Course Syllabus

AP Microeconomics Syllabus

Shaw High School 2017-2018 

Ms. Jessica Barrier & Ms. Ammie Whiteley

Barrier.Jessica.L@muscogee.k12.ga.us

Whiteley.Ammie@muscogee.k12.ga.us

 

Course Description:

This full-year Advanced Placement course is designed to be an intensive year-long study of Microeconomics.  We will, however, study certain aspects of Macroeconomics as well.  The curriculum for AP Microeconomics will include basic economic topics, the nature and functions of markets, and the role of government when markets fail. Students will be expected to learn this with a very strong emphasis on current events and the practical implementation of economic decisions and policies.  Please remember that this is an Advanced Placement class and will be taught as such.  Advanced Placement classes are designed for college freshmen.  Students who take their work seriously and do well should expect to take the AP Exam in May.  All students at the end of this class should be able to take introductory economics classes in college with confidence and great success.

 

Course Themes & Objectives:

1.) Introduction to Economics. In this unit students will be introduced to the economic concepts of scarcity, opportunity cost, and marginal analysis; learn and use the production possibility frontier and circular flow models; and participate in a simulation of the circular flow model and use the production possibility frontier to analyze the benefits of voluntary exchanges.

2.) Supply and Demand I: How Markets Work. In this unit students will learn the assumptions and determinants of supply and demand in order to use models of markets for description, analysis, and prediction; understand the significance and role of prices in a market economy; use concepts of elasticity’s of demand and supply to evaluate quantitatively economic situations; and evaluate the use of government price controls and the impact of taxes on market.

3.)  Supply and Demand II: Markets and Welfare. In this unit, students will learn to explain and calculate the value-to-market participants of  voluntary exchanges (this will include the concepts of consumer surplus and producer surplus); analyze market distortions from taxes, specifically the changes in consumer surplus, producer surplus, and total surplus; be introduced to the idea of deadweight loss; and evaluate consumer surplus and producer surplus in markets that import or export, and evaluate the deadweight loss from trade restrictions.

4.) The Economics of the Public Sector. In this unit students will analyze external costs and benefits that can occur in markets (private and public solutions to these externalities will be examined); understand characteristics of public goods, private goods, and common goods and will consider implications of these characteristics; become familiar with the components of government budgets and  evaluate tax policies; and understand how the distribution of personal income in an economy is measured and discuss issues related to income distribution.

5.) Costs of Production and Market Structures. In this unit students will understand a firm’s costs of production and how these costs are shown in the shapes of the cost curves; learn characteristics of the categories of competition in markets; explain and show graphically how production and pricing decisions are made for firms in each of these market structures; and analyze how firms behave in the short run, and the long run and evaluate markets for productive and distributive efficiency.

6.) Resource Markets and AP Exam Preparation. In this unit students will understand how firms determine the quantity of resources to use and what determines resource supply competitive markets and imperfectly competitive markets; and practice answering long, constructed, free-response questions.

Text and Materials:

Mankiw, N. Gregory, Principles of Economics – Third Edition Thomson South-Western, 2004

Supplementary Texts:

• Supplementary Materials: I use a number of websites in my teaching – for in class use, research papers, lecture notes – to cite them all here would take up too much space. I also use current events to relate text learning with practical uses.
• Released AP Microeconomic Tests
• AP Central Website – Released Free Response Questions

Student Materials:

• 2" 3 ring binder
• 6 dividers
• zip pouch
• 400 note cards (4x6 or larger)

 

Grading:        

50% Summative Assessments

50% Formative Assessments. 

.

• Tests & Projects: There will be 3-4 major tests per marking period. There will also be a mid-term and final exam.  In each term there will also be 2-3 summative 2-page essays.  These essays will ask students to use text information, economic evaluations, and current events to address economic problems. These are summative grades. 
• Quizzes: There may be as many as 1 to 2 quizzes per week. They may, or may not be announced. Quizzes will be formative in nature, allowing the student to assess her own understanding of the microeconomic topic being covered in class.
• Make-ups: If you are absent it is YOUR responsibility to locate and learn material that may have been covered while you were absent. The day you return from your absence you will check Canvas to find out what you have to make up. If you fail to do so, the grade for that assignment will become a zero until it is completed. If you are absent from school the day before a test that has been announced for many days, you will still be expected to take the test with the rest of the class.
• Late Work: 
  • All work will be turned in on-time. In the event that an assignment is turned in late, there will be a 10 point deduction PER DAY for 5 days. After five days, the assignment can earn no more than a 50 for a grade.
  • All on-time, good effort assignments can be re-submitted for additional credit if corrections are made to the work. A re-submission can result in a higher grade, but never full credit. This applies to test corrections as well.
  • Test corrections can be made if necessary. The format of corrections is very specific and will be reviewed after our first test.

Expectations:

1. Be in class, seated, and prepared to work when the tardy bell rings
2. Do your homework (AKA READ and take notes)
3. Actively participate in class.
4. HAND WRITE your notes and keep them in a notebook.
5. No food, drinks, or gum (except H2O)
6. All restroom needs should be taken care of between classes.
1. Be respectful
2. No profanity
3. No name calling
4. Keep your hands to yourself
7. Only speak when appropriate for class
8. NO CELL PHONE/TECHNOLOGY USE IN CLASS unless otherwise instructed.
9. When absent, students are responsible for obtaining class notes from their peers. They are also expected to ask peers for help on assignments BEFORE asking us. If students need a paper copy of an assignment that was given to the class during an absence, I will provide a copy to the student upon his/her return to class. A digital copy will also be available in Canvas for the student to print if necessary.

 

A.P. Economics Course Unit Outline (Microeconomics)

Percentage Goals of AP Exam

Content Area                                                                                                (multiple-choice section)

Basic Economic Concepts. .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . (8–14%)
          Scarcity, choice, and opportunity cost
          Production possibilities curve
          Comparative advantage, absolute advantage, specialization, and trade
          Economic systems
          Property rights and the role of incentives
           Marginal analysis
Introduction to Markets. . .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  (55–70%)
          Supply and demand (15–20%)
                    Market equilibrium
                    Determinants of supply and demand
                    Price and quantity controls
                    Elasticity
                              Price, income, and cross-price elasticities of demand
                              Price elasticity of supply
                    Consumer surplus, producer surplus, and allocative efficiency
                    Tax incidence and deadweight loss
          Theory of consumer choice (5–10%)
                    Total utility and marginal utility
                    Utility maximization: equalizing marginal utility per dollar
                    Individual and market demand curves
                    Income and substitution effects
          Production and costs (10–15%)
                    Production functions: short and long run
                    Marginal product and diminishing returns
                    Short-run costs
                    Long-run costs and economies of scale
                    Cost minimizing input combination and productive efficiency

Theory of the Firm .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . (25–35%)
                    Profit
                              Accounting versus economic profits
                              Normal profit
                              Profit maximization: MR=MC rule
                   Perfect competition
                              Profit maximization
                              Short-run supply and shutdown decision
                              Behavior of firms and markets in the short run and in the long run
                              Efficiency and perfect competition
                    Monopoly
                              Sources of market power
                              Profit maximization
                              Inefficiency of monopoly
                              Price discrimination
                              Natural monopoly
                    Oligopoly
                              Interdependence, collusion, and cartels
                              Game theory and strategic behavior
                              Dominant strategy
                              Nash equilibrium
                    Monopolistic competition
                              Product differentiation and role of advertising
                              Profit maximization
                              Short-run and long-run equilibrium
                              Excess capacity and inefficiency
Factor Markets.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . (10 –18%)
          Derived factor demand
          Marginal revenue product
          Hiring decisions in the markets for labor and capital
          Market distribution of income
Market Failure and the Role of Government. . . .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . (12–18%)
          Externalities
                    Marginal social benefit and marginal social cost
                    Positive externalities
                    Negative externalities
                    Remedies
          Public goods
                    Public versus private goods
                    Provision of public goods
          Public policy to promote competition
                    Antitrust policy
                    Regulation
          Income distribution
                    Equity
                    Sources and measures of income inequality

General Education Economics

Shaw High School

Economics Syllabus

2017-2018

 

Economics Required: Senior This course provides opportunities for students to study basic principles concerning production, consumption, and distribution of goods and services. Content builds an understanding of the essential components and benefits of the free enterprise system. Students study such concepts as scarcity, economic interdependence, the market system, prices, economic stability, and governmental activity. They examine the role of government in the American economic system and explore selected aspects of international economic systems. Students are provided opportunities to acquire competencies and knowledge of practical economic functions. *This course has a state mandated End of Course Test which comprises 20% of the final grade.

Economics Units of Study Fundamental Economic Concepts The student will explain why limited productive resources and unlimited wants result in scarcity, opportunity costs, and tradeoffs for individuals, businesses, and governments. The student will give examples of how rational decision making entails comparing the marginal benefits and the marginal costs of an action. The student will explain how specialization and voluntary exchange between buyers and sellers increase the satisfaction of both parties. The student will compare and contrast different economic systems and explain how they answer the three basic economic questions of what to produce, how to produce, and for whom to produce. The student will describe the roles of government in a market economy. The student will explain how productivity, economic growth, and future standards of living are influenced by investment in factories, machinery, new technology, and the health, education, and training of people. Microeconomic Concepts The student will describe how households, businesses, and governments are interdependent and interact through flows of goods, services, and money. The student will explain how the Law of Demand, the Law of Supply, prices, and profits work to determine production and distribution in a market economy. The student will explain how markets, prices, and competition influence economic behavior. The student will explain the organization and role of business and analyze the four types of market structures in the U.S. economy. Macroeconomic Concepts The student will illustrate the means by which economic activity is measured. The student will explain the role and functions of the Federal Reserve System. The student will explain how the government uses fiscal policy to promote price stability, full employment, and economic growth. International Economics The student will explain why individuals, businesses, and governments trade goods and services. The student will explain why countries sometimes erect trade barriers and sometimes advocate free trade. The student will explain how changes in exchange rates can have an impact on the purchasing power of individuals in the United States and in other countries. Personal Finance Economics The student will apply rational decision making to personal spending and saving choices. The student will explain that banks and other financial institutions are businesses that channel funds from savers to investors The student will explain how changes in monetary and fiscal policy can have an impact on an individual’s spending and saving choices. The student will evaluate the costs and benefits of using credit. The student will describe how insurance and other risk-management strategies protect against financial loss. The student will describe how the earnings of workers are determined in the marketplace.