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

📋 Module Overview Page — "Start Here" (Canvas: Page, published)

Week 3 — Demand

You're already two weeks in and have a solid grip on trade-offs and comparative advantage. Now we build the first half of the market model — the side that represents buyers. Demand is not just "wanting something." In economics, demand is a precise relationship between price and quantity: how many units buyers will actually purchase at every possible price.

The big question: What determines how much of something people buy — and what happens to that relationship when the world changes?

By the end of this week, you can:

• state the law of demand and explain the intuition behind it;
• read and plot a demand schedule and a demand curve (using Qd = 120 − 10P as the week's model);
• distinguish a movement along a demand curve (caused by a price change) from a shift of the curve (caused by a determinant change) — this is the central trap of the week;
• name and apply all six determinants of demand (income, prices of related goods, tastes, expectations, number of buyers);
• classify a good as normal or inferior and a related good as a substitute or complement.

Do this, in order:

1. Read & watch — the Week 3 resources (≈40 min). → Readings & Resources page
2. Lecture Tutorial — work through demand and its shifters with your AI tutor (≈45 min). Due Sun, Sep 20. → submit the chat share link + summary
3. Practice Exercises — 6 quick reps, ungraded (≈15 min).
4. Quiz 3 — 10 questions, closed to AI (≈20 min). Due Sun, Sep 20.
5. Discussion 3 — rideshare/ticket surge pricing: price gouging or supply and demand? Initial post Fri, Sep 18, replies Sun, Sep 20.
6. Assignment 3 — the demand schedule & determinants problem set (100 pts). Due Sun, Sep 20.
7. Workshop 3 — Graph & Model Workshop — plot Qd = 120 − 10P in Desmos, read Q at several prices, then apply a demand shift and interpret (50 pts). Due Sun, Sep 20.

A note before you start: the single biggest confusion in this whole chapter is treating a price change as a "shift" of the demand curve. It is not — a price change moves you along an existing curve. A shift requires something other than the good's own price to change. We'll name this trap in every format this week.

📣 Welcome Announcement (Canvas: Announcement; available_from_offset_days = 0 — posts Mon, Sep 14)

Subject: Week 3 — Demand (and the trap everyone falls into)

Hi everyone,

This week we build the demand side of the market — which is more powerful than it sounds. Once you understand what makes people buy more or less of something, and what actually shifts that relationship versus merely moving along it, you'll have the first key to reading nearly every market story in the news.

Don't miss this week's central trap: when the price of a good changes, you move along the demand curve — you do not shift it. The curve only shifts when something else changes: income, the price of a substitute or complement, tastes, expectations, or the number of buyers. Mix these up and every elasticity, surplus, and comparative-statics problem goes wrong. We'll catch the AI making this exact mistake in the Workshop.

Start with the Module Overview ("Start Here"), then the readings, then your AI Lecture Tutorial. Bring your trickiest "is it a shift or a movement?" question to class.

See you in class,
Prof. Kessler