; and accomplishments the president hopes to achieve
with the current budget. Lesson Description
Students will use information from the Federal Budget Web
site to find out more about the budget of the United States
government. Previous Knowledge Expected
Students should be familiar with the following terms: federal budget: annual plan outlining proposed expenditures
and anticipated revenues fiscal year: 12-month financial planning period that
may coincide with the calendar year; October 1 to September
30 for the federal government Applied Content Standards (from
the Council for Economic Education) Standard 2: Effective decision making requires comparing
the additional costs of alternatives with the additional benefits.
Most choices involve doing a little more or a little less
of something; few choices are all-or-nothing decisions. Standard 20: Federal government budgetary policy and
the Federal Reserve System's monetary policy influence the
overall levels of employment, output, and prices. Instructional Objectives
- Students will be able to describe the federal budget.
- Students will list sources of revenue for the federal government.
- Students will list federal budget categories of spending.
Student Web Activity Answers
1-4: Teacher may prepare an answer sheet from information
provided on the Web site. Extending the Lesson
Encourage students to read other sections of the Citizen's
Guide to the Federal Budget. Have students visit http://www.econedlink.org/lessons/index.php?lesson=306&page=student to play a simulation of the national budget, created by the Council for Economic Education.
The UC-Berkeley's Center for Community Economic Research has
developed a Web site simulation of the national budget. Have
students read the rules and play the simulation. Both long
and short versions are available at the site: http://www.budgetsim.org/nbs/ |