An easy and clear way to introduce the complex federal US budget, including key vocabulary and real data from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). This lesson includes a comprehensive slide deck, guided notes, and an activity with reflection questions to help reinforce the key concepts of the federal budget and why it's so difficult for elected officials to balance it.

In this lesson, students will learn what a budget is, how the government gets money, what it spends its money on (and how much), and why it's difficult to balance its incomes and expenses. They'll see real government data and explore a central question: why is the federal budget so hard to balance? The slide deck clearly identifies for students the key ideas for their notes. An extra activity in which students play an online game to balance the budget on their own is included, as well as reflection questions to connect the game back to the lesson.

I use this lesson to introduce my high school students to the federal budget. I wanted make it clear what exactly the budget was and the most probably approaches to balancing it (even if in reality, those approaches aren't as probably as politicians say they are). This lesson is a great introduction to the federal government budget.

The Value in Your Classroom:

• This product already fits into your existing curriculum: Easily add this lesson to your curriculum to introduce the content to students and help them understand the purpose of the federal budget and its components.
• Easy preparation: Just print it or load it to your learning management system and you're ready to teach!
• 100% editable: Everything your students will see is editable in Google Workspace, so if you want, you can modify it to the specific needs of your students.
• Save Time: This download has everything you need to get started!

Here is what you get in this lesson:

A Google Drive Folder with:

• A slide deck of key concepts related to the federal budget, with copyright-free images and data visualizations from the Congressional Budget Office.
• A guided note sheet for students (and answer key).
• A document with a link to an online game for students to play in which they try to balance the budget, as well as several reflection questions to connect their experience in the game to the lesson's key concepts.
• A document with 10 possible quiz questions in multiple-choice format. The answers are indicated for you.

If you are looking for more lessons, projects, or activities in for your American Government, Politics, or Civics course, check out the American Government materials at my store!