Phillips Curve Activity: Help your students master this tricky graph

This interdependent simulation helped my students master the Phillips curve, covering content such as:

-the short run and long run Phillips curve graph

-causes and results of shifts to the Phillips curves

-the relationship between the Phillips curve graph and the macro aggregate graph

Groups of students assume one of four roles: the government, a firm, consumers, and workers. Using information on the included handouts, students must work collaboratively to investigate the events of each year to draw what happens on their individual graphs. Then, all students work together to draw what happens on the Phillips curve. Three sets of two-year time periods help students explore three different scenarios, each involving an initial change followed by the adjustment back to long run equilibrium. Altogether these scenarios cover all the possible shifts and movements on the Phillips curve, ensuring your students' understanding of this tricky graph.