Free Enterprise Economics Syllabus
Spearfish High School 2007-2008
Danielle Ligtenberg, Instructor
dligtenb@spearfish.k12.sd.us
(605) 717-1212 (W)
(605) 717-3139 (H)
Course Description
This course will examine the United States economy and the students will gain an
understanding of how mixed market economic systems operate. The course will focus on
macroeconomic concepts and international economic concepts. Students will also research
companies, examine market trends, and compete in the BHSU sponsored Stock Market
Game.
Unit 1 Fundamental Economic Concepts
What is Economics? – Chapter 1
Economic Systems and Decision Making – Chapter 2
Business Organizations – Chapter 3
Unit 2 Microeconomics
Demand – Chapter 4, Section 1
Supply – Chapter 5, Section 1
Prices and Decision Making – Chapter 6, Section 1
Unit 4 Macroeconomics: Policies
Economic Performance – Chapter 13
Economic Instability – Chapter 14
The Fed and Monetary Policy – Chapter 15
Achieving Economic Stability – Chapter 16
Unit 5 International and Global Economics
International Trade – Chapter 17
Comparative Economic Systems – Chapter 18
Developing Countries – Chapter 19
Global Economic Challenges – Chapter 20
Materials/Textbook Information
Clayton, Gary E., Ph.D. Economics, Principles and Practices.
McGraw Hill Glencoe: Columbus, OH.
Course Requirements/Performance Descriptors
South Dakota Economics Standards Grades 9-12
9-12.E.1.1. Students are able to compare the characteristics of the world’s
traditional, command, market, and mixed economies.
9-12.E.1.2. Students are able to explain how scarcity and surplus affect the basic
questions of what, how, how much, and for whom to produce.
9-12.E.1.3. Students are able to explain the role of money and the structure of
the banking system of the U.S.
9-12.E.1.4. Students are able to explain the impact of labor and governmental
policies on the economy of the United States.
9-12.E.1.5. Students are able to use graphs to illustrate changes in economic
trends.
9-12.E.1.6. Students are able to explain basic elements of trade and its impact
on the U.S. economy
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Student Performance Objectives and Course Requirements
Daily Assignments: Daily assignments include journal writing, “warm up” activities, map
activities, participation in classroom discussions, and any other work designated as daily
work.
Stock Market Game: The students will break into teams and compete in the Stock
Market Game sponsored by Black Hills State University. The students must complete a
journal entry each class meeting including a news summary, current trade updates, and
plans for next class.
Business Plans: The students will write a business plan to submit to the South Dakota
Banker’s Association competition. The business plan will be assessed as a unit project is
a significant portion of the student’s semester grade.
Exams and Quizzes: For each chapter the students will complete a chapter quiz. For
each unit, the students will complete a unit exam.
Class Procedures and Rules
The rules for my classroom are simple but address a wide range of behaviors.
1. Respect all people and all property.
2. Please be on time and bring your laptop, textbook, paper, and a writing utensil to
class every day.
Laptop and Internet Procedures
The students will use their laptops everyday in class for note taking, quiz completion,
research, and word processing for writing assignments. As soon as students enter the
classroom each student is required to connect to the teacher using SynchronEyes. The
IP address for my computer is 172.16.4.7.
I view the laptop as a learning tool and expect students to refrain from checking
email, surfing the Internet, and playing games during instruction. Students may only
access email, Internet and games when specifically authorized to do so. Violations result
in disciplinary referral.
Homework Procedures
Most assignments are electronic and can be found in the Assignments folder in the
shared drive network. Students are reminded to save those documents to their I-folder
as the shared drive network is not accessible outside of school. Once the assignment is
complete, students must ensure their work is saved to the Turnin folder in the shared
drive network. Students are given class time to save their work to the correct folder.
Assessment Plan
Student assessment will be based on oral quizzes, vocabulary quizzes, and unit exams.
Letter grades for the course are determined by the school wide-grading scale outlined
below:
96-100 A
92-95 A89-91 B+
86-88 B
83-85 B79-82 C+
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76-78 C
73-75 C69-72 D+
65-68 D
60-64 D-
Grade Rounding Policy:
The percent grade as shown is Campus/Parent Portal is the percent is use to determine
the student’s grade for my course. I do not round the percent up or down.
Make Up Work
Work is due on the assigned date at the beginning of class. If you miss an assignment
due to an excused absence you have two class periods to hand in the missing
assignment. Exams and quizzes should be completed prior to known absences. If you
anticipate a class absence please see me in advance and remember—you are
responsible to make sure you are aware of all assignments, due dates, missing notes
and other class information.
State Standards
Upon completion of Economics, students will demonstrate the following State Standards:
http://doe.sd.gov/contentstandards/
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