Day 3

Spring Arbor University School of Education

Lesson Plan Guide: Direct Instruction
Title: Elasticity and Inelasticity of Demand
Subject: Economics
Grade Level: 11th Grade

Time Allotted: 50 Minutes

Materials Required: Worksheet on Elasticity, Quiz, Jeans, Sweatpants, Pillow

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Michigan Curriculum framework: Benchmark and/or GLCE/HSCE/EGLCE (write out)
1.3.3 Price, Equilibrium, Elasticity, and Incentives Analyze how prices change through the
interaction of buyers and sellers in a market including the role of supply, demand, equilibrium, elasticity,
and explain how incentives (monetary and non-monetary) affect choices of households and economic
organizations.
Objective(s): A portion of a GLCE or HSCE stated in terms of Blooms taxonomy (level/verb)
7. Define elasticity of demand
8. Identify the difference between elastic and inelastic demand
Purpose: The purpose of this lesson is to understand the concepts of elasticity and inelasticity of demand.
Also, students will understand the difference between substitutes and compliments.
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Instructional Procedure: What information do students need to accomplish the objective?
1. State Purpose and Objective of Lesson:
a. The students will learn what elasticity and inelasticity of demand is.
b. The students will learn the difference between substitutes and compliments and be able to
distinguish between them and why they impact demand.
2. Differentiation Considerations:
a. I have appealed to all learning types through this lesson.
b. The special needs students will do the even numbered questions.
3. Instructional Input:
a. Anticipatory set:

i. Review terms from day 1; day 2 - introduce stretchy things

ii. Read article on Superbowl as a class and discuss the ideas of elasticity
in something they can relate.
*This is a good way to get students interested and I believe it is a
helpful way to explain how the Superbowl tickets are an elastic good
for most. Reading it as a class, it is necessary to stop every once in a
while and have a student explain what was just read.
b. Concept: elasticity & inelasticity (20 Minutes)

SOE Faculty, 2/26/10

Day 3
i. Jeans
1. How many people can fit into this pair of jeans?
ii. Sweat pants
1. Teacher wears and then fills with pillows and stuff animals.
c. Homework: Page 81 Worksheet on Elasticity (10 Minutes)
d. If Time, Review for Quiz. Have students look over their notes or quiz each other.
e. Quiz
i. 10 min independent 10 min use notes
4. Closure:
a. Give a quiz about all concepts of demand. (20 Minutes)
5. Assessment: The quiz at the end of this lesson will be the assessment for demand and if I need to
focus any more on driving in what demand is.

High Leverage Practice and High Yield Practice: I will have the students do this worksheet in
groups. I selected this strategy to use because it allows students to collaborate and come up with
answers for this worksheet. In doing this as a group activity, I will first assign the groups to have
a low, high, and 2 middle performing students. This is a way to gain knowledge for all in the
group. I considered having this worksheet as individual instruction, but I believe that it would be
better for the students learning if they could discuss together the best ways to find out whether it
is elastic or inelastic. I believe this would be the most effective because it allows for discussion.
The best way to learn is to make mistakes and this helps those who are struggling with the
subject to get a better idea of what the answers are. The possible cons and barriers with group
work is that the students will allow other students to do all of their work. If this is the case, and I
am noticing, I will give that student some extra problems to do on their own later. Another option
would be to use proximity to encourage more activity from that student. The other variables that
I considered were how much individual time students spent in other lessons and the learning
styles of the students in my classroom.
High Leverage: Selecting and Designing Formal Assessments of Student Learning
The quiz is a formal assessment of student learning and I felt that this was a good day to choose
this. It is a way to wrap up thinking on the idea of demand and then shift that thinking to supply.
I chose this strategy because it is a good way for me as the teacher to assess where the students
are in their learning and it gives me more time to adjust my instruction in the best way for my
students. I believe that this is the most effective strategy because it gives data that is specific to
each student. Some cons are that the students will feel rushed so I will offer more time to anyone
who needs it. They can come in either at lunch or another time that we work out together. I was
influenced by the need for formal data and a way to see where the students need to go from there.

SOE Faculty, 2/26/10