Unit 1: An Introduction to Economics

1. Unit 1: An Introduction to Economics Lecture & Discussion 1: What is Economics?

2. Do Now Imagine that it is Friday night. And, your only available free time for the entire weekend is from 6:00 to 11:00 p.m. that evening. You must decide what you will do considering a set of factors and available activities.

3. Do Now • Factors: • You have $40 to spend; • You have an Economics test on Monday; • This is the last football game of the season; • It is your mother’s or father’s birthday; • Someone you like has asked you to dinner and a movie; • One of your favorite bands is playing at a local venue. • Possible Activities: • football game: 3 hours, $5.00 • dinner: 2 hours, $20.00 • movie: 2 hours, $10.00 • concert: 4 hours, $40.00 • study; variable, $0.00 • spend time with family: variable, $0.00

4. Do Now Complete the table.

5. Do Now Now, respond to the prompts. What decisions did you make in regards to how you would spend your time? What constraints did you face when making these decisions? For each decision you made about how to spend your time, what did you give up?

6. Do Now You just experienced the problem of scarcity… having limited resources, such as time and money, to do and have everything that you want. In this lesson, we will explore how scarcity requires individuals, businesses, and societies to make economic decisions that result in tradeoffs.

7. Speaking of Economics Record the following terms. • economics • wants vs. needs • scarcity • factors of production (e.g. land, labor, capital & entrepreneurship) • goods & services (i.e. products) • productivity • trade-offs & opportunity costs • production possibilities frontier (PPF)

8. Essential Question Record and consider possible responses to the essential question. How come you cannot always get what you want?

9. Reading Notes Read Chapter 2.1: Why is What We Want Always Scarce? • Create an illustrated dictionary to define the terms economics, wants & needs. For each entry: • write the term; • define the term in your own words; • create a symbol or icon to represent the term.

10. Reading Notes Read Chapter 2.1: Why is What We Want Always Scarce? • the study of the choices people make to satisfy wants and needs • an item that is desired • something that is necessary for survival

11. Reading Notes Read Chapter 2.1: Why is What We Want Always Scarce? • What is scarcity?

12. Reading Notes Read Chapter 2.1: Why is What We Want Always Scarce? • Create a Venn diagram to compare the terms goods vs. services. Write the definitions and provide three examples for both types of products, which are available on campus here at Heritage High School.

13. Reading Notes goodsservices An action or activity provided to consumers for a fee A physical object that is sold to consumers for use products • textbooks • cafeteria food • Patriots gear • teaching • counseling • college & career planning

14. Reading Notes Read Chapter 2.2: How Do We Satisfy Wants? Create a web diagram that identifies and explains the factors of production (i.e. resources). land land + labor + capital = goods & services resources labor capital

15. Reading Notes Read Chapter 2.2: How Do We Satisfy Wants? What do some economists consider a fourth factor of production? Why might this be the most important in terms of producing goods and services? Explain. Economists consider entrepreneurship to be a fourth factor of production. Entrepreneurs are extremely important, as they combine the land, labor and capital in new ways to produce goods and services.

16. Reading Notes Read Chapter 2.2: How Do We Satisfy Wants? What is productivity? How is it measured? Why is it important in a free market economy? . Productivity is a measure of efficiency with which goods and services are produced, which is important due to the scarcity of resources.

17. Reading Notes Read Chapter 2.3: What Do We Give Up When We Make A Choice? • Record the definitions for the terms trade-off and opportunity cost.

18. Reading Notes Read Chapter 2.3: What Do We Give Up When We Make A Choice? • Now, complete the flow chart by identifying the trade-offs and the opportunity cost of a decision you made in the Preview activity.

19. Reading Notes The Decision The Trade-offs • go to the game • study for the test • spend time with my parents • go out on a date The Opportunity Cost • get a good grade in Economics

20. Reading Notes Read Chapter 2.4: How Can We Measure What We Gain and Lose When Making Choice? • What is the production possibilities frontier (PPF)? The production possibilities frontier (PPF) is an economic model, in the form of a line graph, that shows all the combinations of two goods or services that can be produced with the resources and technology that are currently available.

21. Reading Notes Read Chapter 2.4: How Can We Measure What We Gain and Lose When Making Choice? • Copy the table of data and PPF below for “Guns” & “Butter.” Plot and connect the points A to E on the graph.

22. Reading Notes “Guns” vs. “Butter” Production “Guns” & “Butter” PPF unattainable 900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 A B efficient C “Butter” D underutilization E 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 “Guns”

23. Reading Notes Read Chapter 2.4: How Can We Measure What We Gain and Lose When Making Choice? • What is the trade-off when moving from points B to C on the graph? Opportunity cost? The trade-off when moving from points B to C on the graph is for society to produce 100 less unit of “butter” or consumer goods. The opportunity cost could be the monetary value of the goods or health of the population.

24. Reading Notes Read Chapter 2.4: How Can We Measure What We Gain and Lose When Making Choice? • What is the trade-off when moving from points E to D on the graph? Opportunity cost? The trade-off when moving from points E to D on the graph is for society to produce 10 less units of “guns” or military goods. The opportunity cost could be the monetary value of the goods or national security.

25. Processing Find a photograph of yourself that shows examples of goods and services. Then, respond to the prompts. Identify three to five goods and services in the photo. Which are goods? Which are services? Why? Explain. Now, identify two to three factors of production associated with one of the products. Explain if the resources used in the manufacturing process are examples of land, labor, or capital. Explain.

26. Processing Find a photograph of yourself that shows examples of goods and services. Then, respond to the prompts. Finally, describe where you are, what you are doing, and why you made the choice to be there. Then, identify the trade-offs and the opportunity cost of your decision.