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Syllabus
AP Microeconomics
Amanda Okrutny
2013-2014
The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more
powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe
themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist."
–John Maynard Keynes
Course Overview
AP Economics is taught as a full year course. The aim of AP Economics is to provide students
with a learning experience that is equivalent to that obtained in a typical college-level
introduction to economics course.
Course Objectives:
This course builds on foundations prepared in the introductory economics course,
focusing and expanding on microeconomic concepts (e.g., consumer behavior and
different types of business organizations and market structures). Students will study
many concepts from their survey course in greater depth as well as explore new
material. In order to familiarize students with the academic rigors of a college level,
economics course, special attention will be paid to graphical and mathematical models
and analysis. Students will be required to take the Advanced Placement Examination in
Microeconomics in the spring.
Texts:
 McConnell, Campbell R. and Stanley L. Brue. Microeconomics. McGraw-Hill.
 Walstad, William B. & R.C. Bingham. Study Guide to Accompany Microeconomics.
Homework will be assigned from the textbook and workbook on a regular basis.
Please note that the 2014 Advanced Placement Examination in Microeconomics takes place
on Thursday, May 15, 2014 in the afternoon. The examination has two parts. The objective
question (i.e., multiple choice) section consists of 60 questions, is 70-minutes long, and has a
weight of two-thirds. The free-response section consists of three questions, is 50-minutes
long, and has a weight of one-third. According to the College Board,
it is suggested that you spend approximately half your time on the first question
and divide the remaining time equally between the next two questions. In
answering the questions, you should emphasize the line of reasoning that
generated your results; it is not enough to list the results of your analysis. Include
correctly labeled diagrams, if useful or required, in explaining your answers. A
correctly labeled diagram must have all axes and curves clearly labeled and must
show directional changes.
Please note that there will be a test, consisting of multiple-choice and usually at least
one free response question, at the conclusion of each major topic.
Skills: Graphs
By the End of the course the student will be able to:
1. Illustrate and correctly label a supply and demand graph.
2. Show changes in supply/demand.
3. Show the effects of a price ceiling and price floors.
4. Show a change in demand (supply) versus a change in quantity demanded (quantity supplied).
5. Draw and illustrate an elastic and an inelastic demand curve.
6. Draw and illustrate consumer/producer tax burden given an elastic and inelastic demand curve.
7. Given a change in supply, compare and contrast the effects of price and quantity changes with
elastic and inelastic demand curves.
8. Draw and interpret a production function graph.
9. Draw and interpret a total-cost graph and average-cost graphs.
10. Identify average-fixed, average-variable, and average-cost curves and marginal cost.
Draw graphs and differentiate between a competitive firm and a competitive industry.
2. Draw graphs and correctly label a competitive firm that makes excessive profits, earns zero
profits, and minimizes losses.
3. Draw a sequence of graphs that shows a competitive firm making excessive profits (or
minimizing its losses) with a return to long-run equilibrium.
4. Draw and label a monopoly firm that makes excessive profits (and minimization of losses).
5. Draw a graph to illustrate the effects in output, price, and profits if the demand increases (or
decreases) in a monopolistic firm.
6. Illustrate graphically the problems of monopoly inefficiency (allocative and technical).
7. Draw and label a monopolistic competitive firm and illustrate long-run equilibrium.
8. Draw and illustrate a demand curve for labor.
9. Draw and illustrate a supply curve for labor in a single competitive firm and a competitive market.
10. Draw and illustrate an effective minimum wage.
11. Draw and illustrate the supply and demand curve for labor in a monopsonistic market.
12. Draw and illustrate the various effects of labor union negotiations on wages and employment in a
monopsonistic industry.
13. Illustrate the effects of externalities and spillovers on a supply/demand graph.
14. Illustrate the effects of a government regulation on producers and/or consumers.
15. Illustrate price ceilings and floors.
Approximate Schedule of Topics:
Please note that there will be a test, consisting of multiple-choice and at least one free
response question, at the conclusion of each chapter/topic.
Introduction
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Rules and Expectations
The AP Exam—Strategies for Success:
 “Strategies to Approach Multiple-Choice Questions in the Classroom and on the
Exam,” Shirley Counsil, AP Central: 2007.
 “AP LAWS”
 Answer the questions asked
 Pens (blue and/or black) and Pencils (#2 for the multiple choice)
 Label graphs
 Apportion time proportionally among the questions
 Write clearly and fully
 Show your work and explain your answers
The Nature and Method of Economics (ch.1)
By the end of this chapter, students will be able to:
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Explain the role of economic models in studying economics
Explain why scarcity and choice are basic problems of economics
Identify the goals different societies find most important
Explain why economists say all resources are scarce
Explain the difference between goods and services
Explain and describe why every decision involves tradeoffs
Describe the concept of opportunity cost
Describe the economic goals for an economy
Identify the societal values that influence the different types of economies
Explain the difference between normative and positive economics
Understand the difference between correlation and causation
Calculate the slope of a line
Compare differently sloped lines
Write the equation of a line
The Economizing Problem (ch.2)
By the end of this chapter, students will be able to:
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Identify factors of production (land, labor, human capital, physical capital,
entrepreneurship)
Understand the difference between productive and allocative efficiency
Construct and analyze a production possibilities frontier (PPF)
Use the law of increasing opportunity cost to explain why the PPF is concave
What are the basic economic questions?
Explain how the basic economic questions are addressed in a traditional, command,
and market economy?
Explain why all economies are mixed economies
Explain the basic tenets of Adam Smith's economic philosophy
Trace Adam Smith’s influence to modern economics
Construct and analyze the circular flow diagram
Understand the advantages of individuals exchanging with each other
Understand the differences between absolute and comparative advantage
Use an opportunity cost table to determine in what good/service/job individuals or firms
should specialize to maximize their comparative advantage
Understanding Individual Markets: Demand and Supply (ch.3) and
The Market System (ch.4)
By the end of this chapter, students will be able to:
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Understand the law of demand
Explain the difference between demand and quantity demanded
Construct demand schedules and derive demand curves from them
Describe the factors that can cause the demand curve to shift
Show the impact on price and quantity when there is a change in demand
Explain the difference between supply and quantity supplied
Explain the law of supply
Construct supply schedules and derive supply curves from them
Describe the factors that can cause the supply curve to shift
Show the impact on price and quantity when there is a change in supply
Explain different ways the government can influence the supply of a good
Understand the difference between a tax and a subsidy
Define quota and embargo
Explain why an equilibrium price and quantity are unique
Explain the rationing role of the price system
Identify the benefits and disadvantages of the price system
Explain how shifts in demand and supply affect market equilibrium
Explain what governments try to accomplish via price floors/ceilings and rationing
Explain the advantages and disadvantages of price floors and ceilings
Differentiate between market equilibrium and disequilibrium
Explain how shortages and surpluses arise
Explain why a market equilibrium is efficient
Understand and draw consumer and producer surplus
Define and draw deadweight loss when a tax is imposed
Define tax incidence and indicate on a supply and demand diagram how much of a tax
is paid by the consumers and producers
Demand and Supply: Elasticities and Applications (ch.7)
By the end of this chapter, students will be able to:
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Understand and calculate the price elasticity of demand
Explain the difference between elastic, inelastic, and unitary demand
Differentiate between perfectly elastic and inelastic demand
Identify the factors that affect price elasticity of demand and supply
Provide examples of goods with different types of price elasticity of demand
Use the revenue test to determine price elasticity of demand
Understand and calculate the price elasticity of supply
Differentiate between elastic, inelastic, and unitary supply
Explain the difference between perfectly elastic and inelastic supply
Provide examples of goods with different types of elasticity
Understand how demand and supply elasticity affects tax incidence for consumers and
suppliers
Understand and calculate income elasticity and cross elasticity demand
Consumer Behavior and Utility Maximization (ch.8)
By the end of this chapter, students will be able to:
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Understand the differences between the substitution and income effects
Differentiate between total and marginal utility
Explain the law of diminishing marginal utility descriptively and quantitatively
Apply the utility-maximizing rule to a utility table
Apply utility and marginal utility to the diamond-water paradox
The Costs of Production (ch.9)
By the end of this chapter, students will be able to:
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Understand the differences between explicit and implicit costs
Understand the differences between economic and normal profit.
Differentiate between the short and long run
Understand, calculate, and diagram total, marginal, and average product
Define the law of diminishing returns
Understand, calculate, and diagram fixed, variable, and total costs
Explain and draw economies and diseconomies of scale
Identify the profit maximizing conditions
Pure Competition (ch.10)
By the end of this chapter, students will be able to:
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Describe the characteristics of firms in pure competition
Define homogeneity
Explain and draw the industry supply and demand curves
Explain and draw the firm’s supply, demand, and cost curves for economic and normal
profit, loss, shutdown point and shutdown in the short and long run
Explain why marginal revenue equals the equilibrium price and the demand curve for a
firm in perfect competition
Construct different cost (marginal, average, total, fixed) schedules
Understanding the relationship between marginal cost and the supply curve
Applying allocative and productive efficiency to firms in perfect competition
Pure Monopoly (ch.11)
By the end of this chapter, students will be able to:
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Describe the characteristics of monopolies
Identify barriers to entry that help sustain monopolies
Understand the differences between natural, local, and price discriminating monopolists
Explain and draw the industry supply and demand curves
Explain and draw the firm’s supply, demand, cost curves and equilibrium price and
output for firms earning an economic and normal profit, a loss, the shutdown point and
shutdown in the short and long run
Understand why the marginal revenue curve is below the demand curve in a monopoly
Construct different cost (marginal, average, total, fixed) schedules
Understand why there is no monopoly supply curve
Apply allocative and productive efficiency to monopolies
Define rent-seeking behavior
Draw demand and marginal cost curves for a price discriminating monopolist and
identify the equilibrium price and quantity
Understand and identify the monopoly, fair-return, and socially optimal price and
quantities
Monopolistic Competition and Oligopoly (ch.12)
By the end of this chapter, students will be able to:
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Describe the characteristics of monopolistic competition and oligopoly
Identify barriers to entry that help sustain firms in these industries
Explain and draw the industry supply and demand curves
Explain and draw the firm’s supply, demand, and cost curves for economic and normal
profit, loss, shutdown point and shutdown in the short and long run
Construct different cost (marginal, average, total, fixed) schedules
Apply allocative and productive efficiency to firms in monopolistic competition and
oligopolies
Draw demand and marginal cost curves for firms in monopolistic competition and
oligopolies and identify the equilibrium price and quantity
Understand why oligopolies are interdependent
Explain why cartels usually break up
Apply game theory (the prisoner’s dilemma, in particular to the case of cartels
Construct and analyze a payoff matrix
Find a dominant strategy where it exists for firms in a potential cartel
Demand for Resources (ch.14)
By the end of this chapter, students will be able to:
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Understand why resource demand is a derived demand
Define marginal product, marginal revenue product, and marginal resource cost and
construct and draw diagrams based on this information
Apply the least-cost and the profit-maximizing rules
Identify the factors that cause the resource demand curve to shift
Identify factors that affect the elasticity of resource demand
Wage Determination (ch.15)
By the end of this chapter, students will be able to:
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Draw supply and demand curves for labor in the labor market and marginal resource
cost and marginal revenue product curves for the individual firm
Define monopsony
Draw marginal resource cost, marginal revenue product and supply curves for a
monopsony
Understand why the marginal resource cost curve is above the supply curve in a
monopsony
Income Inequality and Poverty (ch.21)
By the end of this chapter, students will be able to:
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Construct and analyze Lorenz curves using income quintile data
Compare Lorenz curves
Define the Gini coefficient
Understand how the government can use transfer payments to lessen unequal income
distributions
Government and Market Failure (ch.17) and
The Mixed Economy: Private and Public Sectors (ch.5)
By the end of this chapter, students will be able to:
 Understand the differences between public and private goods
 Justify why the government is often needed to provide public goods
 Draw marginal benefit/marginal cost diagrams depicting spillover costs or benefits
 Indicate the private and social equilibrium price and quantity when there are spillover
costs or benefits
 Understand the “tragedy of the commons”
 Understand how the government can create a market for externality rights
 Differentiate between moral hazards and adverse selection
 Explain the role of government when there is asymmetric information
Public Choice Theory and the Economics of Taxation (ch.18)
By the end of this chapter, students will be able to:
 Differentiate among the different types of taxes (i.e., progressive, proportional, and
regressive)
 Understand how the benefits-received and ability-to-pay principles are applied to
different tax systems
 Identify how different types of taxes (e.g., personal income, sales, corporate income,
payroll, property) apportion the tax burden
 Define tax incidence
 Explain how price elasticity of demand and supply affect tax incidence
 Explain why majority voting is not always efficient
 Understand the median voter model
 Define rent-seeking behavior
 Understand why rent is allocatively inefficient
REVIEW
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Review Packet
Students will use Barron’s Study Guide and Five Steps to a Five for review and practice
purposes.
Students will participate in an individual and/or group review project which will be due
for a grade.
Students will use AP Checklist, included in packet, to see where they need more help
Students will take practice exams, including AP and AP-style multiple choice and freeresponse questions
AP Microeconomics Exam: May 15, 2014 (Thursday Afternoon Session)
Classroom Policies and Procedures
Woodland High School
Classroom Expectations
To ensure an optimum learning environment, please adhere to the following:
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Students will be respectful to all adults and classmates.
 Students will be seated in class when the bell rings.
Students will not display cell phones, portable electronic devices or playing cards in class.
 Students will use computers/ technology appropriately at all times.
Violation of these rules may result in changes to school policies.
We are Woodland!
Go Wolfpack!
A. Materials: All students are expected to bring their text, a pen and a two inch three-ring binder with dividers loaded with
filler paper to class each day unless otherwise stated.
B. Attendance:
1. all students are to be in their seats and ready to begin work when the bell rings. “Ready to begin” means no food,
drinks, hats, telephones, or any other annoying electronic devices. Your textbook and your notebook should be ready for
action, and your homework prepared for collection.
2. Tardiness will result in disciplinary action.
3. Any student with an excused absence from class is responsible for all work missed. It is your responsibility to
make up work that you missed. Make arrangements with classmates to get the day’s notes, or talk to me on the day that you
return to class.
4. Unexcused absences will not be tolerated. Such absences will result in a grade of “0” on the day’s work and on
assignments due on the day of the unexcused absence and disciplinary action in accordance with school policy.
C. Participation
1. Students are expected to participate in all classroom debates and discussions. The time given over to discussion
provides an opportunity for students to think through their ideas and learn from other in the class.
2. Follow the rule of common courtesy – allow other to speak. Do not use vulgar, profane, degrading or
condescending language. Remember that you earn respect by showing respect to others.
3. Asking permission to use the lavatory does not constitute class participation. Only emergencies should require
you to leave the classroom during class time.
D. Assignments
1. Homework is due at the beginning of class so do not plan on finishing it during class. Late homework
assignments will not be accepted unless you have an excused absence. If you miss class because you are late to school or
because you are dismissed early, then it is your responsibility to give me the assignment during the day that you are present at
the school.
2. Essays and research assignments are due as indicated. You will know well in advance when major assignments
are due so plan accordingly.
3. Homework assignments may be written on white lined paper (8 ½ X 11) with your name, date and class period in
the upper right corner. Use filler paper as these assignments will be added to your portfolio/notebook. Assignments turned
in on paper torn from a wire ring notebook will not be accepted. Take pride in your work. Use blue or black ink. Pencil is
allowed and required on multiple choice tests only. No essays will be graded that are completed in pencil. Take home essays
and other longer assignments must be typed in Times New Roman 12pt font on standard white paper. Any research papers
will be completed in MLA format only! Use the web sources on my website for help as needed.
E. Quizzes and Tests
It is your responsibility to make up quizzes and tests that you missed due to an excused absence. No make up exams
will be given during class time. You will need to make arrangements to make up missed exams before or after school or
during a AP study skills time with me. You will only be excused from a scheduled test if you have been absent from school
for two or more consecutive days before the exam.
F. Grading Categories and Computation of Semester Grades
School-wide Grading Requirements as follows:
Semester Final Average 100%
 EOCT/Final Exam 15%
 Course Final Average 85%
The Formative and Summative
o Formative Assessment
Assessments equal 100% but fall
 Practice 20%
under the category of Course Final
 Quizzes 35%
Average which is 80% of the
o Summative Assessment 45%
Semester Final Average.
(major tests & projects)
Grading Scale
A= 100-90
B=89-80
C=79-74
D=73-70
F=69 and below
G. Other Policies
1. This classroom is where I spend my day. I expect that you will treat the room and its contents with respect.
Many of the items available for your use are my personal property.
2. In the event that a substitute teacher is present, I expect you to be as respectful and cooperative as you are when I
am in the classroom. Substitutes will collect all homework and in-class assignments. These assignments will be graded.
3. The proper rules of conduct and all school rules apply at all times.
Tutoring and Assistance:
AP study skills will provide excellent opportunities for students to receive extra assistance. Also you can see Mrs. Okrutny
for a pass to room 210 for morning and/or afternoon assistance.
Academic Integrity Policy:
Academic integrity is a fundamental value of quality education; therefore, Woodland High School
will not tolerate any acts of cheating, plagiarism, or falsification of school work. Should it be
determined that an academic integrity violation has taken place, the school reserves the right to
assign a grade of a zero and submit a disciplinary referral to the appropriate Assistant Principal.
The school also reserves the right to remove or suspend enrollment in any Advanced
Placement/Honors classes as well as Academic Honor Societies.
STUDENT/PARENT CONSENT OF UNDERSTANDING:
I have read and understand all of the objectives, requirements, and expectations for
AP Microeconomics taught by Mrs. Amanda Okrutny.
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Printed Student Name
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Student Signature
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Date
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Printed Parent/ Guardian Name
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Parent Signature
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Date