07+Integrating+the+Internet+into+Instruction

Your Name: Kyle Purpura

Lesson Title: The Perfectly Competitive Firm

Introduction: This is a lesson on a type of firm that students must study in AP Economics, the perfectly competitive firm. Students will begin this lesson with a humorous lesson starter from the //Economics of Seinfeld// and then conduct their reading from an on-line book, //Principles of Microeconomics//. Students will then view two instructional videos on the perfectly competitive model (YouTube), and one instructional video posted on VoiceThread. Students are asked to post questions and comments on the VoiceThread video. Once students have posted their VoiceThread comments, they progress to completing the GoogleDocs handout on perfectly competitive firms. Students then play an assessment "game" on the Shmoop website to assess their understanding of the perfectly competitive firm's profit-maximizing rate of output.

Content Area and Grade or Age Level of Students: 11/12 grade; AP Economics

Objectives: (What will the students know or be able to do after completing the lesson?) Students will be able to:
 * 1) Explain what a perfectly competitive firm is.
 * 2) Explain various outcomes of perfectly competitive firms: economic profit, normal profit, loss, and shut-down.
 * 3) Analyze three instructional videos detailing the workings of perfectly competitive firms.
 * 4) Analyze various graphs of perfectly competitive firms.
 * 5) Given details about market structure and costs, determining the perfectly competitive firm's profit-maximizing rate of output.

Standards Addressed:
 * Scarcity - 1. Choices made by individuals, firms, or government officials are constrained by the resources to which they have access.
 * Allocation - 2. Decision-making in small and large firms, labor unions, educational institutions, and not-for-profit organizations has different goals and faces different rules and constraints. These goals, rules, and constraints influence the benefits and costs of those who work with or for those organizations, and, therefore, their behavior.
 * Markets & Prices - 1. Market outcomes depend on the resources available to buyers and sellers, and on government policies.
 * Role of Prices - 1. Demand for a product changes when there is a change in consumers’ incomes, preferences, the prices of related products, or in the number of consumers in a market.
 * Role of Prices - 2. Supply of a product changes when there are changes in either the prices of the productive resources used to make the product, the technology used to make the product, the profit opportunities available to producers from selling other products, or the number of sellers in a market.
 * Role of Prices - 3. Changes in supply or demand cause relative prices to change; in turn, buyers and sellers adjust their purchase and sales decisions.
 * Competition & Market Structure - 2. The level of competition in an industry is affected by the ease with which new producers can enter the industry, and by consumers’ information about the availability, price and quantity of substitute goods and services.

Relative Advantage: The multi-modal aspect of this lesson would be difficult to replicate in a traditional classroom. The videos, the e-book, the VoiceThread, and the assessment game would all be replaced by traditional lecture/discussions and pen-and-paper assessments.

Timeline: 3-4 45-minute periods.

Materials: computer overhead, teacher laptop, student laptops preferable Websites:
 * [|Economics of Seinfeld]
 * [|Perfect Competition] from Principles of Microeconomics
 * [|Perfect Competition] from Kyle Purpura's YouTube channel
 * [|Perfect Competition: firms earning a loss] from Kyle Purpura's YouTube channel
 * [|Perfect Competition: Profit, Loss, and Shutdown] from Kyle Purpura's VoiceThread
 * [|Graphing Perfect Competition] from GoogleDocs
 * [|Supply & Demand Game] from Shmoop

Grouping Strategies: Students will work on this lesson either individually or in groups of 2-3.

Learning Activities:
 * 1) Students will view "The Barber" episode from the [|Economics of Seinfeld]
 * 2) Students will discuss the benefits and/or costs associated with competition in business
 * 3) Students will watch a 10-15 minute in-class demonstration from the teacher about perfectly competitive firms, asking clarifying questions when needed
 * 4) Students will complete the at-home reading, [|Perfect Competition] from Principles of Microeconomics, sections 9.1-9.2, and 9.4
 * 5) Students will view two YouTube videos ([|Perfect Competition] and [|Perfect Competition: firms earning a loss]) either at home or in class, if time permits
 * 6) Students will complete the at-home discussion on [|Perfect Competition: Profit, Loss, and Shutdown] found on VoiceThread; students will be assessed using a [|standard discussion post rubric].
 * 7) Working individually or in small groups, students will complete the handout "Graphing Perfect Competition" and review the answers in class, making corrections as needed. Students earn a completion grade for this assignment.
 * 8) Students will complete the [|quiz-game] on perfectly competitive firms.
 * 9) Students will complete a short, graded [|reflection on their game-quiz] performance.

Assessment: Students will complete the game-quiz on perfectly competitive firms listed in #8 above. Afterwards, students will complete a short, graded reflection of their quiz performance (#9).

Adaptations for Learners with Special Needs: All of my course material is uploaded to my teacher-Moodle site and is available for students to use as needed; this caters to students who need extra time and who may have slower processing speeds. This lesson also caters to both visual and auditory learners.

References:

Council for Economic Education. (2010). //Voluntary national content standards in economics//, 2nd ed. New York, NY: Author

Ghent, L. S., Grant, A., & Lesica, G. (2010). //The economics of seinfeld//. Retrieved from []

Rittenberg, L., & Tregarthen, T. (2009). //Principles of microeconomics// (Web Book), Retrieved from http://www.web-books.com/eLibrary/ON/B0/B63/000Title.html

Shmoop Editorial Team. (2011). //Supply and demand game//. Retrieved July 02, 2011 from http://www.shmoop.com/supply-demand/game