Honors Economics
Lake Zurich High School – Mr. Pitcher
Course Syllabus
Is Derrick Rose worth his $18,000,000 a year contract?
What are some good stocks to buy?
Why has our economy fallen apart, and who is to blame?
What will the economy be like a year from now or five years?
What is the national debt and how big of a problem is it?
Is the United States losing its place as a world economic leader?
When is it a good time to travel overseas?
What jobs will be available when I graduate college?
These are just a few of the issues we will research and discuss in Honors Economics. The emphasis of
the course will be on learning economic models, methodology, and theories. And then use them to examine
current issues. This class is modeled after an entry-level college macroeconomics course. Students will be
expected to learn basic economic terminology and concepts, and apply those ideas, as we study current events
relevant to all of our lives, now and in the future. Hopefully this one semester course will be a beginning, not
an end, to economic study for college bound students. This class satisfies the consumer education graduation
requirement.
Evaluation
Semester grades are determined by a percentage of total points possible on a 90-80-70-60 scale.
Homework assignments generally count for 10-20 points and tests 50-70 points.
In true collegiate form, this class will be light on collected homework, but this will place much more
emphasis on test scores, as they will end up being probably 60-70% of your final grade. The final exam will be
worth 20% of your semester grade.
1.
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5.
Intro to Economic Concepts
Economic Systems
Supply and Demand
The Market System
Macroeconomics
Units of Study
6. Money, Banking, and Monetary Policy
7. International Trade
8. Current Issues in Economics
9. Investments
Text:
Economics: Principles in Action, Prentice Hall.
Textbook available online or in the classroom for check out.
On my website there is a link to this website, or you can type in the URL.
You will find very useful practice quizzes and tests, and additional Econ resources from the textbook company.
http://phschool.com/webcodes10/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.gotoWebCode&wcprefix=mnk&wcsuffix=1000
TOPICS TO DISCUSS ABOUT CLASS
1. Procedures
a. Late homework not accepted. No test retakes allowed.
b. Class participation portion of the grade.
c. Tardies
d. Bathroom Passes
e. Courtesy issues – yawning, getting up, a tissue. And iPod’s, Cellphones, work from other classes.
f. Food and Drinks
2. Story of Accenture, U of I grads. Fired for not taking notes, texting. College drop out rate at all time high.
3. Keep all of your econ notes in one notebook. Keep it organized and save it. Take it with you to college. I
guarantee if you take an intro to Econ class in college, all you will have to do is add to the notes.
4. The class is taught like an introductory college class. Therefore I will only randomly collect homework
assignments. A majority of your semester grade will be from tests and quizzes. Also, I will use the
textbook as background reading only. A majority of the “testable” material will be things we do in class. If
you miss a lot of class, you will miss a lot of information.
5. This class can be difficult at first because it is a new way of thinking about things you’ve never thought of
before. And Econ will challenge you to think in a different way. After a few examples and questions, you
will begin over time to slowly understand.
6. Confusion – each unit begins with confusion then concept attainment. World of the abstract & hypothetical.
ONLINE TEXTBOOK INFO
Teacher name: Mr. Pitcher
Class/Group Name: Honors Econ