Education Resources

• Professional Development
• Classroom Resources
  • Lesson Plans & Activities
  • Curriculum Units
  • Online Learning: GDP & Pizza
  • Publications
  • DVD & Video Lending Library
  • Web Links
• Inside the Vault Newsletter
• For Students
  • Personal Finance Challenge
  • Activities

Classroom Resources

Online Learning: GDP & Pizza

A two-day online course for high-school students

The GDP and Pizza: Economics for Life course is a two-day, online course produced by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. It is designed to help students in civics, economics and other social studies classes grasp the challenging economic content—and to explain why these topics are important for citizens to understand.

The course includes numerous interactive checks for understanding, video clips of a Fed economist explaining concepts and everyday examples that will make sense to students. In addition, students complete a pre- and post-test to assess learning. There is a supplemental activity that can be used in class the day before going to the computer lab which can serve as a prelude to the two-day course. This activity can be used again at the completion of the course as an additional assessment of student learning.

Section one of the course covers:	Section two of the course covers:
the definition of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) the components of GDP per capita GDP	real vs. nominal GDP levels vs. percentage change importance of a growing economy trend growth rate uses for GDP data automatic stabilizers

How it works

1. Register online as an instructor. (Teachers only, please!)

2. Check your e-mail for your instructor ID and password.

3. Log on to our online learning web site with your ID and password.

4. Click on "Manage Participation" and then "Add Class."

5. Enter the course name and the number of students in the course. Add at least one student—this will provide a student ID and password for you so that you can see the course as the students see it.

6. The system will then generate a list of student IDs and passwords.

7. Assign the IDs and passwords to students in your class.

8. The GDP and Pizza course may be completed by students in a computer lab during class time or by students on their personal computers for homework.

9. Check pre-test scores and post-test scores by clicking on "Student Data" (in the same area where you manage participation).