A Japanese elementary school classroom associated with Fukushima University, Fukushima, Japan. The teaching of economics begins in third grade with an emphasis on the economics of the city or town where students live. As the students advance to higher grades the topics and the economics learning activities change. More specifically, in the third grade students learn about consumer life and the business district with emphasis on retail stores. Price, profit, sales, quantity and competition are the economic concepts taught at this level.
Students learn about the concepts from the consumer's and the retailer's point of view.
One of the activities that students engage in is visiting various types of retail stores and comparing the features. This activity easily leads into a discussion of competition. Economic concepts in the third grade may be expanded to production by discussing the economic activities involved in farming. In the fourth grade the physical area studied is expanded as are the topics that are covered. Students learn about the activities within their prefecture.