1. AGED 570: Teaching H.S. Agricultural Economics
Day 5: Teaching Consumer Economic Concepts

2. Todays agenda Review of Some Key Production Concepts Terms Share Pair
Taste and Preference Activity
Term Activity
Muddiest Concept
General Terminology Discussion
Terms for Tomorrow

3. What is this graph depicting?

4. What is this graph depicting?

5. What is this graph depicting?

6. Terms Share Pair Utility Marginal Rate of Substitution
Inverse Price Ratio
Utility Maximization
Demand Schedule
Substitute Goods
Effective Demand
Demand Curve
Complementary Goods
Goods
Ceteris Paribus
Income Effect
Bads
Substitution Effect
Marginal Utility
Budget
Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility
Budget Constraint
Indifference Curve
Budget Line

7. Utility consumption Activity
Objective: To understand that each individual has tastes and preferences that affect their satisfaction and how consumption of a good affects their level of happiness
Each individual will choose his her favorite song
The song that is the shortest will get to be played
Each individual will rank their enjoyment of the song from 10 to -10 where a 10 means you are in heaven, a zero means you have had enough and one more song will not make you happier, and -10 means you would pay anything not to hear the song again

8. Utility consumption Activity
Note that negative numbers represent willingness to do something to avoid consumption, while positive numbers represent a willingness to consume more of the good
What changed for you after listening to (consuming) the song?
How many individuals had positive numbers, negative numbers, and zero?
If two individuals give the same number, does that mean that they have the same level of happiness?

9. Utility consumption Activity
We will now listen to the song again
What was your ranking of the song on the scale from 10 to -10 after listening to it again?
How many individuals values increased, stay the same, and decreased?
What do we call this change in your happiness?

10. Utility consumption Activity
We will now listen to the song again
What was your ranking of the song on the scale from 10 to -10 after listening to it again?
How many individuals values increased, stay the same, and decreased?

11. Utility consumption Activity
Now we will listen to a song about marginal utility:
Does the song capture the idea of marginal utility?
Is the song somehow misleading regarding marginal utility?

12. Term Activity
Objective: To demonstrate the similarities between the producer concepts and the consumer concepts and test the understanding of the producer and consumer concepts
An individual will be randomly selected
The individual selected will be required to examine the terms on the next page and choose the producer concept that is most similar to the consumer concept
The individual will then choose a different individual in the class for each term

13. Term Activity
Each of the chosen individuals will define the term in her or his own words
If the individual is uncertain the individual has one opportunity to “phone a friend” and one opportunity to ask the group, and one opportunity to ask the instructor
The original individual will then explain how the two terms are related

14. Term Activity Marginal Utility Marginal Rate of Technical Substitution
Marginal Physical Product
Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility
Marginal Rate of Substitution
Utility
Supply Curve
Law of Diminishing Marginal Returns
Indifference Curve
Profit Maximization
Good
Isoquant
Utility Function
Utility Maximization
Output
Input
Budget Line
Iso-Cost Line
Demand Curve
Production Function

15. What kind of examples could you use in your classroom to help students with these concepts?

16. Muddiest Point and Terms Discussion

17. Terms to know for Next Class
Supply
Market Supply
Quantity Supplied
Market Demand
Shift in Supply
Law of Supply
Demand
Quantity Demanded
Law of Demand
Shift in Demand