AP Economics Summer Work
AP Expectations:
This is a college level course for qualified seniors covering both microeconomics and macroeconomics.
Students should understand that this course is a college level course and as a student there are higher
expectations for this course. Students are expected to complete summer work, participate in class on a daily
basis, utilize outside resources to enhance their study of economics, compete in a stock market game, complete
a micro and macro class project, and attend any field trips that we may take.
Objective:
The students will keep a summer portfolio in which they will find a dozen current events that deal with
economic terms that they will be exposed to repeatedly throughout the year-long course and most likely see
on the AP Micro or Macro test.
In addition, they will be asked to interview one person of their choice from a list of professionals (ie banker,
politician) and write a synopsis of how today’s economy has impacted their career. The goal of the summer
work is to expose students to economic issues in the news and to careers impacted by today’s economy.
Finally, students will take a photo of 1 place that they attended that deals with economics (with you in photo)
& write one paragraph on why they took a trip to that particular location and a second paragraph that
describes how the location deals with our economy (ie U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, picture of you on Wall Street
in NYC).
Portfolio:
Portfolio should be a 3-ring binder with plastic sleeves
A portion of the portfolio grade will be counted for neatness & creativity
Part I - Current Events (60 pts.):
Find 12 current events that relate to the following terms/subjects:
For Microeconomics
 Scarcity
 Supply / Demand / Price Ceilings & Floors
 Short Run Production / Average Total Cost / Average Variable Costs
 Elasticity
 Monopoly / Oligopoly
 Tragedy of Commons / Payoff Matrix / Externalities
For Macroeconomics
 Inflation / Unemployment
 Gross Domestic Product
 Aggregate Demand / Aggregate Supply
 Federal Reserve / Federal Funds Rate
 Poverty / Population Issues
 Foreign Exchange Market / International Trade
Print out / cut out your article and place in your 3-ring binder in a plastic sleeve. On the next page, label the
top of the paper with the term/subject from above and write a synopsis of the article and your opinion on the
article (1 paragraph).
Part II – Personal Interview (10 pts.):
You are to interview one professional of your choice (i.e. banker, lawyer, politician, etc.). You will create a list
of questions in regards to their career and how today’s economy has impacted their career. * Please have the
professional sign your questions as verification of your interview.
After the interview, you will write a one-page synopsis of the interview and place this and your signature
verification page in your portfolio.
Part III – Summer Trip (10 pts.):
As you plan your summer and your summer trip, you will take a photo of 1 place that you attended that deals
with economics & write one paragraph on why you took a trip to that particular location and a second
paragraph that describes how the location deals with our economy. You will need to brainstorm your own
ideas for this portion of the project. You must include yourself in the picture.
Grading:
The AP Economics Summer Work will be worth a weighted grade of 30% of your course grade. The Portfolio is
due by Thursday, September 4th. Credit will be worth 80 points towards the 1st nine weeks grading period.