Dan Burger-Lenehan

EDUC 554: Teaching & Learning in Urban Contexts

8/12/16
UBD Curriculum Unit
Class:Economics
Unit:What IsEconomics and Whats It All About?
Grade:12
Classsize:33
Unitlength:5 47-minute periods
Unit Overview:
This unit introduces students to the major concepts and themes in the discipline of
economics, including the idea of scarcity, opportunity cost, marginal analysis, the
distinctions between microeconomics and macroeconomics, economic systems, and
supply and demand. The unit will provide the foundation for all subsequent units in the
semester-long course.
Stage1:DesiredResults
EstablishedGoals:
Meanings
Students
will gain a
Understandings
EssentialQuestions
basic
Students will understand that
Why is scarcity a constant in human
understanding
Economics is the study of
existence?
of the
how scarce resources are used
How should people allocate scarce resources
discipline of
to satisfy unlimited wants and
for unlimited wants and needs?
economics.
needs.
What does it mean to make decisions out of
Students
Scarcity is a constant in
rational self-interest?
will
human existence.
What would make an economy fair and
understand
Humans weigh costs and
just?
that every
benefits when making
choice we
decisions about how to use
make has a
their resources.
cost.
Students
will
understand
Acquisition
that humans
weigh the
Students will know
Students will be skilled at
costs and
What economics is.
Identifying and interrogating their own
benefits of
What scarcity means in an
decisions around how to allocate scarce
their different
economic sense.
resources.
options when
What an opportunity cost is.
Thinking critically about how they and
making
What marginal analysis is.
others weigh costs and benefits when making
decisions.
The distinction between
choices and identifying the opportunity costs
Students
microeconomics and
in those choices.
will
macroeconomics.
understand
The key characteristics of
what supply
market and command
and demand
systems.
are and how
The meanings of supply and
they interact
demand.
to determine
The Laws of Supply and
the price of
Demand.
goods and
services in a
market
economy.
Stage2:Evidence
EvaluativeCriteria

AssessmentEvidence
PerformanceTasks


PerformanceTasks
Participation
Cookie activity and group share

Opportunity cost activity and group share

Demonstrated
Opportunity cost worksheet
understanding
Mock debate on market vs. command system
of ideas being
Online quizzes
taught
Written reflection on marginal analysis
Correctness
of quiz and
worksheet
responses
Criteria
included in
rubric for
written
reflection
assignment
Pre-existing
content
knowledge
and English
language
proficiency

OtherEvidence
Pre-assessment
Do Now on capitalism and communism
Teacher observations

Stage3:LearningActivities
Day

Essential
Questions

Why is scarcity
a constant in
human
existence?

LessonDescription
Introductions:
Students go around and say their names and one thing about
themselves that people wouldnt know just by looking at them
and I do the same. I tell the students my expectations of them
and distribute and briefly review the syllabus.[a]

Resources
Syllabus
ARTstor
image
Preassessment
Cookie

Warm-up activity:
Using my educator access to the ARTstor image database
(through the Philadelphia Museum of Arts Wachovia
Education Resource Center), I project a close-up detail of
Georges Seurats famous Pointillist painting ASunday
AfternoonontheIslandofLaGrandeJatte, showing just one or
two of the many dots in the painting. I ask the students what they
see. They might say splotches of paint or colors. I start to zoom
out and the figures in the painting become visible, until the entire
scene emerges.I ask the class why they think I did this exercise
and what it has to do with economics. The point was to show
that seemingly insignificant, unrelated points, when viewed as a
whole, can form an incredibly complex but coherent picture.
Economics is a discipline that looks at a bunch of little things
individual purchases, the hiring or firing of an employeeand
finds patterns to make a larger picture, to make sense out of it
all.[b]
Pre-assessment:
Students return to their desks.[c]I pass out a short preassessment with questions about level of familiarity with
several key terms (macroeconomics, microeconomics,
opportunity cost, market) and their preferred ways of learning
(reading, listening, visual, moving around).[d]
Activity: Cookie Distribution
I have one large cookie for the class. I would have gotten a
cookie for each of you but I only had enough money on hand for
1. How should I distribute the cookie? In groups, come up with
as many different ways that the cookie could be distributed. For
instance, we could break it up into 33 pieces. Or I could
randomly choose one person to get the whole cookie. Someone
in each group should write down all of your ideas. Lets take 10
minutes to do this.[e]
2

Keyvocabulary(writtenonboardwithdefinitions):
Why is scarcity scarcity

Key

Why is scarcity
a constant in
human
existence?
How should
people allocate
scarce
resources for
unlimited
wants and
needs?

Keyvocabulary(writtenonboardwithdefinitions):
scarcity
resource
economics
microeconomics
macroeconomics

Cookie activity part II:

Students return to their groups for 5 minutes to review the
ideas they came up with and add any new ideas. We then
reconvene as a class. I ask one student to be the scribe for the
class.[f]Each group shares their ideas for how to distribute the
cookie and the scribe records all the ideas on the board. After
all groups have shared, the students vote on which distribution
method they want and I distribute the cookie accordingly.
Debrief:
I ask the class why we did this activity. What was difficult about
it? Are you satisfied with the winning distribution method?
What bigger economic problem might this activity point to?
Lecture:
Following the discussion, I hand out a Key Vocabulary sheet
with the keywords from the unit and space for students to write
their definitions.[g]I then give a short lecture on one of the
basic principles of economics: humans want or need more than
what we have available. This problem is referred to as scarcity.
Economics is broadly concerned with how individuals and
societies use and allocate scarce resources to satisfy unlimited
wants and needs. Because we cant have everything we want all
the time, we make choices by weighing the costs and benefits of
our different options. And every choice we make has a cost. I
also introduce the subfields of micro- and macroeconomics and
explain that we will be exploring both in this class, starting with
macroeconomics[h].
Discussion:
Can anyone give me a real world example of scarcity? What are
some examples of scarce resources? Can a resource be
abundant and scarce at the same time? Is scarcity only a
problem for the poor?
Preview for tomorrow:
Tomorrow well explore further how we make economic
decisions and how we can think about what we dontchoose,
called the opportunity cost.
Homework:
For tomorrow:
Read pp. 1-11 in Krugman and Wells, Economics; watch
https://edpuzzle.com/media/57a924202d0d97a66c504e20(12
minutes); take online quiz

How should
people allocate
scarce
resources for
unlimited
wants and
needs?
What does it
mean to make
decisions out
of rational
self-interest?

Keyvocabulary:
opportunitycost
tradeoff
marginalanalysis
rationalselfinterest
Homework quiz review
Activity: Opportunity Cost
I present a hypothetical scenario: you have an hour free after
school today that you didnt expect to have. With the person
next to you, talk about the various things you might do during
that hour, then each of you pick your 1st and 2nd choice of
things to do. I then ask a different student from the day before
to be the scribe[i]and ask them to draw a T chart on the board
and write Choice at the top of the left column and Cost at
the top of the right column. I then ask for volunteers to share
their 1st and 2nd choices with the class; the scribe writes the 1st
choice under the Choice column and 2nd choice under the Cost

Key
vocabulary sheet
Cookie
Krugman and
Wells,
Economics
Crash Course
Economics #1
video

choice under the Choice column and 2nd choice under the Cost
column.[j]After all the students who want to share have done
so, I ask why peoples 2nd choices are in the Cost column. We
then discuss how these second choices are the opportunity costs
of our first choice: that is, the next best thing we give up when
we make a choice. This is why everything has a costeven when
were not spending any money.
Pair worksheet activity:
I hand out a worksheet with various scenarios of economic
decisions (a company deciding which products to make, a
family deciding how to spend their money, a city manager
deciding how to spend the citys money, etc.). I pair the
students together (from a list Ive already made) and the pairs
do the worksheet, identifying the opportunity cost in each case
and explaining why they chose it. We then reconvene as a class
and review the worksheet.[k]
Lecture:
I give a brief lecture on opportunity cost, marginal analysis (the
weighing of marginal costs and benefits of a given option), and
the concept of rational self-interest when making economic
decisions.
Homework:
For Day 6 (i.e., this coming Monday),
write a 1-2 page (double-spaced) reflection on a time when you
made an economic decision by weighing the costs and benefits.
Identify some of your options and the marginal costs and
benefits of at least two of them, then explain why you chose the
option you did.
4

Why do
societies adopt
economic
systems?
What would
make an
economy fair
and just?

Keyvocabulary:
economicsystem
market
marketsystem
AdamSmith
TheInvisibleHand
commandsystem
KarlMarx
Do Now:
Students take a few minutes to write down what they know
about capitalism and communism. I then ask people to share
some things they wrote.
Lecture:
I give a brief lecture on economic systems with a focus on the
key characteristics of market and command systems. I point out
that most economic systems are not entirely one or the other
but selectively incorporate elements of both.
Mock debate:
Students divide into two groups. They have declared our class a
sovereign nation and must now decide how its economy will be
structured. One group wants a market system and the other
group wants a command system. Each group gets 5 minutes to
outline its vision for how the class economy should be designed
and argue why its proposal should be adopted. We then
reconvene and start the debate, with me as the moderator.[l]
Debrief:
Which side do you think had the stronger argument and why?
Did this activity make you think any differently about why some
countries have adopted command systems? Which system do
you think makes a stronger economy? Which one do you think
makes a fairer economy?
At the end, I say that going forward, we will be focusing on
market systems, since that is what we have in the U.S. and it
allows us to explore how the economy works when its driven by
the decisions of independent producers and consumers.
Tomorrow well look at supply and demand and how they
interact to determine prices.
Homework: watch

Crash
Course
Economics #3:
Economic
Systems video

Homework: watch
https://edpuzzle.com/media/57ad23717f99605a23a2ce89,
take online quiz (note:Ididntaddanonlinequiz)
5

How should
people allocate
scarce
resources for
unlimited
wants and
needs?

Keyvocabulary:
supply
demand
LawofSupply
LawofDemand
equilibrium
shortage
surplus
Homework quiz review
Lecture:
Ill give a brief introduction to supply and demand and the
Laws of Supply (all else equal, as the price of a good rises, the
quantity supplied rises, and as the price falls, the quantity
supplied falls) and Demand (all else equal, as the price of a
good falls, the quantity demanded rises, and as the price rises,
the quantity demanded falls). Ill also draw supply and demand
curves on the board and explain what they represent.

Clip from The

Hudsucker
Proxyon
YouTube
Krugman and
Wells,
Economics
Crash
Course
Economics #4:
Supply and
Demand video

Video:
Clip from TheHudsuckerProxy(1994) illustrating the Laws of
Supply and Demand
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ng3XHPdexNM[m]
Discussion:
What happened in this clip? How does it illustrate the Law of
Demand? Does it also illustrate the Law of Supply? Why or why
not? What do you think will happen to the supply, demand, and
price of hula hoops in the near future?[n]
Lecture Pt. II:
Ill finish the lecture by introducing the concepts of equilibrium
(supply=demand) and show it through the supply and demand
curves (where they intersect). Ill also define shortage and
surplus.
Homework:
Opportunity cost written reflection;
read chs. 2-3 in Krugman and Wells, Economics; watch
https://edpuzzle.com/media/57ad2431138b91b21d2c7bd5,
take online quiz (note:Ididntaddaquiz)

[a]With33students,thiscouldtaketheentire47minuteperiod.Notnecessarilyareasonnot
todoit,butitmeansdroppingsomethingelse.
[b]Thiscouldbeagoodwayofengagingstudents,particularlythosewhoarevisuallearners
orartisticallyinclined.Studentsmayalsobefamiliarwiththepainting,soitcoulddrawontheir
priorknowledge.Italsopresentsafoundationalideaofthedisciplineinanunexpectedway
thatmightresonatewithstudentsmorethanmesimplysayingittothemwould.
[c]Weretheyoutoftheirdesks?Thisseemslikeatypo.
[d]Howlongwouldtheyhaveforthispreassessment?Evenifit'sveryshort,Ishouldprobably
allowatleast10minutessothatstudentswhodon'treadatgradelevelorhavelearning
disabilitiesdon'tfeelrushedordejectedbecausetheydidn'thaveenoughtimetofinishit.
[e]Backtotiming:Idefinitelycouldnotfitthisintotheday1lesson.Bettertopushittoday2
anddevotethatlessontotheactivity,withabriefwrapup/summaryofwhattheactivity
illustratesattheend.
[f]Ithinkthisisagoodstrategyforgivingastudentwhoismoreactiveordistractibleaclear
taskwhereheorshecantakeresponsibility,listentoothers,andperforminfrontoftheclass
inastructuredway.
[g]NeedtobeclearandexplicitwiththestudentsaboutwhatIwantthemtoDOwiththis
handoutratherthanassumingthattheyknowwhattodowithit.
[h]Whystartwithmacroeconomics?(Realanswer:becauseIknewsomethingaboutitwhenI
wrotethiscurriculumunit,asopposedtomicroeconomicswhichIknewverylittleabout.)Were
Iactuallytoteachthisclass,Iwouldneedtoknowbothandsequencethecourseinthemost
sensible,effectiveway.
[i]Again,Ilikethisstrategy.

[j]Whatdoyouwantthestudentstobedoingduringallthis?Listening?Writing?Youneedto
beclearwiththemaboutwhatyouwantthemtodo.
[k]Again,timing:howmuchtimewillthepairshavetodotheworksheet?Andhowmuchtime
wouldyouguessthereviewwouldtake.Itseemslikethewholeactivitycouldtakethefull
classperiod.
[l]Thisseemstoosoonforadebate,bothintheschoolyear(studentsstillgettingtoknow
eachotherandyou)andintheunitstudentsmayhaveahardtimedebatingsomethingthat
theyjustlearnedaboutina"brieflecture."Itwouldbebettertosavethedebateforlaterinthe
termandmakeitaboutatopicthey'vehadtimetolearnandformopinionsabout.
[m]Ilovethisafunvideoclipthatillustratesanimportantprinciple.
[n]Onceagain,whatarestudentsdoingduringthisdiscussion?Listening,takingnotes?Could
thisbeapairshareinstead?