How

Markets Work!
Principles of Economics
9th Grade
9 class periods- 81 minutes each
McKenzie Kelly
19 February 2015

Rationale
______________________________________

The How the Market Works Unit aims to introduce to students the
fundamentals of the labor market. The competencies developed throughout the unit
will give students the foundation and tools to perform proficient economic analyzes.
In this unit, students will be able to explore and depict supply and demand and
investigate how the prices of goods and services are affected by different changes in
the economy, including higher incomes, technological innovation, and changes in
consumer preferences.
The unit will strengthen students ability to critically evaluate. In line with
the developmental needs of students, the unit will present the opportunity for
students to question the systems in which they have become accustomed to and
dissect their underlying contribution to this framework. Students will gain a greater
understanding of how their decisions as consumers affect producers, prices, and the
greater economy.
The How the Market Works comprehensive unit will explore the PA
standards that address how prices are affected by supply and demand and the
competition between buyers and sellers. The unit will uncover the foundations of
demand (including the law of demand, elasticity, and changes in demand) as well as
supply (including the law of supply, changes in supply, and government policies
affecting supply). Furthermore, the unit will address price (in the sense of reaching
a market equilibrium) through the lenses of perfectly competitive, monopolistic
competition, oligopoly, and monopoly market structure. By combining these
understandings, the relevant PA standards will be more than sufficiently explored.
Besides directly addressing state standards, the unit will also help prepare
students for the complex 21st century. Students today will enter a society and
economy full of commonplace structures. With the knowledge and skills established
during the How the Market Works unit, students will be able to evaluate this
structure and critically critique its functionalities. For example, students may
question how much government intervention is needed to regulate the economy,

keeping prices low and production high. Throughout the unit, the social stance and
development of the student will also be addressed. Who does the student want to be
in the 21st century economy? How will this decision affect others? Furthermore,
students will uncover how their stances differ from their peers creating an ever-
present diversity in the marketplace and in their lives. By the conclusion of the unit,
students will have a better sense of why they and their choices matter in the
marketplace.
Developed through an interactive approach, which incorporates reading,
writing, and technology; the How the Market Works Unit is an essential building
block for the entire study of economics and an understanding of the workings of the
entire economy. Students will find that the competencies established during the unit
will resurface repeatedly during the course of their education and professional lives.
Therefore, the unit is an absolutely essential component of the Principles of
Economics course.