---
title: "SS4E1: Economic Concepts in History (Georgia Social Studies standard)"
code: SS4E1
cite_as: Georgia Standards of Excellence, Social Studies, SS4E1
subject: social_studies
grades:
  - grade-4
language: en
canonical_url: https://georgiahomeroom.org/standards/code/SS4E1
md_url: https://georgiahomeroom.org/standards/code/SS4E1.md
alternate_language_url: https://georgiahomeroom.org/es/standards/code/SS4E1.md
source_url: https://case.georgiastandards.org/ims/case/v1p1/CFDocuments/a446e74c-463e-11e7-94f5-b49cee8b2d8c
source_last_changed: 2025-02-04
data_built: 2026-09-18
publisher: Georgia Homeroom, a free public-interest project of Georgia Civic Data. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the Georgia Department of Education or any school district.
up: https://georgiahomeroom.org/standards/social_studies/grade-4.md
index: https://georgiahomeroom.org/standards/index.md
---

# SS4E1: Economic Concepts in History

Use the basic economic concepts of trade, opportunity cost, specialization, voluntary exchange, productivity, and price incentives to illustrate historical events.

- Subject: Social Studies
- Appears in: Grade 4, https://georgiahomeroom.org/standards/social_studies/grade-4.md

## Expectations

- **SS4E1.a**: Describe opportunity cost and its relationship to decision-making across time (e.g., decisions to settle in the west).
- **SS4E1.b**: Explain how price incentives affect people's behavior and choices: decisions about what crops (e.g., cotton, and tobacco) to grow and products (e.g., textiles) to produce.
- **SS4E1.c**: Describe how specialization improves standards of living (e.g., differences in the economies in the North and South).
- **SS4E1.d**: Explain how voluntary exchange helps both buyers and sellers (e.g., Gold Rush mining towns).
- **SS4E1.e**: Describe how trade promotes economic activity (e.g., trade between the U.S. and Europe).
- **SS4E1.f**: Give examples of technological advancements and their impact on business productivity during the development of the United States (e.g., cotton gin, steamboat, steam locomotive, and telegraph).

## Georgia Milestones coverage

No Georgia Milestones blueprint cites this standard.

Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence, published by the Georgia Department of Education at case.georgiastandards.org.