Economics

Teacher Page

Purpose

The purpose of this web quest is for students to learn about supply, demand, equilibrium, shortage and surplus. Student's will learn how to graph these items. Also, students will learn the Law of Supply and the Law of Demand, and the effect of price ceilings and price floors. This includes what they are and what they create. For instance, if the price of a product is too high, then supply will exceed the demand, and there will be excess supply or a surplus of goods or services. If the price of a product is too low, then demand will exceed supply, and there will be excess demand or a shortage of goods or services.

Rationale

Students need to learn about supply and demand. Economics is the study of allocating scarce resources. It is a social science concerned wth the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services. Supply and demand are both key to economic activity. Demand is the desire, ability and willingness to buy a product, and supply is the amount that sellers are willing and able to sell at all possible prices that could prevail in a market. Look around you. Everything you consume is influenced by supply and demand and impact prices of consumer goods and services within an economy. Once supply and demand is learned, everything can be looked at differently, and the explanation of occurences in the market place changes.

Learner Description

This web quest was designed for 12th grade Economic students.

Prerequisites

The student should have approximately two hours to complete the quiz, watch the videos, and absorb and learn about supply, demand, equilibrium, shortage and surplus. The students should have access to a computer and be able to get to YouTube. Also, they need a pencil and a copy of the quiz or ability to print the quiz from this website.

Instructional Objectives

Learners will be able to:

Standards Addressed

NATIONAL INDUSTRY STANDARDS ADDRESSED:
Standard 7: Markets

Markets exist when buyers and sellers interact. This interaction determines market price and thereby allocates scarce goods and services. A market exists whenever buyers and sellers exchange goods and services.

• Market prices are determined through the buying and selling decisions made by buyers and sellers.
• The market clearing or equilibrium price for a good or service is the one price at which quantity supplied equals quantity demanded.

Standard 8: The Price System
Prices send signals and provide incentives to buyers and sellers. When supply and demand changes, market prices adjust, affecting incentives

• High prices for a good or service provide incentives for buyers to purchase less of that good or service and for producers to make or sell more of it.
• Lower prices for a good or service provide incentives for buyers to purchase more of that good or service and for producers to make or sell less of it.

Standard 9: The Role of Competition Competition among sellers lowers costs and prices, and encourages producers to produce more of what consumers are willing and able to buy. Competition among buyers increases prices and allocates goods and services to those people who are willing and able to pay the most for the goods or services.

• Competition takes place when there are many buyers and sellers of similar products.
• Competition among sellers results in lower costs and prices, higher product quality, and better customer service.
• Competition among buyers of a product results in higher product prices.
• The level of competition in a market is influenced by the number of buyers and sellers.

Standard 14: Entrepreneurship --From the Clip The Hudson Proxy - A lead in to Standard 14. Entrepreneurs take on the calculated risk of starting new businesses, either by embarking on new ventures similar to existing ones or by introducing new innovations. Entrepreneurial innovation is an important source of economic growth.

• Entrepreneurs are individuals who are willing to take risks, to develop new products, and start new businesses. The recognize opportunities.
• Entrepreneurs are often innovative.

Subject Matter

Students will start with the "Home" page and read and complete the following sections on this website:

1. Home Page: Why economics and supply and demand are so important to learn.

2. Introduction: Explains the Law of Demand and Law of Supply and graphing these important entities.

3. Task: Tells the student what they are going to learn and the tasks to accomplish this.

4. Process: A step-by-step process of what they need to do to understand and graph, supply, demand, equilibrium, shortage and surplus.

5. Evaluation: The rubic that will be used to grade their two hour period, and how the quiz is going to be graded.

6. Conclusion: A wrap up and reflection on what they had learned, and applying their knowledge to the Hudsucker Proxy clip on Hula Hoops.

Assessment