CHAPTER 3
LOUISIANA’S ECONOMY:
RESOURCES AND REWARDS
Pages 74-107
Focus on Skills
Making Decisions
Page 76
Section 1
Basic Economic Concepts
Pages 77-81
Section 2
Louisiana’s Economic History
Pages 82-84
Section 3
Louisiana’s Resources
Pages 85-95
Section 4
Providing Louisiana’s Goods
and Services
Pages 96-103
Meeting Expectations
Economics in Troy’s World
Page 104
Chapter Summary
Page 105
Activities for Learning
Pages 106-107
Focus
Ask students how they get
money to purchase things they want
or need. Do they get an allowance?
Do their parents buy what they
want? Do they save to purchase
large items?
3
Chapter
A Taste of the Real World
Louisiana’s
Economy: Resources
and Rewards
Chapter Preview
Terms: goods, services, consumer,
producer, natural resources,
human resources, capital
resources, scarcity, opportunity
cost, supply, demand, profit,
traditional economy, command
economy, market economy,
barter, mercantilism, smuggling,
mineral resources, nonrenewable,
lignite, biological resources,
renewable, pulpwood, labor
union, private goods and
services, public goods and
services, interdependent,
Superport, tariff, economic
indicators, gross domestic
product, consumer price index,
inflation, unemployment rate
Places: Jennings, Sulphur
74
W
elcome to the Real World” announced the sign in the West
Feliciana Middle School gym. Students spent the day in their
economic future. Teachers assigned each a career and a monthly
salary. As in the real world, some of them had higher salaries.
In this activity, students had to meet their expenses for a month. Each assumed the role of a single 25-year-old. To prepare for the day, they had learned
the basics about checking and savings accounts.
The students had to pay taxes first. Then they had to pay for housing and
utilities. Additional expenses included transportation, insurance, groceries, and
clothing. They could also choose to spend money on entertainment.
Booths were set up with community volunteers selling these goods and
services. The students had many choices at each booth. For example, they could
choose a used car or a new sports car. Some made mistakes because they satisfied their wants before they met their basic needs. At the end of the day,
they had learned to pay rent and buy food before they bought video games.
Louisiana The History of an American State
They also learned the need for a savings account. Each student drew a card
from the Deck of Chance to get an additional expense or some extra income.
These cards included expenses like a $30 hair cut and a $25 flat tire. Students
who had planned ahead could pay. Others learned why they should have saved
some money. Some of the Deck of Chance cards rewarded the students with
extra income like $25 from a garage sale.
The students enjoyed the practical learning experience. Jasmine was a reporter who decided a used Honda was a better choice than a new sports car.
Brittany had a high salary as a dentist, but her chance card gave her a broken
arm. Taylor was a dancer who spent too much on clothes and entertainment
and didn’t have enough left for meals. Brandon learned “what is important
and what’s not.” He said the experience reminded him why he needed a good
education. Jakob spent the day as a metalworker and learned the benefit of
sharing expenses. He and a friend decided to share an apartment and a car.
Jakob said they all learned “to stay ahead in the game of life.”
Chapter 3
Above: Refineries such as
this one process Louisiana’s
mineral resources into
gasoline and chemicals.
The field of sugar cane in
front represents one of
Louisiana’s most important
cash crops.
Louisiana’s Economy: Resources and Rewards
75
Introduce the concept of needs
and wants by asking students if
they mostly purchase needs or
wants.
Preview the new terms in the
chapter. Assign Vocabulary Building
on page 22 in the BLM book.
Class Discussion
Ask students if any of them
have participated in an activity
like the one described on pages
74-75.
If they have, ask them to share
their thoughts about it.
Using Photos and
Illustrations
What industry is depicted in
the picture?
Research Activity
Have students research to find
out how many people are
employed in the oil industry in
Louisiana.
T74
Multidisciplinary Activity
Mathematics Have students
develop a personal budget or ask
them to develop a fictitious budget for a family of four. If they
develop the fictitious budget, give
them an annual income on which
to base their allowances.
A Taste of the Real World
(Cont.)
• Give students background
information to help them
understand the activity and then
do the simulation in one class
period.
• Debrief the activity by asking
students to write what they
learned on a note card that can be
displayed on a bulletin board.
If your students have not participated in an experience like the one
described on pages 74-75, you may
want to involve them in a miniexperience.
• Make a checkbook for each
student in the class. Put a different
amount in each account. The luck
of the draw determines how much
money each student gets.
• Make a set of career cards, each
identifying a job and salary. The
luck of the draw determines which
student has which job.
• Make a set of family cards, which
indicate whether a student is married or single. If married, the card
lists the number of children.
• Set up booths, each of which
represents a need or want that
students may wish to purchase.
Booths may include a real estate
business (students must decide
whether to buy or rent a place to
live); a car dealership (students
must decide if they can afford a
car—new or used—or if they should
rely on public transportation);
insurance agency (students must
purchase automobile insurance if
they own a car, other insurance is
optional); travel agency (students
determine if they can afford to take
a trip); food store; child care (if a
student has children and works,
then he/she must pay someone to
care for the children at
predetermined prices).
• Create a set of chance cards from
which students periodically choose.
These cards, which affect economic
status, may have them winning the
lottery, breaking a leg, having an
auto accident, losing their job, etc.
T75
Each Focus on Skills defines a skill,
gives the teacher an opportunity to
conduct a guided practice on the
skill, and finally allows students to
apply their understanding by practicing the skill on their own.
Focus
Ask students to think about the
number of decisions they have
already made today. Give them a
few minutes to make a list. Look at
the types of decisions they listed.
(NOTE: You may want them to categorize their lists, i.e., personal decisions, family decisions, school decisions.)
Focus
on
Skills
Making
Decisions
Defining the Skill
Decision making may be defined as choosing between two or more alternatives. The decision-making process contains the following steps:
1. Identify the problem or the choice to be
made.
2. List the possible solutions (alternatives).
3. Evaluate the pros and cons or consequences
of each alternative.
4. Make a decision.
5. Justify your choice.
Try This!
If you had the students complete
the “A Taste of the Real World”
activity, ask them to compare the
decisions they have made today
with those that they had to make in
the simulation.
Introduce students to the
decision-making organizer.
Assign the Try This! activity.
Students’ answers will vary.
It’s Your Turn!
Student answers will vary.
You are asked to make decisions every day. Those
decisions may range from choosing what to eat to
deciding how to spend your money. Copy the decision-making organizer that follows onto a separate
sheet of paper. Then, think about a decision you
must make, such as what to wear to school tomorrow or what to do on the weekend. Write the problem you are solving on the organizer. Then, write
three actions that you might take. Write pros and
cons for each proposed action. Finally, based on the
pros and cons, make a decision and record the decision on the last line of the organizer.
It’s Your Turn!
Chapter 3 describes Louisiana’s abundant natural
resources. Some of those resources are nonrenewable; that is, they are not replaced by nature once
they are used. It is important that we do what we
can to preserve our natural resources so generations
after us will have the benefit of using them.
Read pages 87-90 to review information on nonrenewable resources. Copy the decision-making organizer on a separate sheet of paper. Write “What can I
do to preserve our natural resources?” on the line
labeled “Problem.” Then, think of three ways we can
preserve our natural resources. Write the three alternatives on the organizer, along with pros and cons for
each. Finally, examine the three alternatives and decide which is the best way to preserve our resources.
DECISION MAKING
Problem:________________________________________________________________________________________
Alternative 1________________
Alternative 2____________________
Alternative 3_______________
Pros:________________________
Pros:__________________________
Pros:______________________
Cons:________________________
Cons:__________________________
Cons:______________________
Decision:_______________________________________________________________________________________
76
T76
1
Section
SECTION 1
BASIC ECONOMIC CONCEPTS
Basic Economic
Concepts
As you read, look for:
• how people satisfy their wants and needs,
• the four basic economic questions,
• types of economic systems, and
• vocabulary terms goods, services, consumer, producer,
natural resources, human resources, capital resources,
scarcity, opportunity cost, supply, demand, profit, traditional
economy, command
economy, and market
economy.
The students at West Feliciana Middle
School learned important economic
concepts as they role-played the future. They will remember they wanted
more than their money could buy, and
they had to make choices. They
learned what happened when they
made poor choices. This real-world
activity showed the students how an
economic system works.
Lagniappe
People in Louisiana spend
more than $4 billion a year
eating in restaurants.
Outline
A. Wants and Needs
B. Resources and Scarcity
C. Making Choices
1. Costs and Benefits
2. Trade-offs
3. Supply and Demand
4. Basic Economic Questions
D. Economic Systems
Materials
Textbook, pages 77-81
Teacher CD-ROM
Transparencies
Online textbook
mystatehistory.com
Focus
Have students skim Section 1
and note any economic terms, i.e.,
goods, services, supply, demand,
cost. Have them make a list of the
terms on a piece of paper. After
they have written the terms, ask
them to look at the list of economic
decisions they listed earlier. Have
them note any economic terms that
are associated with the decisions
they listed.
Wants and Needs
Communities develop systems to
meet their economic needs and wants. All people have the same basic needs—
food, clothing, and shelter. But people’s wants—things that they would like
to have to make their lives more comfortable—are almost unlimited. People
satisfy their needs and wants through goods and services.
Goods are physical items such as food, clothing, cars, and houses. Services
are activities people do for a fee. Some examples of services are car repairs,
house painting, and concerts.
A consumer is a person who satisfies a want or a need by buying a good or
service. You are a consumer when you pay for a haircut or buy a cheeseburger. A
producer is a person or business who uses resources to make goods or provide
services. You are a producer if you mow lawns or make and sell beaded bracelets.
Chapter 3 Louisiana’s Economy: Resources and Rewards
INTRODUCE
Section 1
Above: These patrons
(consumers) at one of New
Orleans's many restaurants
(producer) are about to
enjoy a wonderful meal
(goods).
Basic Economic Concepts
77
TEACH
Reading Strategy
Social Studies Skill
Class Discussion
Objectives
Making Decisions
Chapter 3 lends itself to using
the decision-making model. As
students read the chapter, have
them use the graphic organizer to
apply their knowledge of the skill.
Ask students
• to share one of the problems
they identified along with the
alternatives, pros and cons, and
the decision they made.
• if it was difficult for them to
list alternatives along with pros
and cons for each.
• how using this model is
different from how they normally
make decisions.
GLE 42: Analyze situations involving scarcity (limited resources) at the
individual, group, and Societal levels to determine the need for choices or what is
gained/lost by a decision.
GLE 43: Explain how effective economic decisions (e.g., determining the best
level of consumption) require comparing the additional costs of alternatives with
additional benefits.
GLE 44: Explain choice/trade-offs, cost/benefits, and opportunity costs related to
making personal economic decisions.
GLE 49: Describe how the four basic economic questions are answered in
traditional versus command versus market economies.
GLE 50: Describe institutions (e.g., banks, government agencies, large companies,
small businesses) that make up economic systems.
GLE 52: Describe how supply and demand affect prices.
Developing Vocabulary
Ask students to define consumer.
Ask them to make lists over the
next 24 hours of all the ways they
are consumers.
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Ask students
• why they think so many people
eat out.
• if eating out is a want or a need.
• to identify jobs that are available
in the food services industry.
T77
Reading Strategy
Building GLE Vocabulary
Capital resources: Human-made
products, such as tools, equipment,
buildings, and machines that are
used to produce other goods and
services
Human resources: People, such as
teachers, truck drivers, and factory
workers, who work to produce goods
or provide services
Natural resources: Things not made
by humans that are found in and on
Earth, such as water, oil, and trees
Scarcity: The condition that occurs
when there are not enough
resources (goods and services) to
satisfy wants and needs
Opportunity cost: The value of the
next best alternative given up when
a choice is made
Consumer: A person who satisfies a
want or need by buying or using a
good or service
Producer: A person or business that
uses resources to make goods or
provide services
Choice/Trade-off: An economic choice
requires choosing among alternatives. The result of making a choice
is that something—the trade-off—
is given up to get something else.
T78
Trade-Offs
Consumers’ needs and wants are unlimited, but the
resources required to satisfy them are not. Resources
include natural resources, human resources, and capital resources. A natural resource is a gift of nature,
part of the natural environment such as water, trees,
or minerals. Human resources are the people who
produce the goods and provide the services. Capital
resources are the money and property—factories,
tools, bridges, machines, and other items—used to
produce goods and services. Because these resources
are limited, they are said to be scarce.
Scarcity means that people need and want more
than the available resources can provide. Scarcity affects you when you can’t get a ticket to a sold-out
concert. You benefit from scarcity if you are the only
babysitter in your neighborhood and can get all the
jobs you want.
Some choices can include trade-offs. Sometimes an either/or choice is not
the best. People may combine parts of each choice as a trade-off. If you need
money to go to college, you may take a part-time job and enroll in the local
community college. You have made a choice with some trade-offs to get what
you want and need. You decide that limiting your choices to either going to
college or working is not best for you.
Making Choices
Above: What two types of
resources are illustrated
in this photograph?
Scarcity requires both producers and consumers to
make choices. The unlimited needs and wants of people
must be balanced with the limited resources in the
world. Limited resources can produce only limited
amounts of goods and services. Choosing how to use
the resources is the basis of an economic system. In the economic system of
the United States, individuals, businesses, and communities make choices.
Costs and Benefits
Each choice is an opportunity, with both a benefit and a cost. Suppose that
you go to the mall with $40. You could choose to buy a shirt or two CDs. If you
choose the shirt, that is your opportunity benefit. You have a new shirt to take
home. You do not have two new CDs because you chose the shirt. Your opportunity cost is the two CDs. That is what you did not choose. Opportunity cost
is the value of your second choice, the next best alternative.
Opportunity benefits and costs also apply to other choices, such as using
resources or using time. The opportunity cost in these choices is also the value
of the alternative that you do not choose.
For example, when you graduate from high school, your choices might
include getting a job, joining the military, and going to college. The choice
you make is your opportunity benefit. Your second choice is your opportunity cost, what you give up when you make your choice. If you choose to go
to college instead of taking a job, your opportunity cost is the salary of the
job you didn’t take.
Class Discussion
Ask students
• if they have every wanted an
item that was hard to find, e.g., a
hot toy, video.
• how they tried to get the item.
• if they got the item, how they
felt.
• if they didn’t get the item, how
they felt.
• how being able to readily find an
item or not being able to find an
item relates to the economic term
scarcity. (Comprehension)
Guiding Question 2-3
Resources and Scarcity
78
Chapter 3 Louisiana’s Economy: Resources and Rewards
Objectives (Cont.)
Critical Thinking
GLE 53: Explain and analyze
factors affecting production and
allocations of goods/services in
Louisiana and the United States.
GLE 54: Explain the difference
between private goods/services
and public goods/services and
give examples of each.
• Ask students how the abundance of resources plays a role in
satisfying needs and wants.
• Ask students what types of
decisions individuals, businesses,
and communities must make to
keep the economy going.
Guiding Question 2-4
Reading Strategy
Supply and Demand
How much is for sale? How much will be
bought? The answers to these questions explain the concept of supply and demand.
The supply is the quantity of a good or service offered for sale. A producer decides how
much of the good or service to offer for sale.
The demand is the quantity of a good or service consumers are willing and able to buy.
Consumers will buy more goods or services
at lower prices and buy fewer at higher prices.
Producers will make more to sell at higher
prices and make fewer to sell at lower prices.
You would like for the price of CDs to be $1,
but no one would produce them to sell at that
price because they could not make a profit.
(A profit is the amount left after costs are
subtracted from the price.) A producer would like to sell CDs for $100 and make
a high profit, but you would not buy them at that price.
In the American economy, producers and consumers reach a balance between supply and demand. The price has to be high enough for the producer
to be willing to supply the goods or services and low enough for the consumer
to demand (or buy) them.
Basic Economic Questions
Every economy functions by answering the four basic economic questions:
(1) what to produce, (2) how to produce, (3) how much to produce, and (4) for
whom to produce.
People often join together in an economic group to meet their needs and
wants. For example, a class in Caddo Parish is planning a field trip to Baton
Rouge. They want to pay for the trip themselves. They begin by deciding how
to make the money they need. What will their product be? Will they sell goods
such as candy or a service like a car wash?
They have to determine what resources they have. If they choose a candy
sale, they would need to buy the candy to sell. Money is a capital resource
they do not have. They do have human resources, the thirty students in the
Section 1
Above: The prices Louisiana
farmers receive for their
cotton depends upon supply
and demand. For example,
when the supply of cotton is
high, the price farmers
receive decreases. When
the supply of cotton is low,
the price farmers receive
increases.
Basic Economic Concepts
79
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Ask students what happens to
cotton prices when the supply is
low. High. (Application)
Guiding Question 2-10
Building GLE Vocabulary
Cost-benefit: All predicted costs
weighed against the predicted benefits of an economic choice
Profit: The amount of money left
over after all of the costs of production have been paid (revenues
minus costs)
Supply and demand: Supply is the
quantity of a good/service producers
are willing and able to offer for sale
at various prices at a given time.
Demand is the quantity of a
good/service that consumers are
willing and able to buy at various
prices at any time. These two forces
combined result in the law of supply
and demand; more will be bought at
lower prices, and less at higher
prices, and more will be produced at
higher prices than will be produced
at lower prices.
Addressing Learning Styles
Verbal/Linguistic
Ask students if they have been
involved in fundraising. Have them
interview a teacher or other person
who was in charge of a fundraising
activity. In the interview, ask
• What was the purpose of the
fundraiser?
• How was the decision made about
what to sell?
• Who was targeted to buy the
product?
• What advertising was done?
• Was the fundraiser successful?
• Would you change anything for
future fundraising?
Guiding Question 2-4
Logical/Mathematical
Have students make up word
problems to figure profit based on
the example given in the text.
T79
Critical Thinking
Group Project
Assign students to groups of four
or five and tell them they are going
to become the owners and producers
of a new product. Tell them that in
order for them to make good decisions for their company, they should
look at the four basic economic
questions:
• What to produce
• How to produce
• How much to produce
• For whom to produce
Have them read each question
and discuss what it means. After
students understand the basic
economic questions and why they
are important, have each group
brainstorm ideas about what product
it wants to produce. You may want
students to use the decision-making
model on page 76 to guide their
thinking. You may also remind them
that they should consider such
things as supply and demand, production costs, scarcity, etc.
After they have decided on a
product, have them answer the
other three basic economic
questions. Ask each group to report
their decisions to the class.
NOTE: You may want the students
to actually produce the item — if
feasible. If you do not want them to
actually produce something, you
could have them select a product
they already have. They should still
use the four basic economic
questions to guide their decisions.
Guiding Questions 2-3, 2-4, 2-5,
and 2-9
T80
Above: A car wash is an
example of a service.
Even groups who decide to
hold a car wash must answer
the four basic economic
questions.
Four basic economic questions:
• What to produce
• How to produce
• How much to produce
• For whom to produce
class. Based on these available resources,
the class decides to have a car wash. This
decision answered the economic question
of what to produce.
Because the students chose a car wash,
the opportunity cost is the amount of profit
they would have made if they had sold candy.
The students could only estimate what this
amount might have been.
After they decide what to produce, they
need to decide how to do it. When will they
have the car wash? Where will they have it?
What will the work schedule be? What supplies will they need? How will they wash each
car? When all these plans are complete, the group has decided how to produce.
To decide how much they can produce, they consider their time and resources.
Because they have a limited amount of time and a limited number of students,
they cannot wash an unlimited number of cars. Their community also has a
limited number of people who might want a car wash. The economic concept
of scarcity affects their decision of how much to produce.
To determine who they are producing for, they need to know more about
the consumers. Who might buy a car wash? What consumers will they target?
Do they choose a location with heavy traffic and count on attracting people
who pass by? Or do they advertise the car wash in advance? By advertising,
they may attract more people.
Other factors may influence the success of the car wash. The students learn
they have competition. A club from another school is having a car wash across
the street on the same day. Their teacher says they must consider supply and
demand.
The supply of car washes is now two instead of one. How will this affect the
demand for their car wash? Their teacher reminds them that demand means
how many people will want to get a car wash from them. What happens when
consumers have two car washes to choose from? Are there enough available
consumers for both car washes to succeed?
How can they plan for this competition? Will they have a lower price than
the other group to attract consumers? What if the other group responds with
an even lower price?
These students were able to apply all that they had learned about economic
concepts to help ensure the success of the car wash. The money they made
helped pay their expenses for the field trip.
Economic Systems
A person who studies the economy is called an economist. These specialists
study the way groups organize to answer the four basic economic questions.
80
Economists have identified three basic
kinds of economies. An economic system
may be a traditional economy, a command
economy, or a market economy. An economy may also function as a combination
of these three.
In a traditional economy, customs,
habits, and beliefs determine how the four
basic economic questions are answered. If
the class in Caddo has a candy sale because
all the classes for the last twenty years have
had candy sales, this is like a traditional
economy. They follow the custom and answer the economic questions the way earlier classes did. They may even say it is a school tradition to have a candy sale.
In a command economy, the government controls the economy and answers the four basic economic questions. If the students have a car wash because the principal says this is the only kind of fundraiser they can have, this
is most like a command economy. The principal is like a government, making
the decisions to answer the economic questions. One positive effect of having
the principal involved is the advantage of her power and authority. She may
be able to talk to the principal at the other school and make an agreement to
hold the car washes on different weekends. This is like the way the government controls competition in a command economy.
In a market economy, individuals answer the four basic economic questions based on supply and demand. This economic system is also known as
free enterprise and is based on private ownership and the freedom of individuals to make economic choices. If the students are allowed to answer the questions themselves, this is most like a market economy. To be successful in a
market economy, the students answer the four economic questions carefully.
Decisions are based on the information they gather.
Check for Understanding
Ask students if they have ever
participated in a car wash. Is that
a good way to raise money?
What products might be shipped
on the Mississippi River? How does
shipping on the Mississippi affect
Louisiana’s economy?
Reading Skill
Above: For producers to
succeed in a market
economy, they must get
their goods to consumers.
One way to do that is shown
above, as barges and
freighters deliver materials
on the Mississippi River.
Critical Thinking
Ask students which kind of
economy is best? Have them give
reasons for their choice. (Evaluation)
Ask students how being a good
consumer can also make someone a
good citizen. (Become informed,
support the economy)
Section 1
Compare and Contrast
Have students make a chart on
which to record information about
traditional, command, and market
economies.
Guiding Question 2-9
Focus on Citizenship
ASSESS
Check for Understanding
1. What are goods and services?
2. What is the difference between a consumer and a producer?
3. What does scarcity mean?
4. What is an opportunity cost?
5. What is supply and demand?
6. Which economic system depends on supply and demand to
set prices?
Chapter 3 Louisiana’s Economy: Resources and Rewards
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Basic Economic Concepts
81
Reading Strategy
Building GLE Vocabulary
In all of these economic systems, different groups answer the four basic
economic questions (what to produce, how to produce, how much to produce,
and for whom to produce).
Command economy: Economic system in which the central government or
authority determines both supply and price
Market economy: This economic system, also known as free enterprise, has the following characteristics: private ownership of goods and the factors of production,
freedom of individuals to make economic choices, the use of prices to allocate
resources, and a limited economic role for government.
Traditional economy: In a traditional economy most goods and services are
produced by and for a family, with little surplus for sale or barter.
1. Goods are physical items
(food, clothing, cars);
services are activities people
do for a fee.
2. A consumer uses goods and
services; a producer makes
goods.
3. Scarcity occurs when needs
and wants exceed what is
available.
4. Opportunity cost is the value
of the second choice.
5. Supply is the quantity of
something; demand is what
consumers are willing to buy.
6. Market system
Lesson Closure
List something that affects our
economy.
T81
SECTION 2
LOUISIANA’S ECONOMIC
HISTORY
2
Section
Louisiana’s
Economic History
INTRODUCE
Materials
Textbook, pages 82-84
Blackline Masters
Rooster and the Bean Seed,
page 29
I Have, I Want, page 30
Teacher CD-ROM
Transparencies
Online textbook
mystatehistory.com
Focus
Ask students what their lives
would be like if there were no
money. How would they get food or
clothing? Have them suggest some
methods of exchanging goods or
services without money.
As you read, look for:
• Louisiana’s early economic systems, and
• vocabulary terms barter, mercantilism, and smuggling.
Below: The European nations
sought colonies in the New
World to increase their
power and wealth. This early
tobacco factory was one
example of the cash crops
found in the New World.
The first economic system in Louisiana was based on barter (trading goods
and services without money). The Native Americans had a thriving barter
economy. Tribes traded goods with each other and later with Europeans. People
in this traditional economy followed the customs their ancestors had developed over time. They could get more of what they wanted and needed if they
traded with other tribes.
European settlers in Louisiana developed an economy based on agriculture
and commerce (buying and selling goods). Louisiana’s colonial economy was
based on mercantilism, a command economy controlled by the government.
Under mercantilism, the government of the mother country controlled its
resources and its markets in order to acquire wealth (gold and silver). The
TEACH
Reading Strategy
Making Connections
Assign The Rooster and the Bean
Seed from page 29 in the BLM book.
Have the students read the short
story and answer the questions.
Addressing Learning Styles
Body/Kinesthetic
Have students role-play bartering
by using I Have, I Want from page
30 in the BLM book.
Divide the class into groups of
eight. Cut out two or more sets of
cards. Give each student two cards,
(a Have card and a Want card). Be
sure the two cards given to each
student have the same number. Tell
them that they are going to barter
to get their Want. They may trade
their Have card, but their goal is to
get their Want. Only one person can
trade at a time. At the end of the
time period, check to see if students
got what they wanted.
T82
82
government expected its New World
colonies to provide raw materials and
crops to the mother country. Colonies
were also expected to buy goods only
from the mother country.
Mercantilism failed in Louisiana.
The colony first belonged to France
and then to Spain. Both expected to
find gold and silver or some other
valuable products here. But Louisiana
did not have those minerals, and the
colony never had enough workers.
Neither France nor Spain made money
on the Louisiana colony.
The colonists struggled in this mercantile economy. They never received
enough supplies from either France or
Spain. Finally, the colonists changed
the economy to meet their needs
and developed a frontier exchange
economy. People trapped for furs,
made their own goods, grew their own
crops, and traded with their nearby
neighbors.
Some of those neighbors were colonies that belonged to other nations.
Trade with those other colonies was
considered smuggling because it was
illegal. However, the colonists ignored
the laws because they could not
survive without smuggling. The settlers were moving away from the rules of
the command economy of mercantilism because those rules could not meet
their needs.
By the time Louisiana’s colonial period ended with the Louisiana Purchase,
a market economy based on agriculture was developing. The earliest crops in
the colony had been tobacco and indigo. They were replaced by sugar cane and
cotton because those crops were more profitable.
During this period, New Orleans developed into a major port for North
America. A visitor in 1801 described the city on the Mississippi as “the grand
mart of business, the Alexandria of America.”
In the early years of statehood, Louisiana continued its agricultural economy.
The economy boomed in the twenty years before the Civil War, but the end of
the war brought great suffering. The state struggled economically until after
World War II.
Chapter 3 Louisiana’s Economy: Resources and Rewards
Section 2
Class Discussion
Debrief the I Have, I Want
activity by asking
• Who started the trading?
• How many trades were conducted
before each person got the item he
or she wanted?
• Was it easy or difficult?
• How did you feel as you
bartered?
• Would it have been easier to
trade with money?
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Ask students what tobacco production was like in the early factory.
(Did there seem to be an assembly
line?)
Guiding Question 2-17
Reading Strategy
Above: Indigo, which was
used to produce a blue dye,
was one of Louisiana’s early
cash crops. This early
engraving shows how indigo
was processed.
Alexandria, Egypt, was built
around 300 B.C. It developed
into an important cultural,
intellectual, political, and
economic center for the known
(Mediterranean) world.
Louisiana’s Economic History
83
Building GLE Vocabulary
Mercantilism: An economic
doctrine/system prevalent in Europe
from the 1500s to the mid-1700s. It
held that the economic interests of
a nation could be strengthened by
tariffs, increased foreign trade,
monopolies, and a balance of
exports over imports. Mercantilism
influenced the British attitude and
policies towards its American
colonies, i.e., the colonies were held
for the economic benefit of the
mother country.
Critical Thinking
Objectives
Class Discussion
Reading Strategy
GLE 13: Describe factors that contribute to economic interdependence at the
local, national, and global level, as related to Louisiana’s past and present.
GLE 78: Describe and analyze the impact of Louisiana’s geographic features on
historic events, settlement patterns, economic developments, etc.
GLE 79: Explain how Louisiana’s natural resources have shaped its history (e.g.,
petroleum).
Ask students
• what type of economic system
bartering is. (Comprehension)
• what type of economic system
mercantilism is. (Comprehension)
• who profited most from
mercantilism. (Knowledge)
Guiding Question 2-1
Predicting
Predict the reasons for economic suffering after the Civil War
and World War II. (NOTE: You may
want students to write their predictions in a journal and refer
back to them after studying the
later periods of history.)
Guiding Question 2-16
Ask students
• why mercantilism failed.
• which type of economy is best.
• why New Orleans was referred to
as “the grand mart of business.”
Research Project
Have students research
Alexandria, Egypt. Compare it to
New Orleans.
T83
3
Section
Critical Thinking
Ask students
• how industries change.
• how being part of the global
economy will impact traditional
industries.
Guiding Question 2-1
Louisiana’s
Resources
Reading Strategy
Predicting
Ask students to predict what
Louisiana’s economy might be like
in the future.
Figure 4
Most Important
Crops, 2003
As you read, look for:
1. Sugar Cane
• Louisiana’s natural resources,
• the role natural resources, capital resources, and human
resources play in the economy, and
• vocabulary terms mineral resources, nonrenewable,
lignite, biological resources, renewable, pulpwood, and
labor union.
2. Cotton
INTRODUCE
Outline
3. Rice
4. Soybeans
5. Corn
An economic system uses natural resources, human resources, and capital
resources to produce goods and services.
Civic Participation
Have students write a letter to a
state legislator proposing the
advancement of one of Louisiana’s
industries or the development of a
new one.
SECTION 3
LOUISIANA’S RESOURCES
Above: There are over
500,000 acres of land in
Louisiana on which rice is
grown.
ASSESS
Check for Understanding
1. Trading goods and services
without money
2. The control the mother
country has over the markets
and resources of its colonies
in order to acquire wealth
3. Indigo, tobacco, sugar cane,
cotton
4. The need for oil advanced the
oil industry in Louisiana.
5. Global interdependence
New industries that had developed during that war survived and grew. Advances in technology brought new equipment to farms. These machines replaced human labor and many workers left the farms.
But economic change had begun in Louisiana even before World War II. The
state’s vast forests were cut beginning about 1880. By 1920, most of the oldgrowth trees were gone. Unfortunately, most of the profits were made by outof-state companies, not the people of Louisiana.
Another resource—oil—became valuable in the early twentieth century. This
new industry began to change Louisiana’s economic base. The demands for oil
during World War II combined with the changes in agriculture to give the state
a new economic direction.
In the twenty-first century, Louisiana’s economy is part of the interdependent global economy. The new economic direction seeks more diversity and
less dependence on the oil industry.
Check for Understanding
Natural Resources
Natural resources are gifts of nature and include air, water, and soil. Louisiana’s
abundant natural resources have supported the development of its economy.
Below: Sugar cane, seen
growing here in Terrebonne
Parish, is the principal
source of sugar.
Materials
Textbook, pages 85-95
Blackline Masters
Louisiana’s Resources, page 31
The Goose That Laid the
Golden Egg, page 32
Alligator Farming in Louisiana,
page 33
Thinking about Our Wetlands,
page 34
The SCANS Report, page 35
Teacher CD-ROM
Transparencies
Online textbook
mystatehistory.com
1. What is barter?
2. What is mercantilism?
3. Name two important crops in Louisiana.
4. How did World War II affect the oil industry?
5. What is the new economic direction for Louisiana?
84
Chapter 3 Louisiana’s Economy: Resources and Rewards
Section 3
Louisiana’s Resources
85
Alternative Assessment
Role-play a barter situation. Give
students a role card describing
something they have and something
they need. Ask four students to participate while the rest of the class
observes and records behaviors.
Lesson Closure
Write a journal entry detailing
the pros and cons of using barter as
a way of exchanging goods.
T84
A. Natural Resources
B. Mineral Resources
1. Oil
2. Natural Gas
3. Salt
4. Sulphur
5. Lignite
C. Biological Resources
1. Forests
2. Wildlife
3. Fish
D. Capital Resources
E. Human Resources
Reading Strategy
Research Project
Objectives
Cause and Effect
Have students describe
• how new inventions affected
farming in Louisiana.
• how different farming methods
affected the economy of
Louisiana.
Have students find out what
the main products were in
Louisiana fifty years ago. Are they
the same as today?
GLE 16: Analyze the distribution
and uses of Louisiana’s natural
resources.
GLE 48: Characterize and analyze
the use of productive resources in
an economic system.
Focus
Write the term natural resource
on the chalkboard and ask students
to define it. Have them brainstorm
examples of each type of natural
resource that might be found in
Louisiana. Have them put the list
aside so they can refer to it as they
study Section 3.
TEACH
Have students look at Figure 4 to
examine the most important crops
in Louisiana in 2003. Ask if they
have seen any of these crops growing.
T85
Multidisciplinary Activity
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Science Have students find out the
conditions necessary for growing
crops like sugar cane, cotton, rice,
soybeans, and corn. Review how
Louisiana’s weather supports the
growing of these crops.
Ask students what natural region
of Louisiana is pictured in this
photo.
Class Discussion
Ask students to define mineral
resources. (Comprehension)
Class Discussion
Ask students how agribusiness is
different from farming in the past.
(Analysis)
Social Studies Skill
Social Studies Skill
Reading a Map
Have students look at Map 13.
Ask students
• what resources are found in the
area where they live.
• if they know of other resources
that are not identified on the map.
Have students refer to the map of
natural land regions on page 49.
Using Map 13, ask them to list on a
chart the resources that are identified by region.
Guiding Question 2-2
Research Project
Have students research to find
data regarding the production of
resources listed on Map 13.
An abundant water supply benefits Louisiana. Surface water and underground
water sources supply water for agriculture, industry, and human use. Waterways also provide transportation and recreation.
Above: Herds of cattle roam
the pastures of West
Feliciana Parish.
Mineral Resources
Mineral resources are inorganic substances that were formed by Earth’s
geological processes. Louisiana’s mineral resources are important to its economy.
They are nonrenewable; that is, these resources are not replaced by nature
once they are extracted (taken) from the environment.
Oil, natural gas, salt, sulphur, and lignite are mineral resources found in
Louisiana. The state also has deposits of sand, gravel, and limestone that are
used in the construction industry.
Reading Strategy
Compare and Contrast
Make a display of the various
maps and then have students
compare regions of the state where
certain resources are found with
regions where they are not found.
Oil
Plants that decayed millions of years ago created the oil used for today’s
energy. Louisiana contains more than 10 percent of the known oil reserves in
the United States. Even more oil waits beneath the floor of the Gulf of Mexico.
These deposits have made Louisiana one of the top oil-producing states in the
United States.
The twentieth century began with the drilling of Louisiana’s first oil well in
1901. A wooden derrick held that drilling rig in Jennings. The drill bit struck
oil 1,800 feet beneath the surface.
More oil was soon located in Caddo Parish, and the first offshore oil well was
drilled in Caddo Lake. Another large deposit was discovered in Claiborne Parish.
Section 3
Making a Map
Divide the students into groups
and have each group make a map
illustrating resources found in
Louisiana. One group might be
responsible for recording all the
mineral resources, while another
group identifies biological resources.
You could have students make a
separate map for farm products,
nonrenewable resources, forest
products, etc.
Critical Thinking
Ask students what can be done
to preserve our natural resources.
Louisiana’s Resources
87
BLM Assign students Louisiana’s
Resources from page 31 in the BLM
book.
Reading Strategy
Connecting with Prior Knowledge
Ask students how the oil industry
affects Louisiana’s environment. You
might want to refer students back to
page 67 and review the amount of
land lost to oil spills.
T86
T87
Using Photos and
Illustrations
During the early days of the oil rush, natural gas was burned as waste at the
well sites. In 1917, however, a process was developed to convert natural gas
into carbon black. Carbon black is used in making tires, ink, and other products. The large Monroe natural gas field, which had been discovered in 1907,
became very valuable.
Later, natural gas became an important source of energy for homes and
industry. This clean fuel is still widely used. Natural gas can even serve as fuel
in modified vehicles. In recent years, some Mardi Gras floats have been pulled
by trucks powered by natural gas. The Clean Cities Coalition wanted to show
how clean-burning natural gas fuel reduces pollution.
Ask students what it would be
like to work on an offshore oil
platform.
Lagniappe
Workers are transported to and
from the offshore oil rigs by
helicopters, which are owned and
operated by companies that
specialize in this service.
Salt
Both humans and animals need salt to survive. The first people to use the
salt in Louisiana were Native Americans. They found animals licking the soil
where the salt had made its way to the surface. The Native Americans used the
salt from these salt licks in trade. Later, people used salt as a form of money.
During the Civil War, an underground salt deposit was discovered on Avery
Island. This deposit was almost pure rock salt. The Confederacy relied upon
that salt until the Union troops destroyed the mining operation. Other salt
deposits have been discovered, including some more than 50,000 feet deep
and a least a mile across! Salt in these deep deposits is recovered by mining it.
Research Activity
Have students research one of
Louisiana’s industries and prepare a
timeline highlighting major periods
in its development.
Critical Thinking
Have students discuss how
problems in the Middle East might
affect Louisiana’s oil industry. Have
them predict changes that might
occur in the next ten years.
Lagniappe
Louisiana’s first Oil and Gas
Museum opened to the public in Oil
City on May 14, 2004.
To take students on a virtual tour
of the museum, go to www.sos.
louisiana.gov/museums/oil/oil
-tour.htm.
BLM Assign students The Goose
That Laid the Golden Egg on page 32
in the BLM book.
Above: Many oil platforms
like this one are located in
the Gulf of Mexico.
Lagniappe
The Tuscaloosa Trend runs
across the state,
east-west, just below the
central region.
88
T88
Lagniappe
Sixty-two of Louisiana’s
sixty-four parishes have
some oil or natural gas
production. Only East
Carroll and West Carroll
Parishes do not.
Below: Avery Island is a
huge salt dome. Louisiana
leads the nation in salt
production.
Critical Thinking
Ask students why they think
natural gas is not used more often
as a fuel source for automobiles.
Research Activity
Have students research oil
drilling methods. Compare past and
present methods.
Ask students to describe the salt
dome in the picture.
Addressing Learning Styles
Visual/Spatial
Have students create a model of
a salt dome or an oil drilling station.
Reading Strategy
Connecting with Prior Knowledge
Ask students what economic
process Native Americans used when
they used salt for money. What did
they get for the salt?
Natural Gas
Louisiana’s natural gas deposits are even larger than its oil deposits. More
than a quarter of the nation’s supply of natural gas comes from Louisiana.
Underground pipelines move this natural gas throughout the United States.
Chapter 3 Louisiana’s Economy: Resources and Rewards
Visual/Spatial
Verbal/Linguistic
Have students create a visual to
describe one of Louisiana’s industries. They could do a flip book or a
poster.
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Soon hundreds of oil derricks hinted at the possible riches across Louisiana. But
those early years of oil exploration were based more on hunch than on geology;
sometimes the landowner got a dry hole instead of a gushing oil well.
The richest recent discovery was the Tuscaloosa Trend in South Louisiana,
found in the 1970s. During the oil boom of that decade, many people reached
their dream of getting rich. The crash of oil prices in the 1980s changed their
luck.
More oil deposits lie beneath the Gulf of Mexico. Geologists discovered this
oil by using sound waves to produce images of Earth’s crust. The first platform
in the Gulf was built in 1947; since then, thousands of oil wells have been
drilled off Louisiana’s coast.
Large refineries process this “black gold” for hundreds of uses. Louisiana
refineries produce enough gasoline each year to fill 800 million automobile
gas tanks. Jets fly around the world using fuel refined in Louisiana. An almost
unlimited list of other products is created from the chemicals refined from oil.
Section 3
Louisiana’s Resources
89
Class Discussion
Critical Thinking
Share Louisiana’s oil and gas facts
with the students. Ask them to
compare the production and use of
these resources in Louisiana. What
generalizations can they make.
Addressing Learning Styles
Louisiana Oil and Gas Facts, 2003
As an energy producer (including offshore), Louisiana ranked
• second in total energy.
• second in natural gas.
• first in crude oil.
As an energy consumer, Louisiana ranked
• third in industrial energy.
• third in natural gas.
• fifth in petroleum.
• seventh in total energy.
• 22nd in residential energy.
Ask students to hypothesize how
salt was important during times of
war. (Synthesis)
NOTE: Possible answers include
for diet to protect against certain
diseases, to tan leather, to dye uniforms and clothes, to preserve meat.
T89
Most of us think of salt as a seasoning in a shaker. But most Louisiana salt
is used to make chemicals that in turn make hundreds of other products. Polyvinyl chloride is a plastic made in a process that begins with salt. This plastic
makes PVC pipe for plumbing, as well as many other products.
Addressing Learning Styles
Visual/Spatial
Show students a piece of PVC
pipe and ask them what it has to do
with salt. (Louisiana salt is used to
make polyvinyl chloride — a plastic
that is used to make PVC pipe.)
Lagniappe
• Louisiana salt brine is used by
companies like DOW, PPG Industries,
Union Texas Products, Laroche
Chemicals, Freeport Sulfur, Texas
Brine Corp., and Olin Corp. Vacuum
pan salt and rock salt are used by
companies like Cargill Inc., Akzo
Salt Inc., Morton International Inc.,
and Carey Salt Co.
• Native Americans were thought to
have produced salt in North America
some 500 years before the arrival of
Europeans.
Lagniappe
Sulphur was called
brimstone and “the stone
that burns.”
Below: This lignite surface
mine is located in the Dolet
Hills near Mansfield. Opposite page, above: Most of
Louisiana’s harvested trees
go to make pulpwood. Here
pine logs are awaiting
shipment on the Red River.
Lignite
Lignite is a soft, brownish-black coal that burns poorly because of its high
water content. Although it is the lowest-quality coal, Louisiana lignite has
been mined since the 1970s. Because of the oil supply crisis of that decade,
the United States government encouraged the use of other sources of energy
such as lignite.
The lignite deposits in Louisiana lie mostly in DeSoto Parish. Surface mining there produces more than a million tons of lignite each year. Lignite mined
in Louisiana fuels an electric power station near Mansfield.
Class Discussion
Ask students to give examples of
biological resources.
Research Project
Biological Resources
Biological resources are plants and animals, also called flora and fauna by
scientists. Biological resources are renewable; that is, they replenish themselves over time.
One unusual form of vegetation that once was an economic resource is Spanish moss. The plant, gathered from live oak and cypress trees, was sold as stuffing
for mattresses and furniture. The early Model T Fords even had seats stuffed
with Louisiana Spanish moss.
Forests
Money may not grow on trees, but trees can certainly bring money to the
economy. Trees are Louisiana’s second-largest income producer. Almost half of
Louisiana is covered in forests. Trees are sold from the forests of fifty-eight
parishes.
More than 90 percent of the trees cut are pine, and more than 75 percent of
those pine trees are cut for pulpwood. These smaller, softer trees are shredded
into pulp, which is then made into paper. The amount of pulpwood cut each
year would make enough paper to print more than a billion copies of the Sunday New York Times.
Large trees cut for lumber are called sawtimber. More than one billion board
feet of timber are cut from these trees, enough to build over 150,000 houses.
Most of the sawtimber is also pine, although some is cut from hardwood trees
such as oak. The hardwood sawtimber is used for specialty products such as
furniture and flooring.
Making a Graph
Have students research to find
statistics on mineral production in
Louisiana. Ask them to make a
graph to illustrate their findings.
Guiding Question 2-2
Critical Thinking
T90
Have students look at the picture
of the pine logs and ask them to
brainstorm a list of products made
from Louisiana trees.
Sulphur
Sulphur is a mineral used to make matches, gunpowder, medicine, plastic,
and paper. The first major discovery of sulphur in Louisiana, made in 1869,
was called the “richest 50 acres in the world.” The town of Sulphur in Calcasieu
Parish developed around this industry. Port Sulphur in Plaquemines Parish also
owes its name to sulphur mining. Freeport Sulphur built the town as a model
community for its employees.
Other deposits of sulphur were discovered in salt domes and along the coast
of the Gulf of Mexico. The mineral’s value to Louisiana’s economy has decreased.
Sulphur was mined until recent years. The low price of sulphur from other
countries has made it unprofitable to mine Louisiana sulphur.
Social Studies Skill
Louisiana’s geography has led to
the development of a number of the
state’s industries. Sometimes the
development of these industries has
complemented the natural environment; sometimes developments have
been bad for the environment. Ask
students how life would be different
if Louisiana’s farms, fishing, and
forestry industries disappeared. Ask
them how life would be different
without manufacturing industries,
construction, food production, or
chemical production.
Guiding Question 2-16
Using Photos and
Illustrations
90
Chapter 3 Louisiana’s Economy: Resources and Rewards
Section 3
Class Discussion
Social Studies Skill
Group Activity
Ask students
• what the uses for sulphur are.
(Knowledge)
• why sulphur is unprofitable.
(Knowledge)
• what part of Louisiana produces lignite. (Knowledge)
Using Community Resources
Invite people who work in one
or more of the industries mentioned in this section to your
classroom. Before the classroom
visit, have students develop
questions to ask the individuals
about their jobs or changes that
they have seen in a particular
industry.
Divide the class into pairs or
small groups. Provide each group
with a Louisiana highway map.
Ask them to locate places with
names that contain clues to the
resources or economic activities
found there, e.g., Trees City, Port
Sulphur, Oil City. Make a class list
of the places.
Lagniappe
Spanish moss is not a moss
at all. It is more closely
related to the pineapple.
While it attaches itself to
trees, it actually gets its
water and food from the air!
Louisiana’s Resources
91
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Look at the photo of the
Spanish moss. Ask students what
are some misconceptions about
Spanish moss. Have them write a
poem about the Spanish moss
that is so symbolic of Louisiana.
Have students find the names of
various flowers, shrubs, and trees
that are indigenous to Louisiana.
Have them research one example.
Addressing Learning Styles
Visual/Spatial
Have each student make a
postcard highlighting an example of
the flora of Louisiana. (If you had
students complete the research
project on flora, have them highlight this plant on the postcard.)
Civic Participation
Point out that most wildflowers
growing along the highway were
planted by the State Highway
Department or civic and garden
clubs. As individuals or as a class,
create a wildflower meadow. The
meadow could be created for the
school or for individual homes. For
information on the benefits of such
a meadow as well as the directions
for how to do the project, go to
www.deq.state.la.us/assistance/ea
rthday/meadows.htm.
Lagniappe
Founded in 1869, the Louisiana
State University Herbarium is the
oldest collection of preserved plant
specimens in the Gulf South. It has
the second largest collection of
Louisiana plants.
T91
Internet Project
Have students go to www.
endangeredspecie.com/states/la.
htm to find a list of endangered
animals and plants in Louisiana.
Assign or have students choose one
of the 29 items to research.
Social Studies Skill
Reading a Map
Ask students to look at Map 14.
What products made from forests are
pictured?
Social Studies Skill
Making a Map
Have students make a map of
Louisiana’s natural regions. Place
the forest products pictured on Map
14 in their corresponding regions.
Compare the types of products
associated with each region.
Class Discussion
Ask students to name
• the state flower. (Knowledge)
• the state tree. (Knowledge)
• the state animal. (Knowledge)
• the state bird. (Knowledge)
Critical Thinking
Ask students to name other symbols that might be more representative of Louisiana.
Internet Activity
Hunters in Louisiana continue a
generations-old activity. Hunting has
long been a source of food; today it is
also recreation. Hunting also generates
There are more than
millions of dollars each year for the
one hundred alligator farms
state’s economy.
in Louisiana.
The early years of timber cutting
and clearing land for crops reduced the
forest land. The numbers of forest animals decreased as their habitats were lost. Proper management has increased
the animal population in recent years. White-tailed deer have increased to more
than a million animals in the state. Other game animals include squirrels and
rabbits. Game animals can be hunted but cannot be sold commercially.
The largest wild animal in Louisiana—the black bear—is endangered and
can no longer be hunted. The loss of
the bear’s natural habitat has made
it almost extinct. Fortunately, the
state has a program to release bears
brought here from other states. Radio collars track the bears so they can
be observed and protected.
Benjamin Franklin wanted the wild
turkey to be the symbol of the United
States instead of the bald eagle.
Franklin would be pleased at the efforts that have increased the numbers
of this native bird in Louisiana. The
gobble of the wild turkey is heard in
forests throughout the state.
The wild turkey is classified as a
game bird in Louisiana. Other game birds that can be hunted in season are
dove and quail. Doves are plentiful, but the number of quail has dropped in
recent years. The most plentiful game birds are the migratory waterfowl that
pass through Louisiana on their way south for the winter. Millions of ducks
and geese cover the marsh during November and December.
The alligator is Louisiana’s most famous wildlife. The hide of this reptile makes
valuable leather. However, extensive hunting and environmental problems reduced the number of alligators to the endangered level. The states along the
Gulf Coast stopped alligator hunting in 1963, and the animal was placed on the
federal protected species list. The plan worked. Today more than a half million
alligators live in Louisiana. In 1981, after eighteen years, alligator hunting resumed but under strict rules. Alligators produce millions of dollars in hides and
meat, and alligator farming brings in almost as much as trapping. The alligator
thrives in Louisiana, holding its place in the ecosystem and in the economy.
BLM Assign Alligator Farming on
page 33 in the BLM book.
Lagniappe
Section 3
Class Discussion
Louisiana is called the Pelican
State. Ask students what other birds
are associated with the state.
Writing Activity
Write a letter to the editor of
your local newspaper asking that
Louisiana be called “The ____
State.” Give reasons for suggesting
the name change.
BLM Assign students Thinking
About Our Wetlands on page 34 in
the BLM book.
Lagniappe
Top: More than a half
million alligators live in
Louisiana. Above: Salt is
being rubbed into this
alligator hide to preserve it.
Opposite page, below:
Although the demand for
furs has declined, the
raccoon is still trapped in
Louisiana.
Louisiana’s Resources
There are 110 alligator farms with
more than 250,000 alligators
operating in Louisiana and Florida
today. Alligator farming was begun
in the late 1980s.
93
Have students use a search
engine to find information on
conservation efforts to preserve
Louisiana’s wildlife. Have them share
their findings with the class.
T92
T93
Ask students what Louisiana
industries benefit from the activity
in the picture? (tourism, seafood,
boat and fishing equipment sales)
the U.S. record for the largest catch of fish ever taken in one year—almost 2
billion pounds.
Shrimp, oysters, and crabs flavor our gumbos and help fund our economy.
More shrimp and oysters come from Louisiana than any other coastal state.
A fish that no one eats adds millions of dollars to the economy each year. The
menhaden, also called the pogy, is used to make fertilizer and pet
food. These small sardine-like fish are even used to make the food
for farm-raised catfish.
Lagniappe
Capital Resources
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Fish
In Louisiana, some people fish for fun and others fish for a living. Their
equipment ranges from a simple cane pole to huge nets.
The rivers, lakes, and bayous of Louisiana provide freshwater fish such as
bream, bass, perch, and catfish. Most of these fish are caught for recreation.
The catfish is the main freshwater fish that can be legally caught to sell. The
growing demand for catfish led to a new industry—catfish farming. The catfish are raised in ponds.
Crawfish are also raised commercially on crawfish farms. Some rice farmers
even produce crawfish as a second crop in their flooded fields. The traditional
source of this popular shellfish is the Atchafalaya Basin, which produces millions of pounds of crawfish annually.
Fishing in the Gulf of Mexico attracts tourists as well as commercial fishermen. Old oil rigs in the Gulf have been converted into artificial reefs and attract thousands of fish and many charter boats.
The Gulf of Mexico provides a generous harvest of seafood. Game fish include speckled trout, redfish, drum, mackerel, blue marlin, amberjack, grouper, and tarpon. Game fish cannot be sold commercially.
Commercial fishing is allowed for tuna, sea trout, red snapper, and other
fish that are headed for the dinner table. Seafood caught off the coast of Louisiana totals 25 percent of the United States catch each year. Louisiana holds
Ask students to think of different
types of jobs found in the seafood
industry.
Critical Thinking
Because of a concern for food
safety, the FDA has mandated new
seafood inspection procedures,
including the need for seafood
handlers to receive updated
training. Ask students how
important it is to update procedures
to keep abreast of changing
environmental concerns.
Addressing Learning Styles
94
Chapter 3 Louisiana’s Economy: Resources and Rewards
Human resources are the people who supply the labor—either
physical or mental—to produce goods and provide services. In
an economic system, they are paid for this work.
Today’s diverse economies require new skills and specialization. Productivity and flexibility are valued by employers. People
who want good jobs know they need education and training.
The desire for satisfying, good-paying jobs led to the rise of
labor unions in the twentieth century. Groups of workers organized to demand fair pay and safe working conditions. Labor unions
grew strong in Louisiana but have lost much of that power today because of the
right-to-work law passed in 1976. This state law says that no one can be required to join a labor union to get a job. Unions say this law takes away their
power to protect workers. Business owners say it keeps unions from pushing wages
and benefits so high they cannot make a profit.
Check for Understanding
Have students define capital
resources and human resources and
give examples of each.
Verbal/Linguistic
Have students interview someone
who owns or manages a business.
Find out what skills the company
wants its workers to possess. Ask
which skills are strongest and weakest in new employees.
Guiding Question 2-8
Human Resources
Class Discussion
Class Discussion
Addressing Learning Styles
Capital resources are human-made products used to produce
goods or services. This includes buildings and equipment. Examples
of capital resources in Louisiana are rice mills, sugar refineries,
oil refineries, cotton gins, and meat-packing plants. Transportation facilities—bridges, highways, and airports—are also capital
resources.
• Louisiana’s fishing industry is the
second largest in America. Twentysix percent of all seafood produced
in America comes from Louisiana.
• Louisiana’s seafood industry has
an impact of $2.7 billion annually to
the state.
• Louisiana’s seafood industry supports 27,000 jobs.
Verbal/Linguistic
Have students research and
debate the need for new inspection
procedures in the seafood industry.
Employer: One who provides a
job that pays wages or a salary.
Employee: One who works for
another usually for wages or a
salary.
1. Name two mineral resources that have helped Louisiana’s
economy.
2. Name two uses for Louisiana’s trees.
3. What is a new method for getting crawfish?
4. Name three capital resources in Louisiana.
5. What is a labor union?
Section 3
BLM Assign students to complete
The SCANS Report on page 35 in the
BLM book.
Guiding Question 2-8
ASSESS
Above: Human resources—
people such as this
furniture craftsman in
Covington—are Louisiana’s
most valuable resource.
Opposite page, above: Many
visitors charter boats to
take them fishing in the
Gulf of Mexico. Opposite
page, below: These speckled
trout will end up on someone’s dinner plate.
Louisiana’s Resources
Check for Understanding
1. Oil, natural gas, salt, sulphur,
lignite
2. Pulpwood and sawtimber
3. Farmers produce them in rice
fields.
4. Rice mills, sugar refineries,
oil refineries, cotton gins,
meat-packing plants, bridges,
highways, airports
5. A group of workers who
organized to work for fair pay
and safe working conditions
95
Alternative Assessment
Have students locate Louisiana
resources on an outline map.
Social Studies Skill
Lesson Closure
Creating a Graph
Survey the students in class to
find out how many eat seafood.
Also, ask what their favorite
seafoods are. Make a class graph
displaying the data.
Have students write a persuasive
essay describing Louisiana’s “most
important” resource.
T94
T95
SECTION 4
PROVIDING LOUISIANA’S
GOODS AND SERVICES
4
Section
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Providing Louisiana’s
Goods and Services
INTRODUCE
The Occidental Chemical Plant at
Geismar has won a number of
awards for pollution prevention and
conservation.
Ask students to predict what
products are made at Occidental
Chemical (chlorine, caustic soda,
hydrochloric acid, and potassium
chemicals).
The products produced at
Occidental Chemical are used to
make soap, detergent, soft drinks,
drain cleaners, corn syrup, circuit
boards, refrigerants, plastics, paint
remover, paper, insecticides, and
pharmaceuticals.
Materials
Textbook, pages 96-103
Blackline Masters
Goods and Services, page 36
Industrial Growth in My Parish,
page 37
Career Interview, page 38
Career Choices, page 39
Teacher CD-ROM
Transparencies
Online textbook
mystatehistory.com
As you read, look for:
Below: Petroleum refining
and related chemical plants
provide a large segment of
the state’s economic base.
• the types of goods and services produced in Louisiana,
• Louisiana’s place in the global economy, and
• vocabulary terms private goods and services, public goods
and services, interdependent, Superport, tariff, economic
indicators, gross domestic product, consumer price index,
inflation, and unemployment rate.
An economic system uses human, natural, and capital resources
to produce goods and to provide services. Louisiana’s economy
produces a wide variety of goods and services.
Louisiana’s Goods and Services
Ask students if they have
thought about what they would like
to do after high school graduation.
Brainstorm job opportunities inside
and outside the state. Discuss
whether or not a college education
is needed.
Most goods and services are produced in Louisiana’s free market economy. These are called private goods and services. Sellers offer goods and services to buyers. Private goods and services
have clear owners and are not available to everyone. The benefits of private goods and services are limited to the owners. If
you buy and eat a hamburger, no one else can have it.
Some goods and services are provided by the government
because they are unlikely to be provided by private businesses.
These are public goods and services and are usually available
to everyone. Public goods and services meet the needs and wants
of society instead of individuals. Some examples are highways,
police protection, public education, and public libraries.
The petroleum refineries in Louisiana
produce billions of gallons of gasoline
each year. These refineries also produce
more than six hundred other products.
Louisiana produces
Another major manufacturing in60 million wooden matches
dustry is shipbuilding. Some of the
each day, one-half of the
largest ships built in Louisiana are gicountry’s entire production.
ant transport ships designed to carry
liquified natural gas. These shipbuilders also design and build merchant vessels, Coast Guard cutters, barges, tugs,
supply boats, fishing vessels, and pleasure craft.
TEACH
Manufacturing
Aerospace and Aviation
Focus
Goods made in Louisiana include ships, trucks, electrical
equipment, glass products, automobile batteries, and mobile
homes, as well as several hundred other products. These Louisiana products are sold throughout the world.
The chemical industry is a major part of Louisiana’s economy. Louisiana ranks
second in the United States in the production of petrochemicals, chemicals made
from petroleum (oil). More than one hundred chemical plants in Louisiana
produce a long list of products, including fertilizers and plastics.
Class Discussion
Have students describe the difference between jobs that produce
goods and those jobs that provide
services.
Reading Strategy
Building GLE Vocabulary
Goods and services: A good is an
object (such as a box of cereal or a
computer) that can satisfy a
person’s want or need. A service
(such as waiting a table or providing
dental care) is an action that can be
used to satisfy a person’s want or
need.
Reading Strategy
Compare and Contrast
Have students complete a T-chart
contrasting jobs that produce goods
and those that provide services.
Guiding Question 2-12
BLM Assign Goods and Services on
page 36 in the BLM book.
T96
96
Lagniappe
Above: Geismar, on the
Mississippi, is home to this
Occidental Chemicals plant.
Critical Thinking
Ask students to
• identify the jobs of the future.
Guiding Questions 2-6, 2-7
• describe how 9/11 impacted the
field of biotechnology.
• describe how outsourcing has
affected manufacturing jobs in the
United States.
The United States space program includes Louisiana workers. Fuel tanks for
the space shuttles have been built at an assembly facility in New Orleans. At a
Lake Charles plant, aircraft are prepared for military use.
Internet Activity
Have students use a search
engine to find information about
biotechnology jobs in Louisiana.
Biotechnology
Scientists are taking Louisiana’s economy in a new direction. Biotechnology
combines biological research with engineering. The Pennington Biomedical
Research Center is a leader in this research.
Chapter 3 Louisiana’s Economy: Resources and Rewards
Section 4
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and Services
Social Studies Skill
97
Objectives
Objectives (Cont.)
GLE 13: Describe factors that contribute to economic interdependence at the
local, national, and global level, as related to Louisiana’s past and present.
GLE 45: Analyze the role of specialization in Louisiana’s economy.
GLE 46: Use a variety of resources to research education and training for jobs and
careers.
GLE 47: Site examples of how skills/knowledge and technical training increase
personal productivity and career opportunities, and which skills/knowledge would
enhance particular career prospects.
GLE 48: Characterize and analyze the use of productive resources in an economic
system.
GLE 50: Describe institutions (e.g., banks, government agencies, large companies,
and small businesses) that make up economic systems.
GLE 58: Describe historical and economic factors influencing the economic
growth, interdependence and development of Louisiana and the nation (e.g., mass
production, oil boom and decline).
GLE 59: Identify the meaning of various economic indicators that help describe
the state of an economy (e.g., GDP, CPI, stock market indices, rate of employment
or inflation).
GLE 60: Define inflation and unemployment in terms of an economic system as a
whole.
GLE 61: Describe the influence/impact of inflation or unemployment on different
groups of people (e.g., consumers, business owners).
Reading a Map
Have students locate principal
industries in Louisiana. Compare the
locations with the mineral resources
students made in Section 3. Ask if
the industries are located near
resources needed to produce certain
products.
BLM Assign Industrial Growth in
My Parish on page 37 in the BLM
book.
Lagniappe
Louisiana is the sole producer of
the giant external tanks used in the
Space Shuttle program.
T97
Internet Activity
Go to web site www.iom.edu/
report.asp?id=6871 to find a
summary of a number of studies
that have been conducted at the
Pennington Biomedical Research
Center.
Critical Thinking
Ask students what benefit
facilities like the Pennington
Biomedical Research Center provide.
Internet Search
Have students use a search
engine to find other facilities in
other states that perform similar
services.
Spotlight
Biomedical
Pennington
Research
Center
The mission of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center is to promote
healthier lives through nutritional research and preventive medicine. Researchers at the Center study the effects
of nutrition on such chronic illnesses as
heart disease, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and cancer. More than 1,500 human volunteers assist the researchers
each year. The Center shares its research
results with such universities as Harvard,
Johns Hopkins, Duke, and Columbia.
In 1980, philanthropist Claude B.
(Doc) Pennington donated $125 million
to Louisiana State University for the establishment of the Center. At the time,
this donation represented the largest
private gift given to a university by an
individual. “Doc” Pennington, a former
optometrist and oil man, had been interested in nutrition and health.
The Research Center complex, which
opened in 1988, is located in Baton
Rouge and covers an area the size of
five football fields. The Center contains
forty research laboratories and millions of dollars in
equipment.
The National Institutes of Health selected Pennington Center to study diabetes and heart disease.
The Center has also studied bone and muscle loss
during space flight for NASA.
98
T98
Top: The Pennington Biomedical Research Center
complex covers an area the size of five football fields.
Above: More than 1,500 human volunteers assist the
researchers each year. Opposite: Researchers at the
Center study the effects of nutrition on such illnesses
as heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and cancer.
Chapter 3 Louisiana’s Economy: Resources and Rewards
Section 4
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and Services
Critical Thinking
Ask students to brainstorm the
types of jobs at Pennington. You
might want students to go to the
Pennington web site (www.pbrc.
edu/) to see what jobs are currently
available.
Using Photos and
Illustrations
What items (resources) are shown
in the photograph? Have students
speculate on their uses.
99
T99
Banks are also important economic institutions. They make it possible for
producers and consumers to trade, borrow, save, and invest.
Labor unions are organizations of workers who provide the human capital
in the economy.
BLM Assign students Career
Interview on page 38 in the BLM
book.
• Some 100 steamship lines and
barge companies serve the more
than 4,500 seagoing vessels and
100,000 barges that ply the state’s
waterways each year. Trade is
conducted with 191 countries
around the world.
• Louisiana has the nation’s
farthest inland port (Baton Rouge)
for seagoing ships.
Louisiana in the U.S. and Global Economies
BLM Assign students Career
Choices on page 39 in the BLM book.
The first economic systems were simple barter economies involving basic
items. Today’s economic systems overlap and are interdependent. Producers
and consumers rely on each other and on other economies to succeed.
Advances in communication and transportation have resulted in worldwide
trade. For example, oil refined in Louisiana becomes a chemical, which becomes
plastic used to make a toy in China. The toy is shipped to Germany, where it
becomes a gift for a child. Today Louisiana is part of a global economy.
An expanded market brings economic growth. Shipping from Louisiana’s
major ports totals about 400 million tons of cargo a year. More than 40 percent
of all the grain exported from the United States passes through those ports.
Louisiana’s offshore port, the Superport, is the only facility in the United
States capable of handling extremely deep ships. The Superport was constructed
to serve the offshore oil industry and Louisiana’s oil refineries. Tankers from
around the world dock at this port in the Gulf of Mexico.
Class Discussion
Ask students to define economic
institutions. (Comprehension)
Reading Strategy
Building GLE Vocabulary
Economic institution: Any institution
that has evolved in a market economy to help individuals or groups
accomplish their goals. Banks, labor
unions, corporations, legal systems,
and not-for-profit organizations are
examples of economic institutions
that are essential to a market economy.
Lagniappe
Above: Tourists bring billions
of dollars each year into the
Louisiana economy. This
photograph was taken at at
Jean Lafitte National Park.
Below: Louisiana’s busy
ports handle barges, oceangoing ships, and cruise ships
from around the world.
Service Industries
Tourism is a major service industry in the state. Tourists visit Louisiana to
enjoy the culture that makes us special. While here, they sightsee, eat, shop,
fish, hunt, and join the crowds at Mardi Gras. These travelers add billions of
dollars to our economy.
Another service industry that attracts money and people to Louisiana is
movie-making. The first movie made in Louisiana was a 1908 silent movie, and
the first Tarzan movie was filmed in St. Mary Parish in 1917. More recent films
include Steel Magnolias, The Pelican Brief, Double Jeopardy, and Ray.
Economic Institutions
Lagniappe
T100
Chapter 3 Louisiana’s Economy: Resources and Rewards
Section 4
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and Services
101
Addressing Learning Styles
Lagniappe
Class Activity
Visual/Spatial
Have students draw a graphic organizer on which they will record information
about tourism.
• Louisiana’s five deepwater
ports handle more than 457
million tons of U.S. waterborne
commerce a year, including nearly
half of all American grain exports.
• Four of the eleven largest U.S.
ports (in foreign commerce tonnage) are located in Louisiana.
Have students collect
newspaper or magazine articles
that describe Louisiana’s global
trade presence.
Write the word tourism.
Write a graphic representation
of how to pronounce the word.
Write a definition of tourism.
Use drawings or symbols to
describe tourism.
Write words to describe the
emotional impact of tourism.
Use drawings or symbols to
describe the emotional impact.
Building GLE Vocabulary
Interdependence: The situation that
occurs when individuals and
businesses rely on each other for
production of goods or providing
services to satisfy wants and needs
due to specialization or division of
labor
Group Activity
In a market economy, people join together to produce and sell goods and
services. These groups are referred to as economic institutions. They include
businesses large and small, corporations owned by many investors, banks,
and labor unions.
Louisiana has large corporations
with worldwide operations as well as
Over 5,000 ocean-going
small family-owned businesses. All of
ships arrive at Louisiana
these businesses have the same ecoports each year.
nomic goal of making a profit while producing goods and services.
100
Reading Strategy
How Interdependent Are We?
Ask students to imagine a month
in their lives when all the things
they ate, wore, and used were limited to items produced in Louisiana.
Ask them to predict what items
would be available to them. What
would not?
Have students make a list of all
the things they eat, wear, or use in
a day. Have them read labels and do
research to determine where each
item comes from, e.g., clothing may
be made in Korea, fruit may come
from Central America. As students
identify a location for a product,
have them put a sticker on a large
world map.
To debrief the activity, look at
the map and note any regions of the
world where dots are clustered.
What does this tell you about our
trade policies? How does dependency affect our foreign policy?
NOTE: You may want to extend
this activity to have students check
the origin of items used by their
entire family.
T101
Class Discussion
Ask students
• to define NAFTA. (Comprehension)
• how NAFTA changed international
trade among the three nations.
(Comprehension)
Guiding Question 2-1
Reading Strategy
Building GLE Vocabulary
NAFTA: The North American Free
Trade Agreement signed by the
United States, Canada, and Mexico
in 1992 that became effective on
January 1, 1994. It created a free
trade zone among the three countries and immediately removed trade
barriers and tariffs on most goods.
Certain tariffs on such goods as textiles and automobiles were planned
to be gradually eliminated over a
15-year timetable.
Reading Strategy
Connecting Prior Knowledge
Review periods in U.S. history
when the country was guided by
protective tariffs. Tell students
about the divisions that occurred in
the nation as a result of those
tariffs.
Guiding Question 2-13
Trade policies
Figure 5
U.S. Annual Gross Domestic Product
Year
Annual GDP (In billions)
1995
$7,398
1996
$7,817
1997
$8,304
1998
$8,747
1999
$9,268
2000
$9,817
2001
$10,128
2002
$10,487
2003
$11,004
Lagniappe
Prices for the goods and
services used to calculate
the CPI are collected in 87
urban areas throughout the
country and from about
23,000 retail and service
establishments.
Research Activity
If students have not studied the
history of protective tariffs, have
them research those periods of history and report their findings to the
class.
102
The United States has developed new trade
policies and agreements as part of the global
economy. The North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA) removed trade restrictions
between the United States, Canada, and
Mexico. Some U.S. companies moved to Mexico
because the cost of labor is cheaper there. Fruit
of the Loom closed several Louisiana factories
employing thousands of workers. The economic impact was felt throughout the affected
communities.
These changes show that U.S. trade policies have shifted from protective tariffs toward
a free trade economy. Tariffs are taxes on imported goods. The purpose of a tariff is to protect U.S. producers from the competition of
cheap imported goods. While these policies
have brought cheaper imported goods to Louisiana consumers, some producers have been
hurt by the loss of tariffs. Louisiana sugar farm-
Figure 6
U.S. Annual Consumer Price Index
Year
Annual CPI
Percentage Change
(Rate of Inflation)
1995
152.4
2.8
1996
156.9
2.9
1997
160.5
2.3
1998
163.0
1.6
1999
166.6
2.2
2000
172.2
3.4
2001
177.1
2.8
2002
179.9
1.6
2003
183.8
2.2
ers cannot meet the low prices of imported sugar without tariffs. Rice farmers
also face competition from imports.
Measuring the Economy
Economists gather information about the economy to determine its success.
Several economic indicators are used to measure the economy. The government uses this information to make policy decisions.
The amount of goods and services produced in the United States is measured by the GDP, the gross domestic product. This is the total market value
of all goods and services produced in the United States in a certain time period. Figure 5 shows the annual gross domestic product for recent years.
Prices are measured by the CPI, the consumer price index. A monthly price
survey for a list of goods and services checks for increases or decreases. These
goods and services include everything from the price of diapers and milk to
funeral expenses. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the CPI monthly,
but Figure 6 shows the annual consumer price index for recent years. The “base
year” for the CPI is 1982-1984.
A steady increase in the consumer price index shows inflation. The buyer
gets less for her or his money because prices have increased. People whose income
does not increase with inflation would not be able to buy as much. This group
might include people who do not receive a raise in their wages. People whose
income does increase with inflation would not lose their buying power. This
group might include people who own rental property and can charge higher
rent if inflation develops.
Unemployment rates are another important indicator about the U.S.
economy. The unemployment rate reports the percentage of people who are
out of work and are looking for jobs. If jobs are hard to find, workers are more
likely to take jobs at lower pay. If unemployment rates are low, the demand for
workers is higher and producers have to pay more for this human resource.
Figure 7 shows the annual unemployment rate for recent years. This economic
indicator is also issued monthly.
Check for Understanding
1. Name four goods manufactured in Louisiana.
2. What is biotechnology?
3. Name two ways tourists help the economy.
4. What is an interdependent economy?
5. What are economic indicators used for?
6. What is likely to happen to pay when the demand for
workers is high?
Section 4
Chapter 3 Louisiana’s Economy: Resources and Rewards
Reading Strategy
Figure 7
U.S. Annual
Unemployment
Rate
Year
Rate
1995
5.6
1996
5.4
1997
4.9
1998
4.5
1999
4.2
2000
4.0
2001
4.7
2002
5.8
ASSESS
2003
Building GLE Vocabulary
Inflation: An increase in the general level of prices consumers pay for
goods and services. This is equivalent to a fall in the value or purchasing power of money. The
Consumer Price Index is a common
measure of inflation.
Unemployment: In economic terms,
the measurement of the number of
workers that want to work but do
not have jobs.
6.0
Lagniappe
Louisiana’s labor force is
over 205,000 people.
Check for Understanding
1. Ships, trucks, electrical
equipment, glass products,
automobile batteries, mobile
homes, fertilizers, plastics
2. Biotechnology combines
biological research and
engineering.
3. They sightsee, eat, shop, fish,
hunt, and attend special
events.
4. One in which producers and
consumers rely on each other
5. To measure the economy
6. The pay will be higher.
Alternative Assessment
Providing Louisiana’s Goods and Services
103
Have students locate
manufactured items on a map of
Louisiana.
Have students locate on a world
map countries that are globally
interdependent with Louisiana.
Guiding Question 2-1
Addressing Learning Styles
Verbal/Linguistic
Have students debate the pros
and cons of NAFTA.
Critical Thinking
Ask students how they would
rate the U.S. economy based on the
data on the two charts.
T102
Social Studies Skill
Research Activity
Class Discussion
Social Studies Skill
Reading a Chart or Table
Have students look at Figure 5
(U.S. Annual Gross Domestic
Product). Ask them to define GDP
and draw generalizations about
the data on the table.
Guiding Question 2-14
Have students look at Figure 6
(Annual Consumer Price Index)
and draw generalizations about
the data.
Give students a list of current
goods or services and ask them
what those goods or services
would have cost in a previous
year. You could also use goods and
services from previous years and
ask what those goods would cost
today, e.g., a 1940 guitar cost
$39.95 and a 1962 stereo for LP
records cost $99.95.
Guiding Question 2-14
Ask students to
• define inflation.
(Comprehension)
• describe which groups of
people are hurt during periods of
inflation. (Comprehension)
• describe what happens to the
value of the dollar in times of
inflation. (Application)
Guiding Question 2-15
Reading a Chart or Table
Have students look at Figure 7
(U.S. Annual Unemployment Rate)
and ask them to determine
• when unemployment was the
highest.
• when unemployment was the
lowest.
• the average unemployment rate
based on the data. (5.0)
Guiding Question 2-15
Lesson Closure
Have students give an example of
a product that is manufactured in
Louisiana.
Have students give an example of
a product they use every day that
has its origin in a foreign country.
T103
Reading Strategy
Compare and Contrast
Have students draw a graphic
organizer on which to record
information about three types of
resources — natural, human and
capital. Have them include examples
of each.
Natural Human
Water,
People
trees,
minerals
Capital
Money
and
property
Social Studies Skill
Making a Graph
Give students the following
unemployment percentages for
November 2004 for Louisiana and
surrounding states: Louisiana, 5.7;
Texas, 5.7; Arkansas, 5.6; Oklahoma,
4.5; Florida, 4.3; Mississippi, 6.5;
and Georgia, 4.3.
Ask them to create a graph
illustrating the data. Tell students
that unemployment figures are
determined monthly and may or
may not include seasonal workers.
Answers to Questions
1. a. What to produce: Lawn
mowing service; How to produce:
Borrow and service lawn mower, buy
gas, make flyers; How much to
produce One lawn a day; For whom
to produce; Elderly neighbors
b. Yes
c. Command
d. Service
e. No other people mowed
their neighbors’ lawns
f. Time
g. Troy set a price high enough
to make a profit but not too
high that the neighbors
would look for someone to
do it at a lower price.
h. Himself
i. The borrowed lawn mower
j. Gasoline
k. The computer
l. The decision was made for
him.
m. Answers will vary.
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Meeting Expectations
Economics in Troy’s World
Troy just moved to a new neighborhood. He learned
that many of the elderly residents had no one to
mow their lawns. He saw an opportunity to earn some
money.
Troy borrowed a lawn mower and $50 from his father. He needed to get the mower serviced, buy gas,
and make flyers to advertise. Troy set a price that was
worth his time but was not so high that the neigh-
1. Apply what you learned about economic
concepts to answer these questions.
a. How did Troy answer the four economic
questions?
b. Was Troy part of a free market economy?
Explain your answer.
c. What kind of economy would it be if the city
set the price for mowing lawns?
d. Was Troy supplying a good or a service?
e. How did Troy benefit from scarcity?
f. What kind of scarcity was a cost to Troy?
g. Explain supply and demand in terms of the
price Troy charged for mowing.
h. What is the human resource Troy used?
i. What capital resource did Troy use?
j. What Louisiana natural resource did Troy use?
k. What will Troy’s opportunity cost be if he
chooses saving for a car instead of buying the
computer?
l. How will Troy’s decision change if his dad says
he must buy his own lawn mower with the
money he earned?
104
2.
3.
4.
5.
bors might not hire him. By the end of the summer,
Troy had made $1,000, even after he repaid his dad
and paid for his gas. He could have made even more
if he had mowed more than one lawn a day.
Now all he had to do was decide what to do with
the money. He could save the money until he had
enough to buy a used car, or he could buy a computer now.
m. Is there any way Troy can make a trade-off
and still buy the lawnmower?
n. Why didn’t Troy charge a higher price?
o. Why did Troy make flyers?
2. Troy did not consider another choice he could
make. He could use his money to buy a larger,
faster lawn tractor. With this improved equipment, he could mow two lawns a day instead of
just one. What should he consider when he
makes this choice?
3. Write a paragraph explaining the choice you
think Troy should make and why.
4. Write a description of your own economic
activity when you have produced a good or a
service. What were your benefits and what was
your opportunity cost?
5. Troy used a flyer to advertise his lawn-mowing
service. Design a flyer to advertise a good or
service you could provide.
Chapter 3 Louisiana’s Economy: Resources and Rewards
BLM Assign students True or False
on page 40 in the BLM book.
Chapter Summary
Checking for
Understanding
Basic Economic Concepts
• All people have economic needs and wants.
• Goods and services meet those needs and wants.
• Producers provide various goods and services to
consumers.
• Resources are used to produce those goods and
services. Wants and needs are unlimited but
resources are not.
• This scarcity requires both producers and consumers to make choices. Each choice is an
opportunity, with costs and benefits. Sometimes
trade-offs are made, combining several options.
• An economy may be a market economy, a command economy, or a traditional economy. Louisiana is part of the market economy of the United
States. Producers and consumers are free to
make economic choices. An important concept of
a market economy is supply and demand.
• An economy is based on the answers to four basic
questions: what to produce, how to produce, how
much to produce, and for whom to produce.
Louisiana’s Economic History
• Louisiana’s first economic system was a traditional economy—the barter system of the Native
Americans.
• Colonial Louisiana had a mercantile economy.
• By the time Louisiana became American in the
nineteenth century, the economy was based on
agriculture.
• In the twentieth century, the oil industry drove
the state’s economy.
• Today’s twenty-first-century economy produces a
variety of goods and services.
Louisiana’s Resources
• Natural resources, capital resources, and human
resources all contribute to this economy. Natural
Ask each student to give an
example of each economic term.
Research Activity
Have students research to find
products that impact Louisiana’s
economy.
Above: Pine trees grown for pulpwood are a major
product of Louisiana.
resources include mineral resources such as oil,
natural gas, salt, sulphur, and lignite. The state
also has biological resources such as forests,
wildlife, and fish.
• Capital resources include ports, highways, and
buildings. New capital resources include technology that helps improve the economy.
• Human resources are the people who do the work.
Skilled workers are needed in today’s economy.
Producing Goods and Services
• These natural, capital, and human resources
produce many goods and services in Louisiana’s
economy.
• Economic institutions include small businesses,
corporations, banks, and labor unions.
• Louisiana is part of the U.S. economy. Today’s
economy is more global and interdependent.
• Louisiana’s economy has been affected by
changes in U.S. trade policies.
• The success of the current U.S. economy is
measured by several economic indicators. These
include the GDP, the CPI, and the unemployment
rate.
Chapter Summary
Lagniappe
Bartering exists around the
world, even today. For example,
• Malaysia and Indonesia barter
palm oil for 18 Russian SU-30 jet
fighter planes.
• Indonesia is building and then
bartering a $300 million fertilizer
plant in Vietnam, taking back rice
and sugar in exchange.
• Oil-rich Libya barters fuel to
Zimbabwe in exchange for beef, coffee, and tea.
105
n. He might lose or not get
customers if the price
was too high.
o. To let potential
customers know of his
service.
Answers will vary.
Answers will vary.
Answers will vary.
Answers will vary.
T105
REVIEW
1. Have students check their
explanations against the
definitions in the glossary.
2. a. Public good
b. Opportunity cost
c. Demand
d. Opportunity cost and
economic want
e. Goods
f. Services
g. Specialty
h. Public good
i. Economic want
3. a. Natural, human, and capital
b. Because resources are limited
c. Everyone who wants a ticket
may not be able to buy it.
d. What to produce, How to
produce, How much to
produce, and For whom to
produce
e. Traditional, demand, and
market
f. Answers may vary but may
include examples such as the
tariff on imported crawfish.
g. They cannot buy as much.
h. Producer: Joel; consumer:
Jayla
i. Answers will vary.
j. Jobs require more specialized
training, and the interdependent economy means Louisiana
workers must compete with
workers around the world.
k. Louisiana, as part of the U.S.
economy, is a free market
economy with some
government controls.
l. A diverse economy produces
many different kinds of
goods and services. Louisiana
needs a diverse economy so
that if one part of the
economy declines, the entire
state economy will not
decline.
4. Answers will vary.
T106
Activities
for
Learning
A w Review
d. Name the four basic economic questions.
1. Explain the economic terms listed in the
Chapter Preview.
2. Choose an economic term that explains each
of the following statements.
a. The parish government is adding a
computer center to the library.
b. Michelle’s family must choose between a
vacation and a big screen television.
c. The shoe store closed because the discount
store down the street sold shoes at a lower
price.
d. Joe bought a video game instead of lunch.
e. The corner bakery sells cakes, pies, and
cookies.
f. Tasha’s family owns a carpet cleaning
service.
g. The new shop sells only toys.
h. The city of Monroe added a water fountain
in the park.
i. James bought three CDs with his birthday
money.
3. Answer these questions.
a. What are the three kinds of resources?
b. Why do people have to make economic
choices?
c. How is a shortage of season tickets for
football an example of scarcity?
106
e. What are the three kinds of economies?
f. Give an example of a U.S. trade policy. How
do U.S. trade policies affect Louisiana?
g. How does inflation hurt consumers?
h. Joel sells Jayla a hamburger. Who is the
producer and who is the consumer?
i. Name three nonrenewable and three
renewable natural resources.
j. Give two reasons why today’s workers in
Louisiana need more education and
training than they did in the past.
k. Is Louisiana a free market economy?
Explain your answer.
l. What is a diverse economy? Why does
Louisiana need a diverse economy?
4. Prepare visual organizers.
a. Create visual examples of economic terms
with photo cutouts or drawings.
b. Make a chart showing ten Louisiana
resources and their uses.
Connect
With Your World
1. Give an example of an economic choice you
have made recently. What was your second
choice? This was your opportunity cost.
Chapter 3 Louisiana’s Economy: Resources and Rewards
Activities
for
Learning
A w Review
d. Name the four basic economic questions.
1. Explain the economic terms listed in the
Chapter Preview.
2. Choose an economic term that explains each
of the following statements.
a. The parish government is adding a
computer center to the library.
b. Michelle’s family must choose between a
vacation and a big screen television.
c. The shoe store closed because the discount
store down the street sold shoes at a lower
price.
d. Joe bought a video game instead of lunch.
e. The corner bakery sells cakes, pies, and
cookies.
f. Tasha’s family owns a carpet cleaning
service.
g. The new shop sells only toys.
h. The city of Monroe added a water fountain
in the park.
i. James bought three CDs with his birthday
money.
3. Answer these questions.
a. What are the three kinds of resources?
b. Why do people have to make economic
choices?
c. How is a shortage of season tickets for
football an example of scarcity?
106
e. What are the three kinds of economies?
f. Give an example of a U.S. trade policy. How
do U.S. trade policies affect Louisiana?
g. How does inflation hurt consumers?
h. Joel sells Jayla a hamburger. Who is the
producer and who is the consumer?
i. Name three nonrenewable and three
renewable natural resources.
j. Give two reasons why today’s workers in
Louisiana need more education and
training than they did in the past.
k. Is Louisiana a free market economy?
Explain your answer.
l. What is a diverse economy? Why does
Louisiana need a diverse economy?
4. Prepare visual organizers.
a. Create visual examples of economic terms
with photo cutouts or drawings.
b. Make a chart showing ten Louisiana
resources and their uses.
CONNECT
With Your World
1. Answers will vary.
2. Answers will vary.
3. Answers will vary.
4. Natural resources: fuel for
delivery truck, fuel for cooking;
Human resources: a truck driver
and a cook; Capital resources:
the building and the delivery
truck
With Geography
5. Coastal erosion affects the
seafood industry by damaging
habitats and threatens the
capital resources of the highways
and ports. A limited supply of
seafood will increase the cost.
6. Some of the coastal erosion is
caused by the canals cut in the
marsh for the oil pipelines. That
oil has been a major factor in
Louisiana’s economy.
7. Goods can be shipped from the
ports to northern destinations
more easily.
Connect
With Your World
1. Give an example of an economic choice you
have made recently. What was your second
choice? This was your opportunity cost.
Chapter 3 Louisiana’s Economy: Resources and Rewards
With Civics
8. Answers will vary but may
include school lunch, mail
delivery, public library.
9. Answers will vary.
EXTEND
1. Answers will vary.
2. Answers will vary.
3. Answers will vary.
4. Answers will vary.
5. Answers will vary.
PHOTO QUESTION
During the Civil War on Avery
Island
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