Rancho Mirage High School

Economics Syllabus
2015-2016
Course/Instructor Information
Instructor: Mario Castillo
Room #:

371

Telephone #:

760-799-2466

E-mail:

mcastillo1@psusd.us

School Address: 31001 Rattler Road

Rancho Mirage, CA 92270
School Phone #: 760-202-6455
School Fax #:

760-202-6603

School Mission
The mission of Rancho Mirage High School is to provide a high-quality,
comprehensive, and meaningful education for all students. Each student will be
expected to succeed within the bounds of their abilities and chosen educational and
career goals. Each student will be treated as an individual, given the tools to be a
lifelong learner, and taught to function as a member of a group and as a productive
and meaningful member of society. Students will be expected to display personal
and social responsibility. In order to achieve these qualities, students will develop
strong communication, critical thinking and interpersonal skills. Students will be
expected to treat all members of the student body and staff with respect, dignity,
and sensitivity. They will also be expected to practice integrity in all endeavors.
Coach Castillos Goals:
My mission as an educator is to guide and mentor students to seek out what their
passion is in life, find out what compels them to learn more, and discover what
makes them eternally curious ? My passion is seeing my students rejoice when they
realize they are unique and have so much to offer the world. As young men and
women on the cusp of adulthood, I take seriously the responsibility imparted upon
me to prepare my students for success in society.
I therefore strive to create a classroom environment that champions and celebrates
student achievement. I will exhibit a relentless focus upon my students
achievements, both academic and extracurricular throughout the year, in order to

augment their desire to continue to pursue success. By recognizing my students

extracurricular achievements, I hope to help nourish their school pride and school
spirit. Projects that promote collaboration are also going to be used throughout the
course in order to prepare students for the collaborative efforts that will be
expected of them in their future careers.

Course Description: This course will prepare students to master fundamental

economic concepts, applying the tools (graphs, statistics, equations) from other
subject areas to the understanding of operations and institutions of economic
systems. Students will study the basic economic principles of micro and
macroeconomics, international economics, comparative economics systems,
measurement and methods. Students will also learn practical economics, in order
to prepare themselves for their eventual entrance into the adult world.

Student Learning Objectives/Outcomes:

Standard 12.1: Students understand common economic terms and concepts
and economic reasoning.
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.
12.1.5: 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: Students analyze the elements of Americas market economy in a

global setting.
12.2.1: Understand the relationship of the concept of incentives to the law of 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: Students analyze the influence of the federal government on the

American economy.
12.3.1: Understand how the role of government in a market economy often includes
providing for national defense, addressing environmental concerns, defining and
enforcing property rights, attempting to make 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 Federal Reserve).
12.4: Students analyze the elements of the U.S. labor market in a global
setting.
12.4.1: Understand the operations of the labor market, including the circumstances
surrounding the establishment of principal American labor unions, procedures that
unions use to gain benefits for their members, the effects of unionization, the mini
mum wage, and unemployment insurance.
12.4.2: Describe the current 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 U.S.
economy.

12.5: Students analyze the aggregate economic behavior of the U.S.

economy.
12.5.1: Distinguish between nominal and real data.
12.5.2: Define, calculate, and explain the significance of an unemployment rate, the
number of new jobs created monthly, an inflation or deflation rate, and a rate of
economic growth.
12.5.3: Distinguish between short-term and long-term interest rates and explain
their relative significance.
12.6: Students analyze issues of international trade and explain how the
U.S. economy affects, and is affected by, economic forces beyond the
United States borders.
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 Western Hemisphere.
12.6.2: Compare the reasons for and the effects of trade restrictions during the
Great Depression compared with present-day arguments among labor, business,
and political leaders over the effects of free trade on the economic and social
interests of various groups of Americans.
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 dollars gaining (or losing) value relative to other
currencies.

Textbooks/Bibliography: Economics: Concepts and Choices, by Holt McDougal

Grading Scale-as adopted by the PSUSD.
A+
97 and above
A
94-96
A90-93
B+
87-89
B
84-86
B80-83
C+
77-79
C
74-76
C70-73
D+
67-69
D
64-66
D60-63
F
59 and below

Final grades are based on overall percentages accumulated throughout the

semester. The final grade is not the average of the two quarter grades.
Credit: Per district policy, students who earn a D- or better will receive five credits
per semester. Those who earn an F will receive no credits.
Late Work: All assignments are due on the day specified by the teacher. Students
must contact the teacher to turn in late work during zero or 7 th period based on
teacher discretion.
-Students who miss class for scheduled school activities must meet the same
deadlines as other students.
Make-Up Work: Make-up work from an absence receives full credit if made up
within two school days after the student returns to class.
-Students with an absence longer than five days are allowed on school day per
absence to make up work for full credit.
-Students are responsible for meeting with the teacher for work missed and the set
times given by the teacher.
Grading: Teachers will update their electronic grade book every two weeks, but
may update it more frequently at their discretion.
-Students are responsible for keeping track of their grades.
Grading Scale: Each teacher will use their discretion to determine the breakdown
within each grading category within their classroom.
Academic Honesty: All students must display academic integrity and do their own
work, cheating/plagiarism will not be tolerated in any form.
-Students who are caught cheating or enabling someone else to cheat will not be
allowed to make-up the assignment and will receive a 0.
-Students caught cheating or contributing to cheating will be subject to the RMHS
discipline policies as spelled out in the student handbook.
Extra Credit: Students are given ample opportunities to achieve success through
the completion of homework, classwork, projects, tests, quizzes, participation and
other activities.
-Any extra credit is at the sole discretion of the teacher who will determine what
type of assignment is appropriate.