Thinking About Insurance Like an Economist
Unit 5 · Lesson 5.10 · Last updated June 2026
A 45-minute lesson where students build insurance vocabulary, explore how insurers evaluate risk and set premiums through a choice-based reading, and apply economic thinking to realistic insurance decisions.
Overview
Students build foundational insurance knowledge with a video and a vocabulary exercise. Through a choice-based reading activity, they then examine how renters or car insurance works and how insurers evaluate risk and set premiums. Finally, students apply principles of economic thinking to realistic insurance decisions.
Learning Objectives
- Define key insurance vocabulary.
- Apply the principles of economic thinking to insurance decisions.
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Materials
- Instruction Slides (display during class period)
- Insurance Vocabulary p. 4 (class set — 1 copy per student)
- Student Handout pp. 5–6 (1 copy per student)
- Renters Insurance Reading pp. 7–8 (enough for two-thirds of students to have their own copy)
- Car Insurance Reading pp. 9–10 (enough for two-thirds of students to have their own copy)
Optional
- Suggested Student Responses pp. 11–12 (1 copy for educator reference)
Lesson Sequence
Slides 2–4
- Display Slide 2. Instruct students to discuss the questions on the slide with a partner. Allow 2 minutes to discuss. Ask a few students to share their responses. (Additional educator tips and suggested answers are in the notes section throughout Instruction Slides.)
- Proceed through Slides 3–4. Compare insurance to student-identified risk protection from the activator and explain the learning objectives.
Slides 5–23
- Advance through Slides 5–6. Use the text on the slides to acknowledge that insurance, like much of personal finance, is jargon-heavy, and that can intimidate people.
- Display Slide 7, which includes a short video clip introducing insurance. Tell students to consider the question on the slide as they watch. Play the video. Click to reveal the text on the slide and allow partners to discuss their responses. Note: It is likely that students will not feel confident providing an in-depth answer after watching the video — they will learn more details as the lesson continues.
- Proceed to Slide 8. Distribute 1 copy of Insurance Vocabulary to each student. Tell students to follow the instructions on the slide. Allow about 2 minutes for students to read the terms on the list.
- Advance to Slide 9. Distribute 1 copy of Student Handout to each student. Tell students to follow the instructions on the slide to complete the "Insurance Vocabulary" portion of their handout. Allow approximately 3 minutes to complete the task.
- Display Slide 10 and allow students a moment to review their responses and ask questions as needed. If your class is 60 minutes or longer, consider using an Insurance Vocabulary Game to reinforce the terms.
- Progress through Slides 11–12. Use the text on Slide 12 to acknowledge that insurance premiums for a given policy often differ between individuals. Click to reveal the remaining text and identify risk as the primary factor insurers weigh when pricing insurance.
- Advance to Slide 13. Instruct students to discuss the prompt on the slide. Do not add to or clarify responses at this point — doing so will undermine the next portion of the lesson. Click to reveal the question on the slide and allow students approximately 15 seconds to determine their response.
- Proceed to Slide 14. Tell students they will read the article related to the insurance most relevant to them. Explain the expectations for the reading activity.
- Distribute 1 copy of the relevant article to each student (either Renters Insurance or Car Insurance). Allow approximately 10 minutes to complete their task.
- Advance to Slide 15. Group students into pairs (or groups of 3) with others who read the same article. Direct students to follow the instructions on the slide. Allow 4 minutes to complete the task.
- Display Slide 16. Allow pairs 2 minutes to discuss the question on the slide. Then call on several volunteers to share their responses with the class. Click to reveal the text on the slide and clarify responses and/or incorporate economic language as needed.
- Progress through Slides 17–18. Point out the "Application" section of the handout. Allow pairs (or groups of 3) 5 minutes to complete the task outlined on Slide 18. Collect Insurance Vocabulary.
- Advance through Slides 19–21 and call on volunteers to share their responses with the class. Click to reveal the text on the slides and clarify responses and/or incorporate economic language as needed. (See the notes section of Instruction Slides for suggested responses.)
- Proceed to Slide 22. Use the text to acknowledge that most policyholders never file a claim and set up the example claim. If tight for time, skip this step and proceed to the summarizer. Provide Slides 22–23 as an out-of-class practice opportunity.
- Display Slide 23. Allow students 1 minute to read the text on the slide and 1 minute to discuss the question with a peer. Click to reveal the text and call on 1 student per option to share their responses.
Slides 24–25
- Proceed through Slides 24–25. Instruct students to locate and review Unit 5 Overview (previously distributed in Lesson 5.1) and discuss the prompt on Slide 25 with a peer.
Aligned Standards
National Standards for Personal Financial Education
What Educators Are Saying
I really liked the structure of the lesson — starting with the vocabulary, then moving into the types of insurance and application. The student-facing materials were very "ready-to-use" so it did not require much setup on my end.
Students respond to Econiful because the lessons feel relevant, interactive, and connected to the world they are actually living in.
One of the aspects I valued most about Econiful was the quality and practicality of the materials. The lessons are not only standards-aligned and intellectually engaging, but they also prioritize accessibility — something that's crucial when teaching diverse groups of high school students.