Tuesday, February 08, 2005

February 8

Just a quick warning: this is going to be a long post!
Here goes: Today we did a simulation of the market economy. In the simulation you were able to use "Monopoly money" to purchase candy. The amount of money that you had to bid on the candy varied from student to student. Some students had a lot of money, some were less fortunate. This simulation allowed you to further understand the law of supply and demand. At the end of the simulation you were given an assignment related to the simulation. This assignment is very similar to the factory simulation assignment that you did for me last week. You were given a list of vocabulary words that you have to work into your description of what happened during the simulation. Here's th list of words that should be in the assignment:

  • opportunity
  • open market
  • distribution of wealth
  • scarcity
  • supplier
  • command economy
  • mixed economy
  • market economy
  • captive market
  • producer
  • goods
  • profit
  • individualism
  • resources
  • capital
  • monopoly
  • buyers
  • pooling resources
  • equilibrium
  • pricing
  • consumers
  • law of supply and demand

The good copy of this assignment is due on Friday, February 11th.

In the second part of the class Ms. Holland introduced the three type of presentations that you may choose from to do next week. Here is a brief summary of the three presentation types:

  1. "The Music I Listen To"
  2. "A Verse to Share"
  3. "My Verse"

"The Music I Listen To"

The goal of this option is to persuade Ms. Holland, Mr. Gilchrist and classmates that the music you listen to is poetry. Please make sure that you connect the artist's meaning to your own life!! You must choose a song that you feel represents poetry or has poetic elements. In your presentation you will include the following:

  • the lyrics of the song (save it as a Word document into Mr. Gilchrist's submission folder)
  • a 'taste' that represents the mood of the song
  • a visual/physical object that represents the tone or theme of the song
  • communicate/express to the class what makes this song poetry? how does this song relate to your life? who wrote/performed the song? how does this song represent a verse in the "play of life" (Dead Poet's Society)

"A Verse to Share"

The goal of this option is to share a song that you feels represents poetry, has poetic elements and was written before you were born. The emphasis of this presentation is connecting the song's meaning to the time and place of the artist; what was different/the same to your life today? In your presentation you'll include the following:

  • the lyrics of the song (save it as a Word document into Mr. Gilchrist's submissions folder)
  • communicate/express to the class what makes this song poetry? who wrote/performed this song? how does this song represent a verse in the play of life? in other words, within what broader context does the song belong? what elements of society are important in understanding the meaning?

"My Verse"

The goal of this option is to create your own song. You can write your lyrics and music, or just write lyrics to a song that has none. You must perform this song for the class. Your presentation will include:

  • the lyrics of the song (save it as a Word document into Mr. Gilchrist's submissions folder)
  • include a brief outline of the process that you went through to create your masterpiece

Please refer to the assignment sheet that Ms. Holland gave you for the presentations, especially for the rules and guidelines. You must get approval for any song that you wish to present.

Unfortunately, I didn't have time to give you your Chapter 4 Quiz Study Guide in class today. Here's the study guide for this quiz (it's next Tuesday):

Format:

  1. Matching Section
  2. Multiple Choice Section
  3. Short Answer Section
  4. Fill in the Blanks Section (with a word bank)

Topics:

  • Key Terms
  • Compare the Command Economy, Mixed Economy, Market Economy (How do they answer the basic economic questions?)
  • Karl Marx (Check out this hyperlink on Marx from the Social Studies Web)
  • Adam Smith (To read about this really cool Scottish philosopher and his ideas about the "invisible hand", please check out the hyperlink above)
  • J.K. Galbraith (you'll find a little blurb about this Canadian economist in the textbook on page 49)
  • Law of Supply and Demand (in your textbook from pages 50-52, also from the Social Studies Web)
  • Characteristics of a Market Economy(this is straight from the Social Studies Website)
  • Self-Interest/Freedom of Choice (How does it affect the market/price of goods?)

Here's a list of key terms, key people that will appear on this quiz:

  • Karl Marx
  • Adam Smith
  • J.K. Galbraith
  • factors of production
  • goods
  • capital
  • antitrust laws
  • monopoly
  • "invisible hand"
  • scarcity
  • market economy
  • mixed economy
  • command economy
  • equilibrium
  • law of supply and demand
  • economics
  • individualism
  • private ownership
  • capitalism
  • basic economic questions
  • Wealth of Nations
  • mercantilism
  • marketplace
  • consumers

Here are the upcoming important dates:

  • Chapter 3 Quiz is on Thursday, February 10th
  • Candy Market Simulation Writing Assignment is due Friday, February 11th
  • Presentations (everyone must be ready for Monday, February 14th)
  • Chapter 4 Quiz is on Tuesday, February 15th
  • James Fowler Tour is on February 22nd
  • USA Dictionary Projects are due February 22nd

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