Unit Plan 30 (Grade 5 Social Studies): Work, Money, and Markets

Focus: Investigate how people earned, saved, spent, and invested in early America, connecting household decisions to mercantilism, local markets, and regional economies. Students use multiple sources (texts, charts, maps, artifacts) to reconstruct money choices made by families, artisans, and merchants.

Grade Level: 5

Subject Area: Social Studies (Economics • Inquiry/Skills • History)

Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 50–60 minutes per session

I. Introduction

Students explore work, money, and markets in early America by stepping into the shoes of farmers, artisans, shopkeepers, and merchants. Through simple budgets, price lists, and short narratives, they track how people earned income, decided how to spend it, and sometimes saved or invested in tools, land, or ships. Students also learn how early American markets were shaped by mercantilism—rules and systems that tied colonies and the new nation into larger trade networks. Throughout, they practice gathering information from multiple sources to tell accurate “money stories.”

Essential Questions

• How did people in early America earn income through work in farms, shops, and ports?
• What choices did families and merchants face about how to spend, save, or invest their money?
• How did markets and mercantilism shape what people could buy and sell, and who profited?
• How can we use multiple sources (texts, charts, maps, artifacts) to understand how money moved in early American communities?
• What lessons about earning, saving, and investing from early America still matter for us today?

II. Objectives and Standards

Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:

1. Describe how different people in early America (farmers, artisans, merchants) earned money or income.
2. Use simple budgets and spending charts to show how families and merchants decided to spend, save, and sometimes invest income.
3. Explain how saving and investing (e.g., buying better tools, more land, or ships) could change a family’s or merchant’s future opportunities and risks.
4. Connect early American household and merchant decisions to larger systems like markets and mercantilism (colonies sending raw materials, buying finished goods).
5. Gather information from multiple sources (maps, charts, primary/secondary texts, artifacts, digital images) to reconstruct a small “work and money” case study.
6. Create a Work, Money, and Markets profile (storyboard, ledger + narrative, or mini-poster) that shows a realistic earn–spend–save–invest cycle supported by at least two sources.

Standards Alignment — 5th Grade (C3-based custom)

• 5.C3.Econ.3 — Describe how people earn, save, spend, and invest; connect to mercantilism and household economies.
  • Example: Track how a merchant’s profits from trade could fund new ships or shop expansions; show how a farm family decides between buying tools or saving for land.
• 5.C3.Inq.2 — Gather information from multiple sources (maps, charts, primary/secondary texts, artifacts, digital).
  • Example: Use a town map, price list, and a diary entry to study how a family shopped at the market and saved money.

Success Criteria — Student Language

• I can explain how people in early America earned money and give examples of jobs or work they did.
• I can show how a person or family might spend, save, and invest their money using a simple chart or story.
• I can describe what mercantilism and markets meant for what people could buy and sell.
• I can use more than one source (like a text and a chart or map) to learn about someone’s work and money in early America.
• I can create a clear profile or storyboard that follows an earn–spend–save–invest cycle and explain my choices using evidence.