Grade Level:  11 or 12 High School                    

Subject Area:  Social Studies

Course Number: H456001

Course Title:  AP Macroeconomics

Course Length:  1 semester

Prerequisite:  None

Course Description:

Economics refers generally to the study of how individuals and societies make choices about using limited productive resources to satisfy our wants and needs. AP Macroeconomics will provide students with the tools necessary for understanding and analyzing our economic system as a whole, focusing on such basic macroeconomic concepts as unemployment, inflation, gross domestic product, fiscal policy, and monetary policy. It will also examine the challenges nations face in an increasingly interconnected global economic system. 

This course fulfills the Minnesota State University System's entrance requirements and the Minnesota State High School Graduation Standards in Economics. Students will develop high level test-taking skills and prepare for the Advanced Placement Macroeconomics Examination conducted each May under the auspices of The College Board. Students enrolling in this course should be aware that AP classes are taught and graded at the college level and that requirements significantly exceed the demands and expectations for other college prep classes.

Standards and Benchmarks:

Upon completing the AP Macroeconomics course, students will:

·    understand the principles of economics that apply to an economic system as a whole through the following seven principles of economics:

            ◊ basic economic concepts

            ◊ measurement of economic performance

            ◊ national income and price determination

            ◊ financial sector

            ◊ inflation, unemployment, and stabilization policies

            ◊ economic growth and productivity

            ◊ open economy:  international trade and finance

·    understand aggregate economic activity; the utilization of resources within and across countries; and the critical evaluation of determinants of economic progress and economic decisions made by policy makers

·    generate, interpret, label, and analyze graphs, charts, and data to describe and explain economic concepts

Scope and Sequence:

Either AP Macroeconomics or AP Microeconomics will satisfy the MN state graduation requirement for the study of economics during high school.  As a college-level course, AP Macroeconomics exceeds the requirements of the regular sequence of social sciences courses.

Content-based Instructional Practices:

Apply economic principles to global, regional, and local issues.

Manipulate and analyze tabular data.

Use formal models and graphing techniques in describing and explaining relationships among economic variables.

Compare and contrast differing points of view on economic issues.

Support an economic argument from an informed point of view.

Assessments (on-going, formative and summative):

Students will be evaluated on their mastery of economic content and skills using a variety of methods, including problem sets, critical essays, multiple choice tests, and essay tests. Students may also be asked to complete a project or report drawing on macroeconomic data in analyzing an important aspect of a national economy.

Instructional Materials:

Arnold, Roger A. Economics. Cincinnati: South-Western.

Technology and Internet:

http://minneapolisfed.org/ The website of our local Federal Reserve Bank. An excellent research and reference tool.

http://www.conference-board.org/ The Conference Board is the creator of the Index of Leading Economic Indicators; they track a variety of leading, coincident, and lagging indicators of the US business cycle.

http://www.economist.com/research/Economics/ The economics information and research page at The Economist magazine online.

http://economics.about.com/About_Economics.htm  A nice collection of links and information, ranging from analysis and data to online textbooks and micro/macro explanation.

http://www.economagic.com/ A great collection of time series economic data for macroeconomic research.

Suggested Adaptations for English Language Learner, for Gifted and Talented and for Special Education Students:

An updated version of this curriculum is available online at www.thecenter.spps.org.  Anchor lessons and common assessments for all courses are or will be available online.