2009-2010 Academic Year

 

AP MICROECONOMICS

Mr. Stephen J. Lange

Hollywood High School

1521 N. Highland

Los Angeles, CA 90028

 

Webpages:

www.mrlangemath.com,www.hollywoodhighschool.net

 

Contact:

slange@lausd.net,slange@mrlangemath.com

Phone: (323) 993-1700   Fax: (323)957-0238

 

 

Introduction:

The purpose of an AP course in Microeconomics is to provide a thorough understanding of the principles of economics that apply to the functions of individual decision makers, both consumers and producers, within the larger economic system. It places primary emphasis on the nature and functions of product markets, and includes the study of factor markets and of the role of government in promoting greater efficiency and equity in the economy.

–    From The College Board

 

What does all of this mean?

Most of all, it means that economics is the study of decisions.

How do we, as consumers, decide how much of our money to spend and what to spend it on?  How do we decide how much to work, and where?

How do companies decide what to produce and how much to charge?

How does the government decide how to tax, or when to regulate markets?

Economic theory helps answer these questions and many more.

Our goal in this course is to learn as much about microeconomics as possible and to demonstrate that learning on the AP Exam in order to earn college credit.

 

 Texts and Resources:

The primary text for this course will be:

   Principles of Economics, 4th Ed.  Mankiw, N. Gregory. Thomson South-West.

Additional printed resources and articles, as well as relevant websites will be provided. Online resources will be regularly updated on the website, specifically at www.mrlangemath.com/resources/microeconomics.

 As this is an AP course, study guides are available from a variety of publishers (Barron's, Kaplan, Princeton Review, etc) and it is recommended you purchase one for your own enrichment and review. 


AP Test Information:

The 2010 AP Microeconomics Exam will be administered on Thursday, May 13, 2010.  Be sure to sign up with the AP counselor.  Review sessions will be conducted at tutoring sessions in the weeks prior to the exam.

For more information on the AP Test, visit the College Board website: http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/sub_miceco.html

 

Course Content Description:

I have divided this course into five distinct units: 1) Basic Economic Concepts, 2) Supply and Demand, 3) Theory of The Firm, 4) Factor Markets, and 5) The Role of Government.  Each unit will have separate high stakes assessments consisting of 15-25 multiple choice questions as well as 3-4 short answer questions. In addition, there will be ongoing projects and regular assignments to measure learning.

 

The units have been broken down according to the topics that you will be tested on during the AP Examination as well as the approximate value on the AP test, and the corresponding textbook chapters have been noted.  Material will generally be presented in the order shown, but students will be given more detail at the beginning of each unit.

 

UNIT 1: Basic Economic Concepts (12 Days)

Chapters 1-3

 I. Basic Economic Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  (8–14%)

A. Scarcity, choice, and opportunity cost                                    Chapter 1

B. Production possibilities curve                                    Chapter 2

C. Comparative advantage, absolute advantage, specialization, and trade                                    Chapter 3

D. Economic systems                                                                        Chapter 1

E. Property rights and the role of incentives                  Chapter 1

F. Marginal analysis                                                                        Chapter 1

 

UNIT 2- Supply and Demand (19 Days)

Chapters 4-8, 21

 A. Supply and demand (15–20%)                                                       Chapter 4

1. Market equilibrium

2. Determinants of supply and demand

3. Price and quantity controls

4. Elasticity                                                                                           Chapter 5

a. Price, income, and cross-price elasticities of demand

b. Price elasticity of supply

5. Consumer surplus, producer surplus, and market efficiency                  Chapter 7

6. Tax incidence and deadweight loss                                    Chapter 8

 

B. Theory of consumer choice (5–10%)                                                      Chapter 21

1. Total utility and marginal utility

2. Utility maximization: equalizing marginal utility per dollar

3. Individual and market demand curves

4. Income and substitution effects


UNIT 3- Theory of the Firm (27 Days)

Chapters 13-17

II. The Nature and Functions of Product Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  (55–70%)

C. Production and costs (10–15%)                                    Chapter 13

1. Production functions: short and long run

2. Marginal product and diminishing returns

3. Short-run costs

4. Long-run costs and economies of scale

5. Cost minimizing input combination

 

D. Firm behavior and market structure (25–35%)                                   

1. Profit:                                                                        Chapter 13,14

a. Accounting versus economic profits                  Chapter 13

b. Normal profit                                                                        Chapter 13

c. Profit maximization: MR=MC rule                  Chapter 14

2. Perfect competition                                                                        Chapter 14

a. Profit maximization

b. Short-run supply and shutdown decision

c. Behavior of firms and markets in the short run and in the long run

d. Efficiency and perfect competition

3. Monopoly                                                                                          Chapter 15

a. Sources of market power

b. Profit maximization

c. Inefficiency of monopoly

d. Price discrimination

e. Natural monopoly

4. Oligopoly                                                                                          Chapter 16

a. Interdependence, collusion, and cartels

b. Game theory and strategic behavior

5. Monopolistic competition                                                       Chapter 17

a. Product differentiation and role of advertising

b. Profit maximization

c. Short-run and long-run equilibrium

d. Excess capacity and inefficiency

 

UNIT 4- Factor Markets (10 Days)

Chapters 18-20

III. Factor Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (10–18%)

A. Derived factor demand                                                                        Chapter 18

B. Marginal revenue product                                                                        Chapter 18

C. Labor market and firms’ hiring of labor                                    Chapter 18

D. Market distribution of income                                                      Chapter 19 and 20

 

UNIT 5- The Role of Government (14 Days)

Chapters 10-12, 15, 6

IV. Market Failure and the Role of Government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  (12–18%)

A. Externalities                                                                                                            Chapter 10

1. Marginal social benefit and marginal social cost

2. Positive externalities

3. Negative externalities

4. Remedies

B. Public goods                                                                                                            Chapter 11

1. Public versus private goods

2. Provision of public goods

C. Public policy to promote competition                                                      Chapter 15                 

1. Antitrust policy

2. Regulation

D. Income distribution                                                                                          Chapter 12

1. Equity

2. Sources of income inequality

 

Grading Policy:

 

Grades will be determined by the percentage of points earned throughout the semester on homework, quizzes, tests and portfolio work.  Students will have the opportunity to view their grades on an ongoing basis using the website www.engrade.com to which both students and parents will have access.  See my website for further details.

 

 

The following scales will be used as guidelines applied in determining letter grades. Teacher discretion will be applied, but all grades will be determined using LAUSD guidelines.

90-100% of points earned: A

80-90%: B

70-80%: C

60-70%: D

Less than 60%: F 

 

Homework:

Students are expected to work diligently and regularly from their books at home, reading the assigned pages and completing homework assigned from the “Questions for Review” and “Problems and Applications” sections at the end of each chapter. 

A student will typically have 2-4 homework questions assigned almost every night that will be worth 10-20 points towards their overall grade.  Assignments will be known in advance should students choose to work ahead.

In addition to textbook work, students will have to make ongoing updates to their portfolio at home.


Classwork:  

Students are expected to attend class on a daily basis.  While attendance and most classwork (besides tests and quizzes) are not graded, failure to participate will result in having poorer notes and resources to apply to graded assignments.

I believe in using a variety of instructional methodologies to preview, teach, and review the content standards, with an emphasis on technology.  These include, but are not limited to: 

Notebook and Powerpoint Presentations-   Smartboard technology will be used to create interactive notetaking structures, demonstations and checks for understanding that will be used on a regular basis. Many of these will be published on my website or blog as an additional resource 

Webquests and Online Research- Laptop carts will be used on approximately a weekly basis to give student partners the opportunity to research key questions online given guided questions.

Videos:Videos will be shown in class to better explain key concepts or to demonstrate real-life economics in actions.  A key video series will be Economics U$A, which students can view at www.learner.org/resources/series79.html.

Graphic Organizers and Handouts: For many difficult topics, students will be given notes, graphic organizers, or incomplete handouts, with graphs, vocabulary and details to fill in to complete understanding of the concepts.  These should be maintained in the student portfolio.

 

Quizzes and Tests:

Short quizzes will be given at the beginning of many classes as a test of how well students learned recently assigned material or retained knowledge of material taught prior.  Many of these warm-up quizzes will be released questions from previous year’s AP tests as a means of staying prepared.  These quizzes will typically be worth 5-10 points and will be graded immediately in class using the honors system.

Tests will be given at the end of each unit and will be worth 200 points each.

A 500 point final exam will also be given the last week of class, modeled on the Actual AP Examination.

 

Student Portfolio and Study Book: 

In order to succeed on the AP Exam, there is a lot of material to learn.  Students should have a means of keeping all of their notes and assignments in order.

The final key to student grades is maintenance of a Portfolio and Study Book. 

 In the portfolio, students should keep all past homework, quizzes and tests as a means of record keeping and verifying their grades.  They will also be used to study for exams.

The Study Book is a device in which students will record all new vocabulary as well as key concepts and graphs, so they can access them at any time.  Students will record the Key Concepts listed in the back of each chapter and highlighted in bold in the text as part of their Study Book as well as incorporate key graphs as instructed by the teacher.

 

Portfolios and Study Books will be inspected for grading once every four weeks, at the end of each marking period and scored out of 100 points based on completion.

 

Blog

 Assignments and updates will be posted daily on my weblog: www.mrlangemath.com/blog.