Period 6: What is Economics? Day 3

Three cars in Bogota, Colombia in 2009. The colors of the Colombian flag! 
I wonder if they all have gas tank doors on the same side?

Hi everyone,

Wow, a LOT of talking from me today in class. I hope that it helped you understand what the learning targets to Chapter 1 are, because if it didn't, I'm pretty sure I just bored everyone out of your minds. Let me know how I might be able to improve in the future, if possible!

Soundtrack: “Tell Me What You Want (And I’ll Give You What You Need)” by The Doobie Brothers. Chosen for today because of our looking at how a market economy works, with the "want-satisfaction" chain. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 2/11/13:

Warm Up/LT Check

Chapter 1 PowerPoint

The Story of Stuff

Homework: Read the blog (comment if you have not already), review Chapter 1 learning targets.

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Warm Up/LT Check: Today's warm up (#2) was answering this question - Why do cars have gas tank doors on different sides? 

Lots of good opinions here. Here's the answer to the question, from an economist's perspective: PBS.org - Why Do Cars Have Fuel Doors on Different Sides?

During this time, I went around the room to check and see if students had completed the chapter 1 learning targets. If you did complete this by today, you will get to use a note card on the chapter 1 test. If you did not finish them yet, you will still need to have them done by the notebook check.

Chapter 1 PowerPoint: Wow, again, so long. I would have had the class take a break in the middle if I had known it would take that amount of time to go through. I really appreciated all of the responses, possible examples, and questions! One question that was brought up was the difference between "Opportunity Cost" and "Marginal Cost." Here's a better explanation than what I was able to give in class.

Here is the Chapter 1 PowerPoint to review again for your upcoming test. If you did not complete your learning targets, this contains the answers.

Google Drive: Chapter 1 - What is Economics? PowerPoint

I think this section went well, even if it was really lengthy. Thank you for hanging in there with me!

The Story of Stuff: We made it about halfway through this controversial film. Again, I am not saying that the video is right or wrong. I do think it is an interesting perspective that is worth listening to and discussing. We will come back to this next class. If you missed it, we were able to get to about 9:47 in, and the class is taking notes on the five stages it addresses: Extraction – Production – Distribution – Consumption - Disposal

Here is a link to the video: YouTube.com - The Story of Stuff (2007)

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We will come back to this next class, then begin the Chapter 1 review. Some of you asked when the Chapter 1 test would be. At this rate, it will be next Wednesday (remember that there is no school on Monday).