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I. Introduction
II. Objectives
III. Preparing the Students
IV. Presentation
V. Enrichment and Assessment Activities
VI. Additional Resources
VII. Relevant National Learning Standards
VIII. Planning a Videoconference?
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"You mean a hot dog only cost 10-cents in 1929,
and a World Series ticket was just $5.50 in 1940?"
The varying worth of money is the basis of this lesson
for teaching students how baseball history reflects
American economics since the early 20th century. Hands-on
math applications and factors of trade and industry
- such as labor, transportation, materials, energy and
the concept of supply and demand - are illustrated through
primary source documents from baseball's olden days
and modern age to help students analyze the ever-changing
value of a dollar.
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A. Examine historical data from various sources, including
museum and library collections, artifacts, primary source
documents, oral testimonies and Web sites.
B. Analyze data and interpret variables to compare and
contrast their impact on economic trends, consumer prices,
standard of living and the value of American currency
across different eras.
C. Understand, through dialogue and practical application,
how the evolution of baseball coincides with historic
events that impact buying power, including the allocation
of scarce resources and the four key pricing elements
of material, energy, labor and transportation.
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A. Background
Because of baseball's enduring popularity since the
early 20th century, the game often reflects trends of
trade and industry in American society. Consumer prices
and the interconnected factors that influence them -
materials, energy, labor and transportation - are typically
represented in the rising cost of attending a baseball
game. Player salaries, ticket prices and concessions
are interrelated in their collective impact on the wealth
of the game and its many associated industries (e.g.
trading cards, equipment, clothing, etc.). The law of
supply and demand ultimately determines the economic
ebb and flow of baseball and the value placed upon it
by contemporary culture.
B. Vocabulary
Baby Boomer
Cause and Effect
Concession
Consumer
Currency
Depression
Economics
Energy
Era
Factory
Industry
Inflation
Information Age
Korean War
Labor
Materials
Product
Rationing
Resources
Scarcity
Space Age
Supply and Demand
Technology
Trade
Transportation
Trend
Vendor
World War II
C. Pre-Program Activities
1) Acquaint students with different scenarios to explain
the concept of supply and demand, such as the Homestead
Act, the Stock Market, oil embargos or the scarcity
of goods during the Great Depression and the war years.
The examples, which could be simple or complex, do not
necessarily need to be baseball related. These illustrations
could be in the form of story problems integrating different
areas of the curriculum.
2) Choose an existing product that, in its production,
demonstrates the economic factors of material, energy,
labor and transportation - as well as the causes and
effects related to the pricing of that product.
3) Ask students to research, compare and contrast the
cost of a gallon of milk, a postage stamp, a loaf of
bread and a movie ticket as they were on the student's
birth date and a family member's birth date.
4) Assign students one of the following eras to research:
1929-1939 (The Depression); 1940-1959 (The War Years
and Baby Boomers); 1960-1979 (The Space Age); 1980-1999
(The Information Age); and 2000 to the present (Today).
As individuals or in groups, have them develop a presentation
on major economic or historical events of that era.
The presentation could be in the form of a PowerPoint
presentation, a simulated newspaper, a poster project
or a written report.
5) Using the Hall of Fame's Web site at baseballhalloffame.org,
ask students to sort and classify primary source documents
to find artifacts related to an assigned era of study
(see above). Students should be responsible for comparing,
contrasting and gathering documents or data related
to their era of study.
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If you are participating in a school visit or videoconference
please do not review this section with your students.
It will be taught as part of the presentation.
A. Opening
1) Display groups of pennies to visually compare the
purchase price of a baseball across different eras.
For example, in 1929 a baseball cost as little as 11
cents.
2) Ask students why they think the price of a baseball
has risen over time. Use their answers to discuss the
basic principle of economics and show how today's lesson
illustrates this concept using actual baseball artifacts.
B. Lesson
1) Introduce the example of a baseball factory that
produces its product based upon supply and demand, and
determines pricing based upon the cost of materials,
energy, labor and transportation. INSTRUCTOR NOTE: Please
see Planning a Videoconference section for Primary source
documents. Be prepared to explain the operation of the
factory, including factors of material, energy, labor
and transportation. Develop inquiring questions to elicit
how much students understand the concept of supply and
demand.
2) Ask students to an example of a newspaper headline
of a major news event from each of the five pre-assigned
eras. Engage students in an interactive dialogue about
important social or economic events that may have occurred
in that era as reflected by the newspaper articles,
or other historical records.
3) Have them research, record and tally a sum cost for
the following items related to their assigned era: a
player's contract; a World Series ticket; a souvenir
game program; a hot dog; a bag of peanuts; and a soft
drink. To expedite gathering this data, assign research
responsibilities to each student. INSTRUCTOR NOTE: Give
the students approximately four minutes for this activity
with the expectation that slightly more time may be
necessary.
4) Ask the press reporter from each group to present
the findings. As the data is presented by the groups,
the press reporters complete their respective Economic
Scorecards showing costs compiled for each era. As a
class, draw conclusions about economic trends by comparing
and contrasting the findings of each group.
5) Hold up a dollar bill, first fully unfolded then
gradually fold to a smaller size, to illustrate its
steadily diminishing value in relation to the goods
and commodities discussed in this lesson.
C. Conclusion
1) To provide additional context, introduce the cost
of other items not researched by the groups, such as
an average annual wage and an automobile. Discuss the
cost of these items according to the norms for that
time period. Explain how the price of these commodities
has increased dramatically across the eras due to inflation
and other economic factors. INSTRUCTOR NOTE: The intent
of this discussion is to compare and contrast standards
of living in each of the eras discussed.
2) Use an assortment of baseball cards to relate modern-day
players with the concept of value based upon supply
and demand. Introduce the Honus Wagner T-206 baseball card
from 1909 as an example
of increasing worth due to scarcity of product, personal
value, etc. INSTRUCTOR NOTE: Show at least two modern-day
cards of players with whom students may be familiar
- then introduce the Honus Wagner card. Find a copy
of the card and background information on its history
at baseballhalloffame.org.
3) Returning to the original example of a baseball as
a product, rotate a ball to show the signature of a
famous ballplayer on the reverse side. Explain how a
simple variable, such as an autograph, can dramatically
increase or decrease the value of a product.
If you are participating in a school visit or videoconference
please do not review this section with your students.
It will be taught as part of the presentation.
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A. If a middle class family attended the World Series
during the era they were assigned to research, what
percentage of the family's weekly wage would be spent
on the tickets? If the family bought hot dogs and sodas
at that game, what is the total amount the family would
have spent? What percentage of the family's weekly wage
would that represent?
B. Apply the law of supply and demand to current event
situations, such as natural disasters or wars, which
might impact costs associated with materials, energy,
labor or transportation.
C. Students can create a proposal to produce a new product.
In the business plan, they should provide a production
budget that accounts for materials, energy, labor and
transportation.
D. From data gathered during this lesson, students should
create tables, graphs or pie charts to visually illustrate
what they have learned. Working in groups, students
should develop questions that can be answered by data
found in the graphs they created. Students could then
trade their graphs and questions with each other.
E. Ask students to examine the "Green
Light Letter" from President Franklin D. Roosevelt
to Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw M. Landis urging the
continuation of baseball at the outset of World War
II. Discuss the economic implications and benefits of
Roosevelt's recommendation. Use this artifact as a writing or discussion
prompt for measuring students' ability to interpret
a primary source document with an understanding of economic
and historical impact.
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A. Literature
Jennison, Christopher. Baseball Math: Grandslam Activities
and Projects for Grades 4-8. GoodYearBooks, 1995.
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Baseball
As America. National Geographic Books, 2002.
B. Web Links
econedlink.org/lessons/index.cfm?lessons=EM75
Baseball Economics 101
ABC News article
"Bonds Record Ball Won't be Worth Millions" (8/8/2007)
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Click here for appropriate learning standards.
This link provides .pdf versions of national education standards and also standards by select states and grades met by this program.
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A. Videoconference
Checklist (PDF)
B. Materials:
Teachers please divide your class into five equal groups.
The names of each group, based on different time periods
in American History, are: The Great Depression, The
War Years, The Space Age, The Information Age, and The
Present. During the videoconference your students will
use these primary source documents to fill in their
economic scorecard. Please do not have your students
do this prior to the videoconference.
The
Great Depression (PDF)
The War
Years (PDF)
The Space
Age (PDF)
The
Information Age (PDF)
The Present
(PDF)
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Economics:
