Social Studies

Do Unemployment Rates Affect Presidential Politics?

Using Unemployment Data to Study Presidential Politics
Grades: 7-12 (ages 12-18)
Historical Skills Standards
Draws conclusions from historical
evidence
Analyzes chronological events and
patterns

Economics Standards
Understand employment rate as an
economic indicator

Description
Students will review unemployment
rates between 1940 and 2004 using the
Unemployment Rates database. They will
conduct research to explain the fluctuating
rates from a historical context. Students
will also look for correlations between
unemployment rates and presidential
politics.

Teacher Instructions
1 Explain to students that they will use InspireData and the Unemployment Rates database

to study unemployment data from 1940 to 2004. Students can work in pairs to answer
the following question:

Ask: What year(s) had the lowest/highest average unemployment rate?

Using a textbook or the Internet for historical context, investigate what was happening in
the country/world during years that unemployment rates fluctuated. In the Notes area of the
time series plot, have students cite three historical factors and explain how these may have
contributed to the low/high rates.

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Social Studies
InspireData Instructions
Start InspireData and click on the Databases icon on the Starter screen.
Open the Social Studies folder and then the Unemployment Rates database.
Review the data, then click
on the Plot View button
on the Toolbar to switch to
Plot View.
Click on the Axis Plot button

on the Toolbar.

Click on the Plot Options button

Choose Instant Plot: Unemployment

(%) by Year and a time series plot will
be animated.
Click the Note button on the Toolbar
to open the Notes area and type
answers to questions.
Open the Slide Sorter by clicking on the
Slide Sorter button
on the Toolbar.
Capture a slide of the U.S.
unemployment rates time series plot
and the notes by clicking on the
Capture Slide button in the Slide Sorter.
To save changes, click on the Slide Options button
current slide and select Update Slide.

on the

2 Students should add two fields to the table to record the president and his political party

for each year. To find this information, students should review the Presidential Elections
database and/or other sources such as those listed in the Adaptations section at the end
of this lesson.

 InspireData Classroom Projects

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Social Studies
InspireData Instructions
Click on the tab for the Yearly Unemployment Data table.
Click on the Add Field button

on the Toolbar. Name the field President.

Repeat to add a new field called Political Party.

Fill in the President and Political Party data for each year by clicking on the empty cells and
entering in the information.
To quickly see the political affiliations for each
presidential term, change the icons for each president:
Double-click on the icon for the year 1940 in the
far left column of the table. This will open the
Icon Editor.
Scroll through the icon libraries until you find
the Democratic donkey and Republican
elephant icons.
Since F.D. Roosevelt was President in 1940, and
he was a Democrat, click on the donkey icon to
select it.
Click the OK button.
Click on the newly changed icon, and choose Copy Icon from the Edit menu.
Click on the next Democratic record, and choose Paste Icon from the Edit menu.
Repeat this step for the rest of the Democratic presidents.
Repeat steps 1-4 for the Republican presidents, choosing the Republican
elephant for the icon.

 InspireData Classroom Projects

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Social Studies
3 Create an axis plot of the average unemployment % by year. Since the icons are colored

by president, students can easily see trends in unemployment rates by president and
political party. Students can use this axis plot to help answer the following question:

Ask: Which American presidents term coincided with the

lowest/highest unemployment rate?

InspireData Instructions
Switch to Plot View by clicking on the Plot View button on
the Toolbar.
Click on the Axis Plot button to create an axis plot.
Click on the X-Axis label and select the field Year.
Click on the Y-Axis label and choose the field
Avg Unemployment (%).
Click on the Note button on the Toolbar to open the Notes area
and then type the answers to the questions.
Open the Slide Sorter by clicking on the Slide Sorter button on the Toolbar.
Capture a slide of the axis plot and the notes entered by clicking on the Capture Slide
button in the Slide Sorter.
To save any changes made to the plots or notes, click the Slide Options button
current slide, and select Update Slide.

on the

4 Ask students to research a president who was in office at a time when there was an

especially low or high unemployment rate and answer the following questions:

Ask: How do history books or web sites explain fluctuating unemployment rates?

Ask: According to primary sources, such as speeches or interviews, how does the president
explain the unemployment rate?

Ask: Does the presidents explanation differ from other historical sources?

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Social Studies
Assessment
Students can be assessed on the accuracy and thoroughness of their slides and the quality of
each groups written responses.
Students can also be observed and assessed during group work to ensure cooperation.

Adaptations
The following resources may be useful
to students as they conduct research:
The Presidents. PBS. <http://
www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/
presidents>.
Presidential library web sites
American Presidents: Life
Portraits. C-SPAN. <http://www.
americanpresidents.org>.
American President. University
of Virginia. <http://www.
americanpresident.org>.
Students should answer the following
questions:

 InspireData Classroom Projects

Ask: How did this president cope

with or exploit the negative/positive
unemployment data?

Ask: How did the economy

impact this presidents domestic and
foreign policies?

2007 Inspiration Software, Inc.