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People's Pie

Game

People's Pie is a balancing act! Your students must fund important programs without setting tax rates too high or borrowing too much money. To succeed, they must keep their residents happy and avoid a burdensome national debt. Are they ready for a piece of People’s Pie?

In People's Pie, your students will:

  • Set taxes and retirement age over a three-year period
  • Weigh a variety of policies and funding needs across the federal government
  • Assess policy pitches to determine funding commitments
  • Review a proposed annual budget and make hard decisions to reach a balance or surplus
  • Manage public approval, as each decision they make will have an impact

For English and Multilingual Learners: Use the support tool, Spanish translation, voiceover and glossary.

Teachers, check out the Extension Pack with activities and teaching tools to reinforce key game concepts.

People's Pie Extension Pack

Activities and teaching tools to reinforce key game concepts.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

  • Analyze how federal tax and spending policies affect the national budget and the national debt
  • Explain how corporate, income, and payroll taxes support the economy as a function of the government
  • Describe various types of projects and services provided through federal taxes
  • Explain how federal departments request funding for discretionary projects in their department

This Game is included in the following units:

Government & the Market

Related Resources

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  • Lesson Plan

    People's Pie Extension Pack

    Make your students’ game play more meaningful by using our activity and assessment set designed specifically for People's Pie. This easy-to-use Extension Pack helps you give context and purpose to the game, as well as reinforce and assess the game concepts. That means deeper learning for students and best practices around game-centered learning for you!  Extension Packs offer Google Slides and are designed for use with projectors or interactive whiteboards.
    View kami
  • Lesson Plan

    Taxation

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See how it all fits together!

View Scope and Sequence