Week 1 — Readings & Resources

Course: Principles of Microeconomics (ECON 1) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Kessler
Focus: Scarcity, Opportunity Cost, the PPF & Economic Models · Objective 1

Everything below is a link to a free external resource — nothing is embedded, copied, or downloaded. Links were verified live at build time; if one ever rots, the per-term update re-checks them. (Canvas: a Page of links + ExternalUrl module items.)

📖 Read (≈25 min)

1. OpenStax, Principles of Microeconomics 3e — Ch. 1, "Welcome to Economics!" (§1.1 What Economics Is; §1.2 Microeconomics & Macroeconomics)
   🔗 https://openstax.org/details/books/principles-microeconomics-3e
   Scarcity, the economic way of thinking, and the micro/macro split. Free to read online.

2. OpenStax, Principles of Microeconomics 3e — Ch. 2, "Choice in a World of Scarcity" (§2.1 Budget constraints & opportunity cost; §2.2 The Production Possibilities Frontier)
   🔗 https://openstax.org/details/books/principles-microeconomics-3e
   The PPF, opportunity cost as slope, efficiency, and why frontiers bow outward. This is the week's core reading.

3. Khan Academy — Microeconomics → "Basic economic concepts." Read/skim Scarcity, opportunity cost, and the PPC.
   🔗 https://www.khanacademy.org/economics-finance-domain/microeconomics
   Short, worked, with practice questions you can self-check.

▶️ Watch (≈15 min)

4. CrashCourse Economics #1 — "Intro to Economics." (Adriene Hill & Jacob Clifford)
   🔗 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8dPuuaLjXtPNZwz5_o_5uirJ8gQXnhEO
   Episode 1 of the playlist — scarcity, choices, and what economists actually do. ~10 min.

5. Marginal Revolution University (MRU) — Principles of Economics: Microeconomics, opening unit "Introduction to Microeconomics."
   🔗 https://mru.org/courses/principles-economics-microeconomics
   Tyler Cowen & Alex Tabarrok's free course; the early videos cover the economic way of thinking and opportunity cost. Watch the 1–2 intro clips.

🛠️ Tools for this week (links only)

6. Desmos Graphing Calculator — you'll plot a PPF here in the Workshop.
   🔗 https://www.desmos.com/calculator
   Free, no account needed. Try graphing 2x + 4y = 12.

7. (Optional) FRED — Federal Reserve Economic Data — where real economic data lives; we'll use it later in the term.
   🔗 https://fred.stlouisfed.org/
   Browse if curious; not required this week.

Why these earn the click: OpenStax Ch. 1–2 is the spine of the week; CrashCourse and MRU give you the same ideas in voice and motion; Khan gives self-check practice; Desmos is your graphing tool for the Workshop.