MUIDS Department of Social Sciences

Economics Curriculum Map: Academic Year 2015-2016

Introduction: Economics is an elective course offered by the Department of Social Sciences to students in Grades 10 and 11. The course combines an
introduction to economic theory with real world case studies and skill development. Emphasis is placed on developing the skills necessary to succeed in
any career, but in the field of business and investment in particular. The course is designed with four quarterly units: Microeconomics, Marketing &
Firms, Investment & Finance, and Macroeconomics. This document contains the Standards, Benchmarks, MUIDS Expected School-wide Learner
Outcomes (ESLOs) and Language Functions, as well as a breakdown of each unit containing Essential Questions and Essential Understandings, Content
and Skills, Culminating Assessments and Resources, and has employed an Understanding by Design or Backward Design model.
Course Instructor: Daniel Simonds
Standards:

Benchmarks:

ESLOs

Language Functions

California: Principles of Economics:

California: Principles of
Economics:

Strategic Learners:

Expressive:

-Identify what we need to know

and make plans to learn
- Manage time well
- Use a variety of resource to learn
- Reflect on own learning and learn
from mistakes
- Use technology to learn, research,
and work

- Expressing, clarifying, or arranging ones ideas,

thoughts or feelings (ability, wishes/hopes, fear/worry,
likes/dislikes, surprise/disbelief,
satisfaction/dissatisfaction)
- Expressing modality (possibility, certainty,
necessity/needs, wants, obligation)

Innovative Thinkers:

-Evaluating, judging, ranking

-Appreciating and criticizing
-Forming, expressing, and justifying preferences and
opinions
-Recommending
-Understanding, analyzing, and deciding on goals,
values, policies, and evaluation criteria

12.1 Students understand common economic

terms and concepts and economic reasoning.
12.2 Students analyze the elements of various
Asian economies in a global setting.
12.3 Students analyze the influence of the
government policy on various economies.
12.4 Students analyze the elements of labor
markets in a global setting
12.5 Students analyze the aggregate economic
behavior of various economies
12.6 Students analyze issues of international
trade and explain how various economies
affect, and are affected by, economic forces
beyond their borders.

Basic Education Core Curriculum B.E.

2551 (Thailand):
SO3.1- Understanding and ability of managing
resources for production and consumption;
efficient and cost-effective utilization of

12.1.1- Examine the causal

relationship between scarcity and the
need for choices.
12.1.2- Explain opportunity cost and
marginal benefit and marginal cost.
12.1.3- Identify the difference
between monetary and nonmonetary
incentives and how changes in
incentives cause changes in behavior.
12.1.4- Evaluate the role of private
property as an incentive in conserving
and improving scarce resources,
including renewable and
nonrenewable natural resources.
12.15- Analyze the role of a market
economy in establishing and
preserving political and personal
liberty (e.g., through the works of
Adam Smith).
12.2.1- Understand the relationship of
the concept of incentives to the law of

- Build on the ideas, explanation,

and reasons of others
- Perform critical thinking
- Create original work
- Use technology to create products
of high quality

Evaluation:

Description:
Articulate Communicators:
- Listen for different purposes with

-Reporting, identifying, and observing

-Naming

MUIDS Department of Social Sciences

Economics Curriculum Map: Academic Year 2015-2016
limited resources available; and understanding
the principles of Sufficiency Economy for
leading a balanced life.
SO3.2- Understanding of various economic
systems and institution; the economic relations;
and the necessity for economic cooperation in
the world community

Literacy Standards Grades 11 12:

Reading:
1. Cite specific textual evidence to support
analysis of primary and secondary sources,
connecting insights gained from specific
details to an understanding of the text as a
whole.
2. Determine the central ideas or information
of a primary or secondary source; provide an
accurate summary that makes clear the
relationships among the key details and ideas.
3. Evaluate various explanations for actions or
events and determine which explanation best
accords with textual evidence, acknowledging
where the text leaves matters uncertain.
4. Determine the meaning of words and
phrases as they are used in a text, including
analyzing how an author uses and refines the
meaning of a key term over the course of a
text.
5. Analyze in detail how a complex primary
source is structured, including how key
sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of
the text contribute to the whole.
6. Evaluate authors differing points of view on
the same historical event or issue by assessing
the authors claims, reasoning, and evidence.
7. Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of
information presented in diverse formats and
media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as
in words) in order to address a question or

supply and the relationship of the

concept of incentives and substitutes
to the law of demand.
12.2.2- Discuss the effects of changes
in supply and/or demand on the
relative scarcity, price, and quantity
of particular products.
12.2.3- Explain the roles of property
rights, competition, and profit in a
market economy.
12.2.4- Explain how prices reflect the
relative scarcity of goods and services
and perform the allocative function in
a market economy.
12.2.5- Understand the process by
which competition among buyers and
sellers determines a market price.
12.2.6- Describe the effect of price
controls on buyers and sellers.
12.2.7- Analyze how domestic and
international competition in a market
economy affects goods and services
produced and the quality, quantity,
and price of those products.
12.2.8- Explain the role of profit as
the incentive to entrepreneurs in a
market economy.
12.2.9- Describe the functions of the
financial markets.
12.2.10- Discuss the economic
principles that guide the location of
agricultural production and industry
and the spatial distribution of
transportation and retail facilities.
12.3.1- Understand how the role of
government in various economies
often includes providing for national
defense, addressing environmental
concerns, defining and enforcing
property rights, attempting to make

critical understanding
- Speak and respond appropriately
to the social and academic context
- Use reading strategies to read for
different purposes
- Use writing process and strategies
to write for different purposes and
audiences
- Use technology and media to
share and communicate effectively

-Comparing or contrasting things

-Describing

Morally Intelligent Persons:

Sequence:

- Display moral, ethical, and civil

behavior
- Display a strong work ethics and
charity for all
- Utilize technology in an ethical
way

-Sequencing objects, ideas, or events

-Recounting
-Narrating
-Relaying steps in a process

Altruistic Global Citizens:

- Display civic responsibility
- Demonstrate cultural sensitivity
and respect for differences
- Show concern and responsibility
for the well-being of the
community
- Use technology for community
services

Leaders for the Future:

- Use leadership and team building
skills to achieve in diverse
situations
- Use common objectives for
group work

Directive:
-Attempting to influence the actions of others
(advice/suggestions, requests/ offers, persuasion,
commands, corrections, approval/disapproval)
-Questioning/inquiring
-Giving directions, instructing

Classification:
-Understanding, applying, or developing concepts,
definitions, and classifications
-Using operational definitions

Choice:
-Making decisions
-Negotiating and arguing
-Expressing and inquiring about intentions
-Expressing personal opinions

Principles:
-Explaining
-Predicting
-Interpreting data, inferring and drawing conclusions
-Formulating, testing, and establishing hypotheses

MUIDS Department of Social Sciences

Economics Curriculum Map: Academic Year 2015-2016
solve a problem.
8. Evaluate an authors premises, claims, and
evidence by corroborating or challenging them
with other information.
9. Integrate information from diverse sources,
both primary and secondary, into a coherent
understanding of an idea or event, noting
discrepancies among sources.
10. By the end of grade 12, read and
comprehend history/social studies texts in the
grades 1112 text complexity band
independently and proficiently.
Writing:
1. Write arguments focused on disciplinespecific content.
a. Introduce precise, knowledgeable claim(s),
establish the significance of the claim(s),
distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or
opposing claims, and create an organization
that logically sequences the claim(s),
counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.
b. Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly
and thoroughly, supplying the most relevant
data and evidence for each while pointing out
the strengths and limitations of both claim(s)
and counterclaims in a discipline-appropriate
form that anticipates the audiences knowledge
level, concerns, values, and possible biases.
c. Use words, phrases, and clauses as well as
varied syntax to link the major sections of the
text, create cohesion, and clarify the
relationships between claim(s) and reasons,
between reasons and evidence, and between
claim(s) and counterclaims.
d. Establish and maintain a formal style and
objective tone while attending to the norms and
conventions of the discipline in which they are
writing.

markets more competitive, and

protecting consumers rights.
12.3.2- Identify the factors that may
cause the costs of government actions
to outweigh the benefits.
12.3.3- Describe the aims of
government fiscal policies (taxation,
borrowing, spending) and their
influence on production, employment,
and price levels.
12.3.4- Understand the aims and tools
of monetary policy and their
influence on economic activity (e.g.,
the World Bank).
12.4.1- Understand the operations of
the labor market, including the
circumstances surrounding the
establishment of principal labor
unions, procedures that unions use to
gain benefits for their members, the
effects of unionization, the minimum
wage, and unemployment insurance.
12.4.2- Describe the current ASEAN
economy and labor market, including
the types of goods and services
produced, the types of skills workers
need, the effects of rapid
technological change, and the impact
of international competition.
12.4.3- Discuss wage differences
among jobs and professions, using the
laws of demand and supply and the
concept of productivity.
12.4.4- Explain the effects of
international mobility of capital and
labor on the ASEAN economy.
12.5.1- Distinguish between nominal
and real data.
12.5.2- Define, calculate, and explain
the significance of an unemployment

- Use appropriate strategies to

work through conflicts and accept
group decisions
- Evaluate own and others
contributions and provides helpful
feedback
- Apply technology effectively to
solve problems and complete tasks

-Understanding, applying, or developing

generalizations (causes/effects, means/ends, rules,
strategies, results, analysis, synthesis)
-Summarizing
-Paraphrasing

Imaginative:
-Solving problems / mysteries

MUIDS Department of Social Sciences

Economics Curriculum Map: Academic Year 2015-2016
e. Provide a concluding statement or section
that follows from or supports the argument
presented.
2. Write informative/explanatory texts,
including the narration of historical events,
scientific procedures / experiments, or
technical processes.
a. Introduce a topic and organize complex
ideas, concepts, and information so that each
new element builds on that which precedes it to
create a unified whole; include formatting
(e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables),
and multimedia when useful to aiding
comprehension.
b. Develop the topic thoroughly by selecting
the most significant and relevant facts,
extended definitions, concrete details,
quotations, or other information and examples
appropriate to the audiences knowledge of the
topic.
c. Use varied transitions and sentence
structures to link the major sections of the text,
create cohesion, and clarify the relationships
among complex ideas and concepts.
d. Use precise language, domain-specific
vocabulary and techniques such as metaphor,
simile, and analogy to manage the complexity
of the topic; convey a knowledgeable stance in
a style that responds to the discipline and
context as well as to the expertise of likely
readers.
e. Provide a concluding statement or section
that follows from and supports the information
or explanation provided (e.g., articulating
implications or the significance of the topic).
3. (See note; not applicable as a separate
requirement)

rate, the number of new jobs created

monthly, an inflation or deflation rate,
and a rate of economic growth.
12.5.3- Distinguish between shortterm and long-term interest rates and
explain their relative significance.
12.6.1- Identify the gains in
consumption and production
efficiency from trade, with emphasis
on the main products and changing
geographic patterns of twentiethcentury trade among countries in the
Eastern Hemisphere.
12.6.3- Understand the changing role
of international political borders and
territorial sovereignty in a global
economy.
12.6.4- Explain foreign exchange, the
manner in which exchange rates are
determined, and the effects of the
bahts gaining (or losing) value
relative to other currencies.

Basic Education Core

Curriculum B.E. 2551
(Thailand):
SO3.1.1- Discuss about the fixing of
prices and wages in the economic
system
SO3.1.2- Realize the importance of
the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy
to the socioeconomic system of the
country [Thailand].
SO3.1.3- Realize the importance of
the cooperative system to economic
development at community and
national levels.
SO3.1.4- Analyze economic problems
of the community and propose the

MUIDS Department of Social Sciences

Economics Curriculum Map: Academic Year 2015-2016
4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which
the development, organization, and style are
appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
5. Develop and strengthen writing as needed by
planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying
a new approach, focusing on addressing what
is most significant for a specific purpose and
audience.

remedial guidelines.
SO3.2.1- Explain governments role
concerning financial and local
policies in national economic
development.
SO3.2.3- Analyze the advantages and
disadvantages of international
economic cooperation in various
forms.

6. Use technology, including the Internet, to

produce, publish, and update individual or
shared writing products in response to ongoing
feedback, including new arguments or
information.
7. Conduct short as well as more sustained
research projects to answer a question
(including a self-generated question) or solve a
problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when
appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the
subject, demonstrating understanding of the
subject under investigation.

Understanding by Design:
Step 1: Identify learning outcomes
Step 2: Determine acceptable evidence of learning
Step 3: Plan learning experiences and instruction

MUIDS Department of Social Sciences

Economics Curriculum Map: Academic Year 2015-2016
Unit Title

Unit 1:
Microeconomics
10 weeks

Essential
Understandings
-The concept of
scarcity affects the
distribution of all
goods and services.
-The fundamental
questions of
economics are:
What goods and
services will be
produced?
How should they be
produced?

Essential
Questions
-What is
economics?
-How does
something acquire
a value?
How does the
concept of scarcity
affect all economic
decisions?

Who should receive

those goods and
services that are
produced?

How is the concept

of price used as a
means of
communication
between producers
and consumers?

Opportunity Cost
affects the decisions
of both producers and
consumers.

Will supply and

demand naturally
move toward
equilibrium?

Content/Skills

Culminating Assessment(s)

Resources

Content:

Design a Personal Budget:

Print and electronic resources:

Scarcity, Resources,
Supply, Demand,
Producers, Consumers,
Wants and Needs, Price
Level, Supply and
Demand Curve,
Equilibrium, Markets,
Market Economy,
Opportunity Cost, Budget,
Value, Wealth,
Production, Consumption,
Production Possibilities
Curve.

Students will make a list of the things

they value most in lives. They will be
assigned a fictional study abroad
scenario with limited economic
resources. Students must use their
resources to create a personal budget
based on their limited resources and
their own unique wants and needs.

The Economics Book-

Skills:

Students will identify the necessary

components for creating a travel
budget. They will produce a basic
itinerary for a school trip in the form of
a spreadsheet. Students will apply
economic understandings to weigh the
pros and cons of each decision. They
will articulate their plan using basic
conventions of written and spoken
English, and defend their decisions by
applying the basic principles of
budgeting.

-observation and
inference from data
-microeconomic
budgeting
-presenting ideas in
compelling writing and
speech
-translating between
mathematical models and
observed economic
phenomena
-create and interpret a
chart

Design and Budget a School

Trip:

-Measuring Wealth (pg.36-37)

-Utility and Satisfaction (pg.114115)
-Labor Theory of Value (pg.106107)
-Elasticity of Demand (pg.124-125)
-Definitions of Economics (pg.171)
-Opportunity Cost (pg.133)
-Economic Man (pg.52-53)
-Spending Paradoxes (pg.116-117)
-Supply and Demand (pg.110-113)
-Paradox of Value (pg.63)

Video Resources:
- Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Economic Education Video Series
Episode 1: Supply
- Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Economic Education Video Series
Episode 2: Demand
- Council for Economic Education
Virtual Economics Video Series:
Aggregate Demand & Aggregate
Supply

MUIDS Department of Social Sciences

Economics Curriculum Map: Academic Year 2015-2016
Unit Title

Essential
Understandings

Essential
Questions

Content/Skills
Content:

Unit 2: Marketing -That the factors of

production are labor
and Firms
forces, natural
resources, capital
10 weeks
resources, and
entrepreneurship
-The principles of
economics in a
mixed market
system are free
enterprise, private
property, the profit
motive, consumer
sovereignty, and
competition
-The principles of
economics are
ideals and are not
always found in the
market place.

-How are
economic
resources
distributed?
-How much should
something cost and
who decides?
-What impact does
scarcity have on
the production and
distribution of
goods and
services?
How do firms
operate based on
incentives? Who
has a role in
creating and / or
modifying these
incentives?
What are the
necessary skills
inherent in a
successful
entrepreneur?

Factors of Production:
Land, Labor,
Entrepreneurship, Capital,
Sole-Proprietorship,
Partnership, Corporation,
Liability, Joint stock
companies, Public
companies, Laissez-Faire,
the Invisible Hand,
collusion, cartels,
monopolies, competition,
supply and demand,
factory system,
specialization, incentives,
assets, liabilities, equity,
balance sheet, income,
expenses, profits, taxes,
income statement

Skills:
-logical thought used in
solving problems
-observation and
inference from data
-presenting ideas in
compelling writing and
speech
-designing a business plan
-planning for an reacting
to unforeseen events
-translating between
mathematical models and
observed economic
phenomena

Culminating Assessment(s)
Restaurant Supply and Demand
Simulation:
Students will take the role of
entrepreneur and producer to create a
restaurant for the new school cafeteria.
Students will design three dishes to
offer, calculate the production costs
using real market data, create prices
and market their restaurant to
classmates. Through a supply and
demand simulation, student businesses
may need to modify their plans.

Creating and Marketing a

Business to Shareholders:
Students will identify and understand
the common underlying features
inherent across business models.
Students will extend their
understanding through the creation of a
business using the Virtonomics online
business simulator. Students will plan
and develop various aspects of their
business model, and adapt to the
effects of a simulated real-world
economy in real time. Students will
present their business in the form of
Quarterly Reports to shareholders
using spoken English with the aid of
visual representations. Based on the
recommendations of classmates,
students will continually develop their
business.

Resources
The Economics Book:
-Public Companies (pg.38)
-Free-market Economics (pg.56-59)
-Cartels and Collusion (pg.70-71)
-Effects of Limited Competition
(pg.90-91)
-Monopolies (pg.94-97)
-Economic Equilibrium (pg.120123)
-Competitive Markets (pg.126-129)
-Economics of Scale (pg.132)
-Corporate Governance (pg.168169)
-Price Discrimination (pg.180-181)
-Efficient Markets (pg.272)
-Incentives and Wages (pg.302)

Video Resources:
-Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Economic Education Video Series
Episode 3: Equilibrium
- Council for Economic Education
Virtual Economics Video Series:
Competition and Market Structure
Online Resources:
- Virtonomics Online Business
Simulation
- University of Illinois Business
School Online: Introduction to
Business and the Stock Market

MUIDS Department of Social Sciences

Economics Curriculum Map: Academic Year 2015-2016
Unit Title

Unit 3:
Investment and
Finance
10 weeks

Essential
Understandings

Essential
Questions

-The leader of a
company must
understand market
conditions, the factors
of production and
developments in both
the economy, the
industry and patterns
of consumption.

-How are economic

resources
distributed?

-The origin and

purpose of joint stock
companies and the
sale of equities
(stocks)

-What is the role of

investment in
determining an
individuals
financial future?

-The main variables

that cause the value
of individual stocks
to rise and fall.

Do stocks have a
real intrinsic
value? How can we
know?

-The philosophical
and functional
differences between
fundamental
analysis and
technical analysis.

-What determines
the value of a stock?
What causes its
value to rise and
fall?

Content/Skills

Content:
Stocks, bonds, securities,
exchanges, public
companies, initial public
offering (IPO), intrinsic
value, stock charts (how
to read a stock chart),
fundamental analysis
(various fundamental
indicators), quantitative
analysis, qualitative
analysis, technical
analysis, candlestick
chart, trends, Technical
Indicators - Bollinger
Bands, MACD, Relative
Strength Index (RSI),
Moving Average, types of
orders (stop, limit,
market, trailing stop)

Skills:
-Reading and interpreting
a variety of data
-creating a coherent and
personalized investment
strategy
-logical thought used in
solving problems
-observation and
inference from data
-presenting ideas in
compelling writing and
speech

Culminating Assessment(s)

Virtonomics Final Annual

Report:

Resources

The Economics Book:

-Functions of Money (pg.24-25)

Students will create a final annual

report after one (virtual) year of
business operations, outlining their
successes, failures and plans for the
future. Students will incorporate
many of the skills from the
previous unit such as creating a
balance sheet and income statement
and calculating equity values and
stock price. Students will present
using a variety of integrated media.

Stock Market Game (ongoing):

Quarterly reporting: Students will
maintain and present regular
reports for their stock portfolio,
based on simulated investment in
real equities markets. Portfolios
will contain reflections regarding
any changes in purchases, sales,
and speculation for future change.
Personal Investment Philosophy:
Students will also outline and
constantly revise and update their
personal investment philosophy
and vision for the future.

-Financial Services (pg.26-29)

-Financial Engineering (pg.262-265)
-Financial Crises (pg.298-301)
-Risk and Uncertainty (pg.162-163)

Video Resources:
-Council for Economic Education
Virtual Economics Video Series:
Economic Systems; Financial
Markets; and Saving and Investing

Online Resources:
- Investopedia Online
- Investopedia Stock Simulator
- NASDAQ Trading Page
- Yahoo Finance

MUIDS Department of Social Sciences

Economics Curriculum Map: Academic Year 2015-2016
Unit Title

Unit 4:
Macroeconomics
10 weeks

Essential
Understandings
-That financial
market can be
regulated by the
government in
varying styles and
degrees.
-That regulatory
organization restrict
and monitor aspects
of the economy.
-The consumer,
business, and
government sectors
exercise influence
over each other
through the circular
flow.
-Decisions
concerning the
allocation and use of
economic resources
impact individuals
and groups.
-Local, national, and
international
relationships are
affected by economic
transactions.

Essential
Questions
-Should government
regulate business or
be its partner?
-What goods and
services should
government
provide? Who
should pay for
them? Who should
benefit from them?
Who should decide?
-What effect does
the economy have
on society?

Content/Skills
Content:
Central Government,
regulation, Central Bank,
Federal Reserve,
Monetary Policy (reserve
requirements, open
market operations,
discount rate, federal
funds rate, interest rates)
credit, credit creation,
circular flow, Fiscal
Policy (taxation,
spending, borrowing,
deficit spending),
consumer confidence,
inflation, unemployment,
aggregate supply,
aggregate demand, GDP,
GNP, Trade (absolute and
comparative advantage),
HPI, globalization

-How does trade

effect local, national,
and international
relationships?
Skills:
-What are the
advantages and
disadvantages of the
market system?

-logical thought used in

solving problems
-observation and
inference from data
-Measure and evaluate
well-being
-translate between
mathematical models and
observed economic
phenomena
-evaluate the role of past
economic interventions
and design economic
policy

Culminating Assessment(s)

Resources

Stock Market Game (ongoing):

The Economics Book:

Quarterly reporting: Students will

present their final stock portfolio,
based on simulated investment in
real equities markets. Portfolios
will contain reflections regarding
any changes in purchases, sales,
and speculation for future change.

-Bank Runs (pg.318-321)

-Tax Burden (pg.64-65)
-Borrowing and Debt (pg.76-77)
-Monetarist Policy (pg.198-201)
-Inflation and Unemployment
(pg.202-203)
-Taxation and Economic Incentives
(pg.270-271)
-Independent Central Banks
(pg.276-277)
-Economics and the Environment
(pg.306-309)
-Efficiency and Fairness (pg.130131)
-Provision of Public Goods and
Services (pg.46-47)

Personal Investment Philosophy:

Students will also present a final
personal investment philosophy
and vision for the future.
National Economy Evaluation:
Students will choose a national
economy and apply their economic
knowledge to understand the
historical context of the nations
current economic condition. Based
on their findings, students will
create a panel of social activists,
business leaders and government
leaders to create a plan that will
help ensure the nations economic
future.

Video Resources:
- Council for Economic Education
Virtual Economics Video Series:
Monetary Policy and the Federal
Reserve; Fiscal Policy; Employment
and Unemployment
- Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Economic Education Video Series
Episode 6: Circular Flow
- Council for Economic Education
Virtual Economics Video Series:
Business cycles; Inflation; Real vs.
Nominal

MUIDS Department of Social Sciences

Economics Curriculum Map: Academic Year 2015-2016