Week 3 — Readings & Resources

Course: Principles of Microeconomics (ECON 1) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Kessler
Focus: Demand — the Law of Demand, the Demand Curve, Movements vs. Shifts, Determinants · Objective 2

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. 3, "Demand and Supply" (§3.1 "Demand, Supply, and Equilibrium in Markets for Goods and Services" — focus on the demand side through §3.2)
   🔗 https://openstax.org/details/books/principles-microeconomics-3e
   The law of demand, the demand curve, the demand schedule, and the determinants of demand. This is the week's core reading.

2. Khan Academy — Microeconomics → "Supply, demand, and market equilibrium" → "Law of demand" and "Demand curve shifts."
   🔗 https://www.khanacademy.org/economics-finance-domain/microeconomics
   Short, worked explanations of the demand curve and what shifts it — with self-check practice.

▶️ Watch (≈15 min)

3. CrashCourse Economics #4 — "Supply and Demand." (Adriene Hill & Jacob Clifford)
   🔗 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8dPuuaLjXtPNZwz5_o_5uirJ8gQXnhEO
   Episode 4 of the playlist covers demand, supply, and equilibrium — watch the demand sections (~first half). Engaging, fast-paced, ~12 min total.

4. Marginal Revolution University (MRU) — "The Demand Curve" and "Shifts in Demand."
   🔗 https://mru.org/courses/principles-economics-microeconomics
   Tyler Cowen & Alex Tabarrok's free micro course — find these two short clips in the demand unit. Crystal-clear on movement vs. shift.

🛠️ Tools for this week (links only)

5. Desmos Graphing Calculator — you'll plot Qd = 120 − 10P (equivalently P = 12 − 0.1Q) in the Workshop.
   🔗 https://www.desmos.com/calculator
   Free, no account needed. Try typing y = 12 - 0.1x and reading off Q at different price levels.

6. FRED — Federal Reserve Economic Data — real price and quantity data for many markets; referenced in the Discussion.
   🔗 https://fred.stlouisfed.org/
   If you want to find a real demand example: search for a commodity price series and compare it to a consumption series.

Why these earn the click: OpenStax Ch. 3 is the spine of Weeks 3 and 4; CrashCourse and MRU reinforce movement vs. shift visually; Khan gives you immediate self-check practice; Desmos powers the Workshop. Come to class having read/watched at least items 1 and 2.