Part A
Directions: Answer the questions for Steps 1-6.
Step 1: Quickly take an inventory of items around your house. Look at clothes, books, food and other items. See how many items were made in other countries. How many different countries did you identify?
Step 2: On a map, locate the countries where the items were made.
Step 3: If you took an inventory of your house 200 years ago, would more or fewer items come from your home country?
Step 4: How has transportation helped shape what we buy?
Step 5: How have labor costs helped shape what we buy?
Step 6: Would it be harder to do business with people in other countries if we did not have an organized time zone system?
Part B
Directions: Read the definition of trade balance below. Use the graph to calculate the Trade Balance for 1850, 1900, 1950, and 2000.
Definition: The trade balance is the cost of the imports subtracted from the exports. The chart below shows information about the United States. Use what you just learned about imports, exports, and trade balance to complete the chart. The first one has been done for you.
Hint: Subtract the import from the export. If the 'import' is greater than the 'export' your answer will be a negative number, because the U.S. imported more goods than were exported.
Trade Balance:
1. 1800 = -20
2. 1850 = ?
3. 1900 = ?
4. 1950 = ?
5. 2000 = ?
Part C
Directions: Upload your answers to both Part A and Part B in the submission box.
