Download AP Microeconomics Syllabus - My Blog

Lassiter High School
Reaching Excellence and Climbing Higher
Career/Tech Department
Spring Semester 2017
COURSE TITLE: AP Microeconomics
SCHOOL WEBSITE: http://www.lassiterhigh.org
TEACHER BLOG SITE: http://lhsblogs.typepad.com/rustay/
INSTRUCTOR: Kyle Rustay
EMAIL: [email protected]
LEARNING GOALS:
 Students will demonstrate proficiency in the critical thinking skills of decision-making, information processing,
reasoning, and analysis at or above course standards.
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Students will demonstrate appropriate critical thinking skills in reading comprehension and written expression. All
students will be asked to write in complete sentences for assignments in every academic area.
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As part of Lassiter High School's School Improvement Plan (SIP) and the Superintendent's Advanced Placement
(AP) Certification initiatives, all students will participate in timed writing activities (based on content area reading
passages) that will be scored using the College Board's Holistic Scoring Method for the new SAT.
COURSE DESCRIPTION: The course content is designed to help students develop critical-thinking skills through the
understanding, application, and analysis of fundamental economic concepts. Students will be expected to apply
quantitative and mathematical skills including creating and manipulating graphs to interpret economic concepts. Also,
they will be expected to apply logic to a wide variety of real-world and hypothetical situations. The course is equivalent
to the microeconomics course offered at the college level. This course prepares students for the AP® Microeconomics
Examination. (Information regarding exam costs and registration dates will be passed along at a later date.)
The AP Exam in Microeconomics is scheduled for Friday, May 12th and consists of 60 multiple-choice questions with 3
free-response questions. It is expected that all enrolled students will take the exam.
COURSE OUTLINE
Unit I-Basic Economic Concepts
A. Scarcity, choice, and opportunity cost
B. Production possibilities curve
C. Comparative advantage, absolute advantage, specialization, and trade
D. Different types of economic systems
E. Property rights and the role of incentives
F. Marginal analysis
Unit II-Supply and Demand, Consumer Choice
A. Supply and demand
a. Market equilibrium
b. Determinants of supply and demand
c. Price and quantity controls
d. Elasticity
i. Price, income, and cross-price elasticities of demand
ii. Price elasticity of supply
e. Consumer surplus, producer surplus, and market efficiency
f. Tax incidence and deadweight loss
B. Theory of consumer choice
a. Total utility and marginal utility
b. Utility maximization: equalizing marginal utility per dollar.
c. Individual and market demand curves
d. Income and substitution effects
Unit III-The Costs of Production
A. Production and costs
a. Production functions: short and long run
b. Marginal product and diminishing returns
c. Short-run costs
d. Long-run costs and economies of scale
e. Cost minimizing input combination
Unit IV-Theory of the Firm
A. Firm behavior and market structure
a. Profit:
i. Accounting versus economic profits
ii. Normal profit
iii. Profit maximization: MR=MC rule
b. Perfect competition
i. Profit maximization
ii. Short-run supply and shutdown decision
iii. Behavior of firms and markets in the short run and in the long run
iv. Efficiency and perfect competition
c. Monopoly
i. Sources of market power
ii. Profit maximization
iii. Inefficiency of monopoly
iv. Price discrimination
v. Natural monopoly
Unit V-Factor Markets
A.
B.
C.
D.
Derived factor demand
Marginal revenue product
Labor market and firms’ hiring of labor
Market distribution of income
Unit VI-Market Failure and the Role of Government
A. Externalities
a. Marginal social benefit and marginal social cost
b. Positive externalities
c. Negative externalities
d. Remedies
B. Public goods
a. Public versus private goods
b. Provision of public goods
C. Public policy to promote competition
a. Antitrust policy
b. Regulation
D. Income distribution
a. Equity
b. Sources of income inequality
GRADING POLICY:
Daily/homework assignments ........................................... 10%
Problem Sets/Study Guides…………………………………10%
Assessments .................................................................... 40%
Semester Project…………………………..………………...15%
Final Exam .......................................................................... 5%
Georgia Milestones Exam (formerly EOCT) ..................... 20%
Total ................................................................................ 100%
TEXTS/READINGS/
INSTRUCTIONAL
MATERIALS:
VIDEOS:
McConnell, Campbell R., and Stanley L. Brue. Economics: Principles, Problems, and
Policies. 17th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2008.
Stone, Gary L, and Margaret A. Ray. Advanced Placement Economics: Microeconomics
Student Resource Manual, 4th ed. New York: Council for Economic Education, 2012.
(The cost of the workbook is $22)
We may occasionally view other curriculum-related movies or movie clips, none of which will
exceed a PG-13 rating. Your signature on this syllabus indicates permission for your student
to view these movies.
MATERIALS NEEDED:
 Pen
 Pencil
 Notebook paper
 Graph paper
 3-ring binder
ATTENDANCE AND MAKE-UP POLICY:
A student who is present and actively participates is more likely to be successful; however, if a student is absent,
he/she has one day for each day of excused absence to make up the work. (For example, a student absent 2 days
would have 2 days to make-up the work.) Students are responsible for asking their teachers for the make-up work. A
student with an unexcused absence may ask for assignments and may choose to complete them in order to keep up
with the class; however, the teacher is under no obligation to grade the work.
If an exam is missed due to an excused absence, it can be made up during the next class period. All missing
quizzes and exams must be made up before May 5, 2017.
LATE WORK POLICY:
Any work that is turned in late will result in a grade of zero. (Late, in this instance, means that work is not received by
the time work is checked in class.) This, of course, does not apply to excused absences (please see the
attendance/make-up policy above regarding these issues). However, if work is turned in late, I will be more than happy
to look over the work to let you know how your understanding of the concepts is coming along.
TARDY POLICY:
To avoid being counted tardy, students must be seated and ready for class when the bell rings. More than 3 tardies =
administrative referral.
EXTRA HELP: If extra help is needed, I will be available during 3rd & 7th periods in room 406.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:
Cheating is considered a serious matter. The parents of a student who has been involved in cheating will be notified
and the student will receive a grade of zero for the test or evaluation period, and a grade of U in conduct.
For this course, cheating is defined as, but is not limited to, the following acts:
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Copying anyone’s answers to questions, exercises, study guides, classwork or homework assignments
Taking any information verbatim from any source, including the Internet, without giving proper credit to the author,
or rearranging the order of words and/or changing some words as written by the author and claiming the work as
his or her own, i.e., plagiarism.
Looking onto another student’s paper during a test or quiz.
Having available any study notes or other test aids during a test or quiz without the teacher's permission.
Collaborating on assignments when independent work is expected.
Students displaying cell phones during tests and/or quizzes will have their cell phones confiscated, and will be
given a zero for that test or quiz.
LASSITER HIGH SCHOOL
CAREER/TECH DEPARTMENT
SPRING
2017
SYLLABUS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
TEACHER:
Kyle Rustay ......................................... COURSE: AP Microeconomics
YOUR SIGNATURE BELOW INDICATES YOUR AGREEMENT WITH THE FOLLOWING:
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I have read and understand the academic integrity policy.
I have reviewed the class syllabus and understand the grading policy.
I give permission for my child to view G, PG or PG13 movies if they are related to the curriculum of the
class.
I give permission for my child to read the class parallel readings noted in the syllabus.
I am willing to be contacted by email.
I have access to the internet and will access the I-Cue parent feature (once it is available) to check on my
child's progress. I understand that teachers will make every effort to post grades within 2 weeks of
accepting the assignment, but that posting of grades for larger papers and projects may extend beyond
the 2 week timeframe.
Student Name: ________________________________ Class Period: _________
(Please print.)
__________________________________________
(Student's Signature)
_______________________________________
(Parent's Signature)
__________________________________________
(Student's E-mail—optional but encouraged)
_______________________________________
(Parent's E-mail—optional but encouraged)
RETURN THIS FORM WITH BOTH SIGNATURES BY January 12, 2017.
Please feel free to contact the instructor if you have any additional questions or concerns.