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Simulations

US History Including APUSH

US Colonial to Revolutionary Era
⚖️ Constitution & Government
🚂 19th-Century Expansion & Conflict
🧑🏾‍🌾 Reconstruction to Industrialization
🎙️ Progressive Era to WWII
✊🏽 Civil Rights and Social MovementsModern America (1960s–Present)

Economics Including AP

Simulations for the Economics Section.

Market Fundamentals & Supply–Demand
  • Market Day / Classroom Economy Simulation
    Students act as producers and consumers trading goods (e.g., pencils, candy, cards). Prices adjust dynamically based on supply and demand.
    Variation: Run multiple “rounds” to show equilibrium shifts.
  • Price Ceiling & Floor Simulation
    Assign roles: government, producers, and consumers. Apply a rent control (ceiling) or minimum wage (floor) and watch market shortages/surpluses appear.
  • Elasticity Lab
    Groups sell products (real or virtual) at changing prices to test elasticity of demand. Track revenue to identify elastic vs. inelastic goods.
  • Ticket Market (Scalping Simulation)
    Use limited event tickets to model shortage, resale markets, and price fluctuations.

Production, Costs, and Efficiency
  • Paper Airplane Factory
    Groups produce paper airplanes under different market structures (monopoly, perfect competition, etc.) to study cost curves and efficiency.
    Extension: Measure marginal product of labor.
  • Cupcake Factory Simulation
    Students act as workers, managers, and owners to model specialization, division of labor, and diminishing returns.
  • Comparative Advantage & Trade Game
    Two or more “countries” produce goods with different opportunity costs. Trading improves both—demonstrating gains from specialization.
  • Production Possibilities Frontier Activity
    Students allocate limited time/resources to two products (e.g., origami cranes vs. drawings). Plot their data on a PPF curve.

Markets, Competition, and Business Structures
  • Market Structures Roleplay
    Each group represents a different structure (perfect competition, monopoly, oligopoly, monopolistic competition). Simulate price and output decisions.
  • Oligopoly Pricing Game (Prisoner’s Dilemma)
    Two firms choose high or low prices simultaneously. Repeat rounds to explore collusion and Nash equilibrium.
  • Entrepreneurship Challenge
    Students design a product, choose costs, and pitch it to “investors.” Teaches opportunity cost, profit maximization, and startup risk.

Macroeconomics: GDP, Inflation, and Unemployment
  • Circular Flow of Income Game
    Assign roles: households, firms, government, financial institutions. Pass around “money cards” to show income and spending flows.
  • GDP Accounting Race
    Students categorize transactions as C, I, G, or (X–M) to calculate GDP.
    Variation: Use a real-world dataset or class “mini-economy.”
  • Inflation and Shoe-Leather Costs Simulation
    Use play money and frequent “bank runs” to simulate inflation’s effects on savings and purchasing power.
  • Unemployment Role Play
    Students match job seekers with employers to represent frictional, structural, cyclical, and seasonal unemployment.

Fiscal and Monetary Policy
  • Fiscal Policy Congress Simulation
    Students act as legislators debating how to respond to a recession or inflation. Choose tax/spending changes and predict outcomes.
  • Monetary Policy Role Play (Central Bank)
    Students serve as members of the Federal Reserve. Decide whether to buy/sell bonds, change reserve ratios, or adjust discount rates.
  • Money Creation Bank Balance Sheets
    Simulate deposits and loans across banks to visualize how fractional reserve banking multiplies money supply.
  • Keynes vs. Hayek Debate Simulation
    Assign half the class to each school of thought and have them respond to economic crises (e.g., Great Depression or 2008 recession).

International Economics
  • Currency Exchange Market Simulation
    Students “trade” currencies using posted exchange rates; simulate appreciation/depreciation as market conditions shift.
  • Tariffs and Trade Barriers Game
    Compare total welfare in free trade vs. protected trade scenarios to show effects on consumers and producers.
  • Globalization Supply Chain Simulation
    Track how a product (like a smartphone) moves through global supply chains, revealing comparative advantage and interdependence.
Behavioral and Experimental Economics Simulations 
Job Jungle Game
  • Focus: Labor markets, human capital, wages, productivity, incentives, and market structures
  • Group Type: Whole-class simulation + team strategy
  • Materials: Job cards, worker skill cards, firm budgets, optional bananas (paper ones… or chaotic real ones)


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World History Including AP World

Simulations for the World History section.

These are simulation activities for World History. Each one is interactive, classroom-ready, and designed to immerse students in the historical contexts.  These align to each unit of AP World History: Modern and provides practice with AP Skills. 

Simulation: Silk Roads and Sea Lane Council and Resources
(Aligns with AP World Unit 1: The Global Tapestry (c. 1200–1450)
  • Students represent different Afro-Eurasian civilizations (Song China, Abbasid Caliphate, Mali, Aztecs, etc.).
  • Each group presents their innovations, political systems, and trade goods.
  • Then, students negotiate alliances and trade agreements, simulating cross-cultural exchange along the Silk Roads and Indian Ocean.
Simulation:  Black Death and Resources
  • Students experience how plague spread through trade, travel, belief systems, and policy
  • Students learn how networks of exchange accelerate the crisis
  • They discover why communities adopted responses (quarantine, cures, scapegoating, devotion, labor action)
Simulation: Merchant’s Caravan and Resources
(Aligns with AP World Unit 2: Networks of Exchange (c. 1200–1450)
  • Groups form a merchant caravan traveling the Silk Roads, Indian Ocean, or Trans-Saharan routes.
  • They must make choices about which goods to carry, which risks to take (bandits, storms, taxation), and negotiate safe passage with states or nomads.
  • Teachers introduce random “event cards” (plague outbreak, Mongol expansion, monsoon delays).
Simulation: Imperial Court Debate and Resources
(Aligns with AP World Unit 3: Land-Based Empires (c. 1450–1750)
  • Students take on roles in the Ottoman, Mughal, Ming, or Safavid courts.
  • Topics: taxation policies, religious tolerance vs. centralization, or military expansion.
  • Each student must argue their stance while balancing loyalty, economics, and stability—mirroring the challenges of empire governance.
Simulation: Age of Exploration Negotiation Game and Resources
(Aligns with AP World Unit 4: Transoceanic Interconnections (c. 1450–1750)
  • Roles: European monarchs, conquistadors, merchants, Indigenous leaders, enslaved Africans.
  • Students negotiate treaties, alliances, or resistance strategies.
  • Event cards introduce scenarios like the Columbian Exchange, piracy, or missionary activity.
  • Goal: show competing motivations and unintended consequences of exploration.
Simulation: Revolution Convention and Resources
(Aligns with AP World Unit 5: Revolutions (c. 1750–1900)
  • Students represent revolutionaries, monarchists, or reformers in France, Haiti, Latin America, or the U.S.
  • Debate issues: rights of citizens, slavery, independence, or economic reform.
  • Class votes on constitutions or declarations based on arguments presented.
​Simulation: Factory Town Meeting and Resources
Consequences of Industrialization (c. 1750–1900)
  • Roles: factory owners, child laborers, union leaders, middle-class reformers, government officials.
  • Students debate working conditions, wages, strikes, and reforms.
  • The teacher introduces scenarios like a cholera outbreak, new technology, or an economic downturn.

Global Conflict (c. 1900–present)
Simulation: Paris Peace Conference (1919)
  • Students represent Allied and Central Powers, colonies seeking independence, or minority groups.
  • Each group pushes for its demands—territory, reparations, self-determination, etc.
  • Final treaty drafted by the class shows compromises and tensions, foreshadowing WWII.
Cold War & Decolonization (c. 1900–present)
Simulation: United Nations General Assembly (1950s)
  • Students represent the U.S., USSR, Non-Aligned Movement, decolonizing nations, or European powers.
  • Debate issues like the Marshall Plan, Korean War, nuclear arms race, and independence movements.
  • Each round, groups must vote on resolutions, revealing Cold War divisions.
Globalization (c. 1900–present)
Simulation: Globalization Summit (2000s)
  • Roles: multinational corporations, environmental NGOs, developing nations, developed nations, UN bodies.
  • Topics: climate change, global trade, migration, pandemics, digital technology.
  • Students negotiate policies balancing economic growth, human rights, and sustainability
Each of these simulations is flexible: they can run as a 30–60 minute class activity or be expanded into multi-day projects with prep research, position papers, and post-simulation reflections (which can double as AP practice essays).
Simulation: Green Revolution
  • Explain the causes and key innovations of the Green Revolution
  • Analyze short-term benefits versus long-term consequences
  • Evaluate impacts on population growth, inequality, and the environment
Students will apply economic and geographic reasoning to agricultural decision-making and defend an argument about whether the Green Revolution should be considered a success, failure, or mixed legacy. This simulation is flexible: they can run as a 30–60 minute class activity or be expanded into multi-day projects with prep research, position papers, and post-simulation reflections (which can double as AP practice essays).

Ancient Civilizations

Simulations for the World History section.

This a list of engaging, classroom-ready simulations for Ancient History, designed to build historical thinking, collaboration, and creativity while reinforcing content knowledge. They can be adapted for middle or high school classrooms and differentiated for various ability levels.

​Simulation Life in Çatalhöyük — A Day in the World’s First City and Resources

Rise of Civilization Simulation
Focus: Early river valley civilizations (Mesopotamia, Egypt, Indus, China)
Objective: Students form “tribes” and make decisions about settlement, agriculture, trade, and defense.
Student Roles: Leader, Scribe, Architect, Merchant, Farmer
Outcome: Students compare how geography shapes civilization development.
Materials: Resource cards, map grids, “flood” and “trade” event cards.
Archaeologist for a Day
Focus: Archaeology and early human settlements (e.g., Çatalhöyük, Jericho)
Objective: Students “excavate” simulated dig sites with artifacts (images or replicas) to interpret past societies.
Differentiation: Use leveled dig sheets with guiding questions for ELL and advanced students.
Extension: Create museum exhibits or site reconstruction posters.
Hammurabi’s Code Courtroom
Focus: Mesopotamian law and justice
Objective: Students role-play as judges and citizens interpreting Hammurabi’s Code to settle disputes.
Roles: Scribe (records), Judge, Defendant, Plaintiff, Witnesses
Assessment: Compare Hammurabi’s justice system with modern legal systems.
Building the Pyramids
Focus: Ancient Egypt and monumental architecture
Objective: Teams plan and “build” pyramid models under constraints (labor, tools, resources).
Roles: Architect, Engineer, Overseer, Laborer
Critical Thinking: Students must calculate resource trade-offs and present their pyramid plan.
City-State Survival Game
Focus: Ancient Greece (Polis system)
Objective: Competing city-states make strategic choices in trade, alliances, and war to survive.
Roles: Strategos (general), Philosopher, Merchant, Citizen Assembly
Mechanics: Resource management, diplomacy, and cultural development events.
City-State Lab--all content areas
Focus: Generic city-state simulation
Objective: History, Civics/Political Science, Geography/Economics/Culture
Roles:  Rounds, documents, crises, scoring, and reflection products. 
Trial of Socrates
Focus: Classical Athens, democracy, and philosophy
Objective: Students reenact Socrates’ trial using excerpts from Apology and Crito.
Roles: Socrates, Accuser, Jury Members, Philosophers
Skill Focus: Argumentation, evidence-based reasoning, moral debate.
Roman Senate Simulation
Focus: Roman Republic and political power
Objective: Students serve as senators debating reforms during a crisis (e.g., grain shortage or war).
Roles: Patrician, Plebeian, Tribune, Consul
Outcome: Understanding of republican governance and conflict of orders
Silk Road Trade Simulation
Focus: Interconnected ancient economies (China, India, Persia, Rome)
Objective: Students act as traders navigating trade routes, exchanging goods, and managing risks (bandits, taxes, geography).
Skills: Geography, economic systems, cultural diffusion.
Assessment: Trade journal reflection on goods and ideas exchanged.
Ancient Inventions Fair
Focus: Technological achievements across ancient civilizations
Objective: Teams research, “recreate,” and present an invention (e.g., wheel, aqueduct, papyrus).
Roles: Inventor, Builder, Historian, Demonstrator
Assessment: Presentation rubric including accuracy, creativity, and historical context
Empire-Building Strategy Game
Focus: Expansion and administration (Persia, Rome, China)
Objective: Teams expand territories while managing resources, rebellions, and trade.
Events: “Barbarian invasion,” “Revolt,” “New invention” cards.
Outcome: Students learn cause-and-effect in empire maintenance.
Religious Beliefs Council
Focus: Ancient religion and mythology (Egyptian, Greek, Mesopotamian, etc.)
Objective: Students create and defend their civilization’s worldview in a “Council of the Gods.”
Skills: Comparative belief systems, creative writing, and oral presentation.
Optional Product: Collaborative pantheon mural or myth storybook.
Greek Geography Simulation
Focus: Ancient Greek geography shaped how people lived, traded, governed, and interacted with one another.
Objective: Students take on the role of Greek city-states or regions.
Skills: make decisions about food production, trade, defense, colonization, and alliances
Optional Product: Create a geography exhibit
​Fall of an Empire Crisis Simulation
​Focus: Late Roman Empire
Objective: Students manage crises—economic, military, and political—to prevent collapse.
Roles: Emperor, General, Senator, Citizen, Barbarian Leader
Outcome: Understanding of systemic challenges and internal/external pressures on civilizations.

US Government

Simulations for the US Government section.

1.  Electoral College Simulation

2.  Articles of Confederation
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