CURRICULUM
FOR
AP MICROECONOMICS
GRADES 10-12
This curriculum is part of the Educational Program of Studies of the Rahway Public Schools
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
John Perillo, Program Supervisor of Special Subject Areas
The Board acknowledges the following who contributed to the preparation of this curriculum.
Patricia Peloso
Christine H. Salcito, Assistant Superintendent of Schools
Subject/Course Title:
Date of Board Adoptions:
AP Microeconomics
Grades 10-12
June 28, 2016
RAHWAY PUBLIC SCHOOLS CURRICULUM
UNIT OVERVIEW
Content Area: Social Studies
Unit Title: Basic Economic Concept, Supply and Demand, How Markets Work (Ch.1-6)
Target Course/Grade Level: AP Microeconomics, Grades 10-12
Unit Summary: This unit will introduce the ten fundamental principles on which the study of economics is based. We will learn how
economists approach problems and how individuals and countries gain from trade. We will study the theory of comparative advantage and learn
how it explains how people benefit from economic interdependence. We will learn how the market forces of supply and demand make the
economy function by coordinating interdependent economic factors. In addition, the concept of elasticity - the sensitivity of the quantity supplied
and quantity demanded -is studied, as well as the impact of government policies on prices and quantities in markets.
Approximate Length of Unit: 7-9 weeks
Primary interdisciplinary connections: Mathematics, Language Arts, Science
LEARNING TARGETS
Standards:
6.1 U.S. History:
America in the World: All students will acquire the knowledge and skills to think analytically about how past and present interactions of people,
cultures, and the environment shape the American heritage. Such knowledge and skills enable students to make informed decisions that reflect
fundamental rights and core democratic values as productive citizens in local, national, and global communities.
Content Strand:
6.1.12.A.5.a
Assess the impact of governmental efforts to regulate industrial and financial systems in order to provide economic stability.
6.1.12.C.5.a
Analyze the economic practices of corporations and monopolies regarding the production and marketing of goods, and determine
the positive or negative impact.
6.1.12.C.6.b Determine how supply and demand influenced price and output during the Industrial Revolution.
6.1.12.C.9.c
Explain the interdependence of various parts of a market economy.
6.1.12.A.10.c Evaluate the short- and long-term impact of the expanded role of government on economic policy, capitalism, and society.
6.1.12.C.11.a Evaluate the shift in economic resources from the production of domestic to military goods during World War II in terms of
opportunity costs and trade-offs, and analyze the impact of the post-war shift back to domestic production.
Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects
RH11-12.1
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific
details to an understanding of the text as a whole.
RH11-12.2
Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the
relationships among the key details and ideas.
RH11-12.3
Evaluate various explanations for actions or events and determine which explanation best accords with textual evidence,
acknowledging where the text leaves matters uncertain.
RH11-12.9
Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into a coherent understanding of an idea or event, noting
discrepancies among sources.
21st Century Life and Careers
9.1.12.A.5
9.1.12. A.9
9.1.12. B.4
9.2.12.C.4
Analyze how the economic, social, and political conditions of a time period can affect the labor market.
Analyze how personal and cultural values impact spending and other financial decisions.
Analyze how income and spending plans are affected by age, needs, and resources.
Analyze how economic conditions and societal changes influence employment trends and future education.
Unit Understandings
Students will understand that…
 Economics is about the allocation of scarce resources.
 Individuals face trade-offs.
 Markets are a good, but not perfect, way to allocate resources.
 Two simple models -the circular flow and the production possibilities frontier can explain many complex economic concepts.
 Everyone can benefit when people trade with one another.
 Supply and demand together set the price of a good and the quantity supplied.
 Prices play a key role in allocating resources in a market economy.
 Elasticity measures the responsiveness of buyer and sellers to variables such as prices and income.
 The concept of elasticity allows us to make quantitative observations about the impact of changes in supply and demand on equilibrium
prices and quantities.
 Government policies affect price and quantity.
Unit Essential Questions
 What are the principles of how the economy as a whole works?
 What are the elements of a Circular-Flow diagram?
 How is the Production Possibilities Frontier related to opportunity cost?
 How are the concepts of absolute advantage and comparative advantage similar and different?
 How do supply and demand determine the price of a good and the quantity sold?
 What is elasticity?
 How is price elasticity of demand related to revenue and expenditure?
 How do price ceiling s and price floors affect market outcomes?
 How do taxes affect market outcomes?
Knowledge and Skills
Students will know…
 Scarcity, choice, and opportunity cost, incentive.
 Production possibilities frontier.
 Positive and normative economics.
 Comparative advantage, absolute advantage, specialization, and trade.
 Quantity demanded, law of demand, quantity supplied, law of supply, equilibrium.
 Elasticity of demand, total revenue, elasticity of supply.
 Price celling, price floor, tax incidence.
Students will be able to…







Understand the concepts of scarcity, opportunity cost, and marginal analysis.
Learn and use the production possibility frontier and circular flow model.
Participate in a simulation of the circular flow model and use the production possibility frontier to analyze the benefits of voluntary
exchanges.
Learn the assumption and determinants of supply and demand in order to use models of markets for description, analysis, and
predication.
Understand the significance and role of prices in a market economy.
Use concept of elasticities of demand and supply to quantitatively evaluate economic situations.
Evaluate the use of government price controls and the impact of taxes on markets.
EVIDENCE OF LEARNING
Assessment
What evidence will be collected and deemed acceptable to show that students truly “understand”?
 Unit examinations: multiple choice/objective AP-style free response questions, both long and short.
 Deconstruct multiple choice and objective free response questions to assess student understanding and guide further instruction.
 Students will generate, interpret, label, and analyze graphs and matrices in order to describe and demonstrate various concepts.
 Engage in cooperative games and projects.
 Practice AP exam questions.
Learning Activities
What differentiated learning experiences and instruction will enable all students to achieve the desired results?
 Cooperative learning
 Games and competition
 Outside reading
 Test corrections
 Online tutorials (Khan Academy)
 Study groups
 Practice test questions
RESOURCES
Teacher Resources:




Textbook including supplemental resources (Mankiw, N. Gregory. Principles of Microeconomics)
Online videos
Microeconomics AP practice tests
Various economic publications (Wall Street Journal)
Equipment Needed:


Chrome books/lap tops
LCD Projector
RAHWAY PUBLIC SCHOOLS CURRICULUM
UNIT OVERVIEW
Content Area: Social Studies
Unit Title: The Nature and Function of Product Markets, The Economies of the Public Sector (Ch. 7-12)
Target Course/Grade Level: AP Microeconomics, Grades 10-12
Unit Summary: In this unit we will explore why equilibrium of supply and demand is desirable for society as a whole. We will study how the
concepts of consumer and producer surplus explain the efficiency of markets, the costs of taxation, and the benefits of international trade. When
markets are not efficient, governments can sometimes remedy market failure. To fund programs, governments raise revenue through their tax
systems, which are designed with an eye toward balancing efficiency and equity.
Approximate Length of Unit: 7-9 weeks
Primary interdisciplinary connections: Mathematics, Language Arts, Science
LEARNING TARGETS
Standards:
6.1 U.S. History:
America in the World: All students will acquire the knowledge and skills to think analytically about how past and present interactions of people,
cultures, and the environment shape the American heritage. Such knowledge and skills enable students to make informed decisions that reflect
fundamental rights and core democratic values as productive citizens in local, national, and global communities.
6.2 World History/Global Studies:
All students will acquire the knowledge and skills to think analytically and systematically about how past interactions of people, cultures, and the
environment affect issues across time and cultures. Such knowledge and skills enable students to make informed decisions as socially and ethically
responsible world citizens in the 21st century.
Content Strand:
6.1.12.A.5.a
Assess the impact of governmental efforts to regulate industrial and financial systems in order to provide economic stability.
6.1.12.A.6.a
Evaluate the effectiveness of Progressive reforms in preventing unfair business practices and political corruption and in promoting
social justice.
6.1.12.A.15.b Determine the effectiveness of the United States in pursuing national interests while also attempting to address global political,
economic, and social problems.
6.1.12.B.13.a Determine the factors that led to migration from American cities to suburbs in the 1950s and 1960s, and describe how this movement
impacted cities.
6.1.12.B.15.a Evaluate the effectiveness of the United States government’s efforts to provide humanitarian assistance during international natural
disasters and times of crises.
6.1.12.B.16.a Explain why natural resources (i.e., fossil fuels, food, and water) continue to be a source of conflict, and analyze how the United States
and other nations have addressed issues concerning the distribution and sustainability of natural resources.
6.1.12.C.5.a
Analyze the economic practices of corporations and monopolies regarding the production and marketing of goods, and determine the
positive or negative impact of these practices on individuals and the nation and the need for government regulations.
6.2.12.C.5.b Compare and contrast free market capitalism, Western European democratic socialism, and Soviet communism.
Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects:
RH11-12.1
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific
details to an understanding of the text as a whole.
RH11-12.2
Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the
relationships among the key details and ideas.
RH11-12.3
Evaluate various explanations for actions or events and determine which explanation best accords with textual evidence,
acknowledging where the text leaves matters uncertain.
RH11-12.9
Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into a coherent understanding of an idea or event, noting
discrepancies among sources.
21st Century Life and Career Skills:
9.1.12.A.11
9.2.12.A.12
9.1.12.G.1
9.2.12.C.4
Explain the relationship between government programs and service and taxation.
Explain how compulsory government programs provide insurance against some loss of income and benefits to eligible recipients.
Analyze risks and benefits in various financial situations.
Analyze how economic conditions and societal changes influence employment trends and future education.
Unit Understandings
Students will understand that…

There is a link between buyers’ willingness to pay for a good and the demand curve.

There is a link between sellers’ costs of producing a good and the supply curve.

Equilibrium of supply and demand maximizes total surplus in a market.

Taxes reduce consumer and producer surplus and cause deadweight losses.

Tariffs and import quotas effect social welfare.

Externalities can make market outcomes inefficient.

Private solutions to externalities sometimes do not work.

Private markets fail to provide public goods.

There is a trade-off between efficiency and equity in the design of a tax system.
Unit Essential Questions








Do markets produce a desirable allocation of resources, or could the market outcome be improved upon?
What factors determine the size of deadweight loss?
What determines how much of good a country will import or export?
What are the common arguments for restricting trade and do they have merit?
What is an externality?
What public policies aim to solve the problem of externalities?
What are the efficiency costs of taxes?
How can we evaluate the equity of a tax system?
Knowledge and Skills
Students will know…

Welfare economics, producer surplus, consumer surplus, deadweight loss.

Laffer Curve, supply-side economics, free trade.

Externality, Coase theorem.

Free rider, cost-benefit analysis, Tragedy of the Commons.

Budget deficit, budget surplus, tax rate, benefits principle.

Proportional, regressive, progressive taxes.
Students will be able to…

Explain and calculate the value-to-market participants of voluntary exchanges.

Analyze market distortions from taxes, specifically the changes in consumer surplus, producer surplus, and total surplus.

Understand the idea of deadweight loss.

Evaluate consumer surplus and producer surplus in markets that import or export.

Evaluate the deadweight loss from trade restrictions.

Understand utility and the consumer optimization condition.

Analyze external costs and benefits that can occur in markets and private and public solutions to these externalities.

Understand characteristics of public goods, private goods, and common goods and consider implications of these characteristics.

Become familiar with the components of government budgets and evaluate tax policies.

Understand how the distribution of personal income in an economy is measured and discuss issues related to income distribution.
EVIDENCE OF LEARNING
Assessment
What evidence will be collected and deemed acceptable to show that students truly “understand”?

Unit examinations: multiple choice/objective AP-style free response questions, both long and short.

Deconstruct multiple choice and objective free response questions to assess student understanding and guide further instruction.

Students will generate, interpret, label, and analyze graphs and matrices in order to describe and demonstrate various concepts.

Engage in cooperative games and projects.

Practice AP exam questions.
Learning Activities
What differentiated learning experiences and instruction will enable all students to achieve the desired results?

Cooperative learning

Games and competition

Outside reading

Test corrections

Online tutorials (Khan Academy)

Study groups

Practice test questions
RESOURCES
Teacher Resources:




Textbook including supplemental resources (Mankiw, N. Gregory. Principles of Microeconomics)
Online videos
Microeconomics AP practice tests
Various economic publications (Wall Street Journal)
Equipment Needed:


Chrome books/lap tops
LCD Projector
RAHWAY PUBLIC SCHOOLS CURRICULUM
UNIT OVERVIEW
Content Area: Social Studies
Unit Title: Cost of Production, Market Structures, Factor Market (Ch. 13-18)
Target Course/Grade Level: AP Microeconomics/ Grades 10-12
Unit Summary: In this unit we will address the part of economics known as industrial organization - the study of how firms’ decision about
prices and quantities depend on the market condition they face. We will study the costs of production and develop the firm’s cost curves in a
variety of different market structures - competitive, monopolistic, monopolistically competitive, and oligopolistic. Finally, we will apply the
concepts of supply and demand to markets for factors such as labor, capital, and land. Particular attention will be given to the labor market,
especially labor supply, wages and employment determination.
Approximate Length of Unit: 7-9 weeks
Primary interdisciplinary connections: Mathematics, Language Arts, Science
LEARNING TARGETS
Standards:
6.1 U.S. History:
America in the World: All students will acquire the knowledge and skills to think analytically about how past and present interactions of people,
cultures, and the environment shape the American heritage. Such knowledge and skills enable students to make informed decisions that reflect
fundamental rights and core democratic values as productive citizens in local, national, and global communities.
Content Strand:
6.1.12.A.6.a
Evaluate the effectiveness of Progressive reforms in preventing unfair business practices and political corruption and in promoting social
justice.
6.1.12.C.6.b Determine how supply and demand influenced price and output during the Industrial Revolution.
6.1.12.C.6.c
Analyze the impact of money, investment, credit, savings, debt, and financial institutions on the development of the nation and the lives
of individuals.
6.1.12.C.16.a Evaluate the economic, political, and social impact of new and emerging technologies on individuals and nations.
6.1.12.C.16.b Predict the impact of technology on the global workforce and on entrepreneurship.
6.1.12.D.5.a
Analyze government policies and other factors that promoted innovation, entrepreneurship, and industrialization in New Jersey and the
United States.
Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects:
RH11-12.1
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific
details to an understanding of the text as a whole.
RH11-12.2
Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the
relationships among the key details and ideas.
RH11-12.3
Evaluate various explanations for actions or events and determine which explanation best accords with textual evidence,
acknowledging where the text leaves matters uncertain.
RH11-12.9
Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into a coherent understanding of an idea or event, noting
discrepancies among sources.
21st Century Life and Career Skills:
9.1.12.A.3
9.1.12.A.5
9.1.12.A.6
9.1.12.A.13
9.2.12.C.8
Analyze the relationship between various careers and personal earning goals.
Analyze how the economic, social, and political conditions of time period can affect the labor market.
Summarize the financial risks and benefits of entrepreneurship as a career choice
Analyze the impact of the collective bargaining process of benefits, income, and fair labor practice.
Assess the impact of litigation and court decisions on employment laws and practices.
Unit Understandings
Students will understand that…

There is a link between a firm’s production process and its total costs.

Competitive markets decide how much they should produce and have freedom to enter or exit a market.

A firm’s behavior determines a market’s short-run and long-run supply curves.

Monopolies have only one seller and make decisions about what to charge different customers.

Public policies are aimed at solving the problem of monopolies.

Monopolistic competition lies between monopoly and competition.

The change in the supply of one factor of production alters the earning of all the factors.
Unit Essential Questions










What is production function?
What are economies of scale?
What is a perfectly competitive market?
How do monopolies affect society’s well-being?
How does monopolistic competition affect society’s welfare?
What outcomes are possible under oligopoly?
How does labor supply depend on the wage? What other factors affect labor supply?
How are the equilibrium prices and quantiles of other inputs determined?
Why are wages sometimes above their equilibrium value?
What are some of the leading philosophies on the proper role of government in altering the distribution of income?
Knowledge and Skills
Students will know…

Total revenue, total cost, profit.

Diminishing marginal profit, derived demand, economies of scale, diseconomies of scale.

Competitive market, sunk cost.

Monopoly, price discrimination.

Monopolistic competition.

Oligopoly, Nash equilibrium, Game Theory.

Diminishing marginal product, land, labor, capital.

Market distribution of income.
Students will be able to…

Understand a firm’s costs of production and how these costs are shown in the shapes of the cost curves.

Learn characteristics of the categories of competition in markets.

Explain and show graphically how production and pricing decisions are made for firms in each of these market structures.

Analyze how firms behave in the short run and the long run and evaluate markets for productive and allocative efficiency.

Understand how firms determine the quantity of resources to use and what determines resource supply in competitive markets and
imperfectly competitive markets.

Understand how the market determines the distribution of income and the sources of income inequality in a market economy.
EVIDENCE OF LEARNING
Assessment
What evidence will be collected and deemed acceptable to show that students truly “understand”?

Unit examinations: multiple choice/objective AP-style free response questions, both long and short.

Deconstruct multiple choice and objective free response questions to assess student understanding and guide further instruction.

Students will generate, interpret, label, and analyze graphs and matrices in order to describe and demonstrate various concepts.

Engage in cooperative games and projects.

Practice AP exam questions.
Learning Activities
What differentiated learning experiences and instruction will enable all students to achieve the desired results?

Cooperative learning

Games and competition

Outside reading

Test corrections

Online tutorials (Khan Academy)

Study groups

Practice test questions
RESOURCES
Teacher Resources:




Textbook including supplemental resources (Mankiw, N. Gregory. Principles of Microeconomics)
Online videos
Microeconomics AP practice tests
Various economic publications (Wall Street Journal)
Equipment Needed:


Chrome books/lap tops
LCD Projector