Content Area: Career Education and Consumer, Family, and Life Skills

 

Index: 9.2E Grade 12 CPI 1

 

Standard: 9.2 - Consumer, Family, and Life Skills

 

Strand: E - Consumer and Personal Finance

 

Cumulative Progress Indicator: 1 -  The student will analyze factors that influence gross and net income.

 

Grade: 12

 

Sample Activities:

 

·       A public relations firm has been hired to develop and produce a documentary alerting young adults to the need for fiscal responsibility when using credit cards. As an employee, you have been asked to develop a five-minute demo for the client.

 

·        Mr./Ms. Z's company has decided to relocate the employee and the family overseas. The employment opportunities exist in Australia, Brazil, China, Kenya, and Switzerland. Your family must make the decision as to the country of preference with a backup alternative. Provide a justification to the human resource department. Be prepared to negotiate a contract that meets career, financial, and personal needs.

 

·       Earth is becoming uninhabitable.

 

·       Although New Jersey is well known as the Garden State, it certainly could be recognized as the Invention State. We now live in an increasing complex "global society" with demands for increased invention, design, and manufacturing to make people's lives and work more productive while meeting personal and family needs

 

·       Ask students, “Does anyone have a job?” How much do you make an hour? How many hours do you work? Based on student’s answers, show work on board. (Multiply number of hours worked times pay per hour.) Is this how much money you make in a week? Do you take home this amount of money?  As a follow-up to this discussion, have students define: gross income, deductions, and net income. Brainstorm session as a class on voluntary and required deductions.  Look at a pay stub and discuss each line item.  Give various examples to use as practice for computing gross income, deductions, and net income.

 

·       Working students meet with Cooperative Industrial Education/Cooperative Office Education Coordinator to help students understand their pay stub. (If a coordinator is not available, teacher will bring in examples of pay stubs.)

 

·       Handout an Income Statement from Student Store (or any club). Have students evaluate where gross income comes from (sales) what expenses are incurred (payouts) and the net income. Divide items into categories such as food, clothing, school supplies, and spirit items and determine what percentage of gross income comes from each category. What expenses are fixed and which are variable? What is the effect of increasing or decreasing expenses? If students were paid in wages, what would the effect on gross and net income be? **Discussion—should students be paid wages to work in the student store?

 

·       Social Studies - SAMPLE LEARNING ACTIVITY: What is a Good Citizen? Investigating the Budget

 

·       Resources: http://www.nfte.com/startaprogram/curriculum/;

 

Credit Tips http://www.njpep.org/activities/financial_literacy/credit_tips/index.html;

Identify theft: http://www.njpep.org/activities/financial_literacy/crime_scene/index.html;

Savings and investments: http://www.njpep.org/activities/financial_literacy/money_trees/index.html;

Lending rip-offs: http://www.njpep.org/activities/financial_literacy/lending_ripoff/index.html;

Buying a car: http://www.njpep.org/activities/financial_literacy/wheeling_dealing/index.html

 

·       Does Your Money Really Grow On Trees?

 

·       Reality Check: Lending Rip-Offs