Lesson Three

Michigan’s Economy Today

The Economy of Michigan Unit Two:

What is one important thing you’ve learned about economics so far in this unit?

People have to make choices because of scarcity.

People use resources to make goods and services.

You can’t have everything thing you want.

There are three kinds of resources.

The BIG Ideas

The economy of a state is based on the economic activities of a state.

Economic activities are the different ways people use resources to produce goods and services.

Important economic activities of Michigan include manufacturing, agriculture, mining and tourism.

Providing services like banking is also an important economic activity of Michigan.

One special kind of service is research and development. In this economic activity people produce ideas leading to new or improved goods and services.

The location of economic activities is often connected to the natural and human characteristics of an area.

Goods Services

Automation Alley

economic activities

different ways people use resources and produce goods and services.  Example: Farming and mining are economic activities.

Remove Celery, Furniture, Iron Ore, and

Lumber

Celery Farming, or agriculture

Furniture Manufacturing

Iron Ore Mining

Lumber Logging

What different economics

activities would be needed to

produced these four items?

manufacturing

the making of goods in a factory   Example: Manufacturing is an important economic activity of Michigan.

agriculture

another word for farming  Example: Agriculture is an important economic activity of Michigan

Manufacturing and agriculture are two of Michigan’s most important economic activities.

Like all economic activities these ways of producing goods and services provide jobs and bring money into the state.

These include: cars, cereal, baby food, medicines, chemicals, metal products, paper, bowling alley equipment, household appliances and ships.

Take all the product cards from the file folder game. Remove all those that show manufactured goods.

Information about Manufacturing in Michigan

Manufacturing makes more money in Michigan than any other economic activity.

Michigan leads the country in automobile manufacturing. In addition, more than 700 different companies make auto supplies in Michigan.

More than half the office furniture made in the United States is produced by Michigan companies.

Michigan companies are always looking for new goods to produce. Recently some have begun to make homeland security equipment like improved body armor.

Different economic activities often require different geographic

locations.

What kinds of natural or human characteristics would it be important

for factories to be near?

Manufacturing is often located near large cities where there are lots of potential workers and near good transportation networks that can be used to ship raw

materials to factories and finished products to other places.

Note that these include: dairy products, Christmas trees, corn, apples, celery, beans, cherries, asparagus, blueberries, potatoes, mint, strawberries, soybeans, peaches, carrots, bedding plants and grapes.

Remove all the product cards from the file folder game. Then remove all those that show agricultural goods.

Despite this wide variety of agricultural products, agriculture does not bring in as much money as manufacturing in Michigan. Explain that in the Michigan history unit later in the year students will learn that this was not always the case.

Despite this wide variety of agricultural products, agriculture does not bring in as much money as manufacturing in Michigan.

Information about Michigan Agriculture

Michigan has about 52,000 farms. Michigan ranks third in the country in apple

production Michigan has the second highest production of

carrots and celery. Michigan grows 2.2 million acres of field corn, which

is used for livestock feed, edible products, corn meal, oil, syrup and breakfast cereals.

657 flower growers make Michigan fourth in the nation in value of wholesale flower products.

One third of all cultivated blueberries in the United States come from Michigan.

What kinds of natural or human characteristics would it be important for

farms to be near?

Fertile soil is important for crops to grow.

Some crops need special kinds of soil.

Blueberries, for example, need soil that is quite acidic and celery needs a ‘heavy’ soil.

Crops can also require different kinds of climate. Some crops require more rain than others. Some require a longer growing season.

Michigan’s Mitten of Plenty

http://www.michigan.gov/mda/0,1607,7-125-2961_6860_7657-14874--,00.html

. This shows the location of several agricultural products.

If time permits you may also want students to visit the ‘Kids and the MDA” website located at this website:

http://www.michigan.gov/mda/0,1607,7-125-1566_1733_22582-71015--,00.html#

. At this website there are several games and activities relating to Michigan agriculture.

Producing services is also an important economic activity of Michigan.

Services include health care, banking, insurance and a wide variety of other things.

Geographic location may influence the production of services.

tourism

an economic activity in which tourists visit an area and spend money   Example: Tourism is an important economic activity of Michigan.

tourist

a person who goes sight-seeing and spends money in a place away from where they live Example: The tourist visited the park and bought a book about animals there.

Tourism, which is often referred to as a service industry, is a very important economic activity of Michigan.

Check out the Virtual vacation’ like the one which can be found at the following website: http://www.michigan.gov/mikids/0,1607,7-163-15858_20584---,00.html. This short virtual tour will help students understand the types of locations tourists seek out.

What kinds of natural or human characteristics would attract tourists? Scenic places like waterfalls

The coastlines of Michigan and inland lakes

Historic places like forts

Museums

Sand dunes

research and development

an economic activity where people produce ideas that lead to new or improved goods and services Example: Research and development businesses often are located near universities and colleges.

Automation Alley

Information about Automations Alley, a special research and development

region

This region is home to more than 311,000 technology workers.

It began as a small region in Oakland County. It has grown to include Genesee County, Livingston County, Macomb County, Monroe County, Oakland County, St. Clair County, Washtenaw County, Wayne County and the City of Detroit. 

It is a ‘technology cluster’ that promotes productivity, new ideas and new business growth.

It is made up of 1000 technology-driven companies, governments and educational institutions.

Research and development is an increasingly important economic activity of Michigan.

In this case people are producing ideas. They are trying to invent new products, find new medicines and solve problems.

Another quickly growing research and development region is the “Life Sciences Corridor”.

This region was created out of a cooperative project between Michigan State University, the University of Michigan, and Wayne State University.

This region specializes in research relating to areas such as medicine and health.

It stretches from Grand Rapids to Lansing to Ann Arbor. The Life Sciences Corridor is strongly tied to the location of Universities in Michigan.

Wrap-Up Questions

Why doesn’t Michigan just concentrate on one economic activity? Why does it need so many?

Do you think the economic activities of Michigan were different one hundred years ago? Why or why not?

Do you think the economic activities of Michigan will be different one hundred years from now? Why or why not?

Assessment

Create a poster describing two important economic activities of Michigan, examples of their related products and factors influencing the location of these economic activities.

capital resources

goods that are used to produce more goods and services

  Example: Factories and tools are capital

resources.

human resources

workers and their skills  Example: Truck drivers, doctors, and

teachers are human resources.

scarcity

not enough of something so people have to make choices  Example: Amy must choose how to use

her scarce time. Should she ride her bike or do her homework.

natural resources

things in nature that people find useful   Example: Water, soil and trees are

natural resources.

economy

activities related to making, trading and selling goods and services

Example: Making cars has been an important part of the economy of Michigan for a long time.

economics

the study of how people use limited resources to produce goods and services that people want or need.

  Example: In economics you study topics

such as economic systems, trade, and production