AP ECON Name:______
2011-12
Unit 1: Basic Economic Concepts (8-12%)
**Reminder, information is posted on the AP Econ website along with a blog, videos, and other helpful resources. www.mrkeconomics.weebly.com
Tuesday Sept. 6: Day 1: What is Economics?
*Concepts: Economic Way of Thinking, Positive vs. Normative Economics, Scarcity, Trade-Offs, Opportunity Cost
*Big Deal Questions:
-What is Economics?
-How does an Economist think?
-What is the importance of scarcity to an economist?
-What is the relationship between scarcity and economics?
*Reading: Economics by Example Ch. 1, Textbook Ch. 1 pg. 3-17
Wednesday Sept. 7: Day 2: Resources and Scarcity, What is Economics all about?
Resource Scarcity Game
*Reading: Textbook Ch. 2 pg. 28-29 & 38-43
Thursday Sept. 8: Day 3: What shall we give up…? Trading can create value
*Concepts: Opportunity Cost, Trade-Offs, Factors of Production, Production Possibilities: “Links and Smiles”
*Big Deal Questions:
-What is the opportunity cost of going to college?
-What are the trade offs of not going to college?
-What is the role of an entrepreneur?
-What can we learn from a production possibilities graph?
*WB Activity #1
*Reading: Handout pg. 23-29
Friday Sept. 9: Day 4: How do we gain from trade?
*Concepts: Production Possibilities, Constant Costs, Law of increasing Costs, Comparative and Absolute Advantage, specialization, terms of trade
*Big Deal Questions:
-Why does the U.S. have the comparative advantage in producing commercial planes?
-Why doesn’t an individual produce all of their needs on their own?
-How does an individual or country know to accept a trade from another country?
*Writing Assign. Free Response #1 Due Monday
*WB Activity #2
*Reading Textbook Ch. 3 pg. 55-63
Monday Sept. 12: Day 5: Who generates demand? Consumer choice
A market in Wheat
*Concepts: Law of Demand, Consumer Surplus, Change in Quantity Demanded, Change in Demand, Demand Determinants
*WB Activity #3, 4
*Reading Textbook Ch. 3 pg. 64-76
Tuesday Sept. 13: Day 6: Producer Choice, and How Demand and Supply Interact?
*Concepts: Law of Supply, Producer Surplus, Change in Supply, Change in Quantity Supplied, Determinants of Supply, Equilibrium, Economic Efficiency
*WB Activity #5,6
*Reading: Textbook Ch. 3 pg. 76-79
Wednesday Sept. 14: Day 7: How Does the Market React? How are Prices Determined?
*Concepts: Invisible Hand, Shortage, Surplus, Excess Demand, Excess Supply, Balancing the Market
*WB Activity #7
*Reading Textbook Ch. 4 pg. 83-93
Thursday Sept. 15: Day 8: Markets
What if the Government interferes with the market?
*Concepts: Price Ceiling, Price Floor, Subsidy, Tax, Black Market, Tax Incidence
* Reading: Review Ch. 1-4
Friday Sept. 16: Day 9: Review Questions
*WB Sample MC and FRQ from Unit 1
Monday Sept. 18: Day 10: Test- Multiple Choice and Free Response
*Reading: Ch. 7 (Calculating GDP)