Economics

Economics is the study of the way people make choices based on scarce resources. While the world is full of opportunities for some, the fact is that there aren’t enough resources to satisfy all of everyone’s needs and wants. These limited resources include money, land, technology, and time. Economists collect and organize data and develop models to understand how the condition of scarcity affects people, nations, and our world. Understanding economics will change the way students think and problem-solve. It’s not all about money and the stock market, although after taking this course students will be able to explain these and other concepts with a deeper understanding.

This course will encourage students to consider the role of government in supporting the economic health of communities and nations. Students will be introduced to the concept of supply and demand, investigate market structures, and types of businesses in our unit on microeconomics. Once students have mastered these basics, they will dive deeper into microeconomic analysis including how competition affects markets, how consumers make choices, and how wages are determined in labor markets. In the macroeconomic unit, the bigger picture of the economy, students will explore major indicators of economic performance such as GDP, the unemployment rate, and the rate of inflation. These broad macroeconomic concepts will allow students to examine the role of government in using both monetary and fiscal policies to address economic problems at the national level. Finally, students can synthesize this information and explore international economic topics such as comparative advantage, trade deficits, and exchange rates. This course will align with the economics content standards from the Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for History and Social Science.

Students will engage in the content of Economics through a diversity of texts including readings, online videos, graphs, and primary sources in order to learn in active ways. Students will have the opportunity to interact with classmates around a Discussion topic; this discourse will help students consider alternative perspectives. Assignments will include blogs, project activities, and graphing allowing students to demonstrate understanding through a variety of assessments.

In this honors-level course, students are expected to invest approximately 8 hours per week on their course work.

Acknowledgements

Proficiency in basic math. Economic models and graphing will be used to highlight the principles and effects of economic decision making.
This course contains an end-of-course proctored exam. Instructions for students to identify an appropriate adult proctor are included in the course lessons.

Course Objectives

Essential Questions:

Why is the study of economies vital to society?
How do individuals and societies make choices given there is a scarcity of resources?
How is economic health measured and supported?
How should economies around the world be structured to meet the needs and wants of people?
What is the dilemma between economic efficiency and equity?

Learning Objectives:

Identify society’s key economic resources and describe the basic forces of supply and demand that determine what is produced, by whom, and for whom.
Explain the influence of behavioral economics and the ways people compare costs and benefits to meet their interests.
Describe the various roles of government in influencing the way resources are used in the economy.
Analyze the basic functions of money and the role of financial institutions.
Describe challenges to economic development due to the effects of globalization.

Additional Requirements

Students will need to access a number of YouTube videos throughout the course.
Students will need to submit certain assignments by uploading videos of themselves presenting work.
A device with a webcam and microphone is required.