curriculum Theory and Practice

curriculum Theory and Practice PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS OF CURRICULUM THEORIZING Curriculum theory is the manner in which the philosophy of certain approaches to advancement and enactment of curriculum is described. Within the wider field of curriculum studies, it is both the analysis of the curriculum historically and a way of viewing contemporary educational curriculum and policy decision. However, a very useful starting point here is the definition of the word â€Å"curriculum.† According to John Kerr’s definition which was adopted by Vic Kelly in his typical work on the topic, curriculum entails planned and guided learning by the school. It is carried on in either groups or on individuals, within or without the school. There are four manners in which to approach curriculum theory and practice. They are as follows: Curriculum is seen as a body of knowledge to be transmitted. In this sense I cannot equate the curriculum with a syllabus. In essence the syllabus is simply a summarized assertion of the heads of a dissertation, the gist of a discourse, and the subjects of a series of lectures. It is attached to courses directed to examination. This view of the curriculum limits planning to a contemplation of the content or the body of knowledge that may be transmitted. Curriculum as a product, i.e., an effort to attain definite ends in students. However varied human life may appear to be, it consists in the performance of specific activities. Therefore, education should prepare a student for life, i.e., preparing definitely and adequately for such activities. Despite being copious and varied they can be exposed for any social class. This obliges one to go out into the world of affairs and find out the specifics of which his/her affairs consist. And as such it would be easy to show the abilities, forms, habits, appreciation and attitudes that people need. These have to be the objectives of the curriculum, thus making it (curriculum) a progression of know-how that learners at all levels must have by way of obtaining those objectives. Curriculum as process. Looking at curriculum as a process implies how teachers, students and knowledge interact. That is, curriculum has to be seen in terms of what essentially takes place in the classroom set up and what people do to prepare and evaluate. Curriculum as praxis. Whereas the process model is impelled by broader principles and emphasizes on judgment and meaning making, it does not formulate unequivocal statements about the interests it serves. The praxis model on the other hand, conveys these to the centre of the course and makes an unequivocal dedication to emancipation. Therefore, action is not merely informed, it is also committed. That is, curriculum is not merely a set of plans to be implemented, but somewhat is composed through a dynamic process in which planning, acting and evaluating are all mutually related and incorporated into the process. Therefore, curriculum should in due course produce students who are able to deal efficiently with the contemporary world. It should not be presented as finished concept, but should instead include the learner’s preconception and should amalgamate how the learner views his/her own world. In this perspective four instincts are used, to describe how to characterize the behavior of children. They consist of social, constructive, expressive, and artistic. The curriculum should then build a logical sense of the world in which the child lives. As a curriculum designer I have to use livelihoods to connect diminutive account of fundamental activities of life classroom activities. This could be accomplished by combining subject areas and resources. It means I have to make connections between subject matter and the child’s life. Teaching methods should focus on hands-on problem solving, experimenting, and projects, often having students work in groups. Curriculum should bring the disciplines together to focus on resolving problems in an interdisciplinary way. Rather than passing down organized bodies of knowledge to new learners, they (learners) should apply their knowledge to real situations through experimental inquiry. This prepares students for citizenship, daily living, and future careers. I have to acknowledge the fact that humans are social beings and do learn best in real-life activities with each other. Therefore education must be based on this principle. As a curriculum designer I will have to depend on the paramount scientific theories of learning available. I may borrow from John Deweys model of learning where learners behave as if they were scientists. That is, Be perceptive of the problem. Be able to delineate the problem. Suggest the hypothesis to solve it. Weigh up the consequences of the hypotheses from one’s past experiences. Test the most likely solution. With this view on human nature, it is my genuine concern that students should be provided with real-life experiences and activities that center on their real life. This is in comparison to a distinctive progressivism slogan which states, Learn by Doing! According to NCLB Act of 2001, assessments of students is supposed to be criterion-referenced tests where a student is tested on his knowledge of the required content or if he/she can do the required skill as outlined in the states standards. Unlike the norm-referenced tests, where student’s performance is based on how he/she is ranks compared to other students, the curriculum has to provide a substitute to the test-oriented instruction as stated by the NCLB Act 2001 on funding. This will enable the student, at the end of his course of study, to apply the knowledge he acquired to real-life situation in his/her daily life. As contrasted to the traditional curriculum of the 19th century, that is ingrained in conventional preparation for the university and strongly discriminated by socioeconomic level, I strongly propose a type of curriculum which finds its roots in the current experiences, is more autonomous in outlook and looks forward. The quality of this curriculum should: Emphasize on learning by doing, i.e., hands-on projects, experiential learning Integrate curriculum that is focused on thematic elements Strongly emphasize on problem solving and critical thinking Encourage group work and growth of social skills Understanding and action should be the objective of learning as contrasted to rote knowledge. Accentuate collaborative and cooperative learning projects Emphasize education for social responsibility and democracy Integrate service learning projects and community service into the daily curriculum. Select the content of the subject by looking forward to ask over what skills will be desirable in the prospective society. Discourage emphasize on textbooks as only learning resources in favor of other varied learning resources. Emphasize on life-long learning and social proficiencies. Assessment based on evaluation of the learner’s projects and productions. In conclusion an acceptable curriculum should be that which makes a learner to be creative, self-reliant and make him excel in all aspects of life that suite his desires. It would be unfair to have a curriculum which ignores the social aspect of a child because he/she lives in a society that is ever social. The curriculum should also enable the student to apply that which he/she learns in the classroom in real life experience. References: http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/ed416/module1.html, (2008) Module One: History and Philosophy of Education Stenhouse, L. (1975) An Introduction to Curriculum research and Development, London: Heinemann. Kliebard, H. M. (1987) The Struggle for the American Curriculum 1893 – 1958, New York: Routledge. Taba, H. (1962) Curriculum Development: Theory and Practice, New York: Harcourt Brace and World. Blenkin, G. M. et al (1992) Change and the Curriculum, London: Paul Chapman

The Importance Of Wind Turbines Engineering Essay

With world-wide energy demands invariably on the rise, the demand for sustainable green energy beginnings is going of all time more of import. Global population growing and emerging developing states paired with an exhaustible supply and changeless addition in monetary value of the universe ‘s fossil fuels is doing an increased involvement into alternate energy beginnings. Based on current ingestion of the universes fossil fuels an appraisal of the length of clip staying before each modesty runs out, taken from ; World Fossil Fuel Reserves and Projected Depletion, Colorado River Commission of Nevada, March 2002, can be seen in table 1. Fossil fuel Estimated old ages left before complete exhaustion Petroleum 98 old ages Natural gas 166 old ages Coal 230 old ages ( table 1 ) Even though these appraisals do n't take into history the find of new fuel militias and the outgrowth of new more efficient dodo fuel energy engineerings they still give a image of why investing and research into sustainable engineerings is going of all time more extended and popular. Figures show that in 2011 the planetary air current power market grew by 20 % with a world-wide investing transcending ˆ 50 billion. ( Global Wind Energy Council, 2012 ) Wind power engineering is quickly going one of the most popular alternate energy beginnings for several grounds: It is environmentally friendly and will greatly cut down C dioxide emanations Contrary to popular belief, wind turbines are going more and more efficient at change overing energy and hence more cost effectual Wind power unlike fossil fuels is an unlimited beginning of energy and is readily available all around the universe. Low running costs one time wind turbines have been set up and a comparatively little required work force compared with conventional energy engineerings. Much safer than dodo fuel combustion and atomic power workssHistory of air current turbinesWorlds have been tackling the power of the air current for 1000s of old ages. The earliest hint can be dated as far back as 4000BC where the ancient Chinese began utilizing the air current to power canvass attached to their ships. Other than sailing, the air current has influenced much technological promotion. It has played an of import function in agribusiness, where windmills have been used to crunch grains and irrigate Fieldss. It was n't until the last 150 old ages that wind power has been used to change over kinetic energy into electricity. The first of all time automatically operated air current turbine in the universe was built in 1888 by Charles Brush. It consisted of 144 blades and was able to bring forth 12 KW of power used to bear down batteries. ( wind power coevals ) . But it was n't until ww1 and ww2 where air current turbines were used commercially as a beginning of energy ( peculiarly in Denmark as it was cut off from oil supplies from the remainder of Europe. After this period research and involvement in air current engineering was non sustained due to the belief that it was non cost effectual. Although there was small planetary involvement in air current engineering at this clip some research was still carried out by independent developers, most notably the design of the 200KW Gedser air current turbine in Denmark. This was a pioneering design consisting of three flying blades and flying tip interruptions and is mostly considered be the trademark of all modern twenty-four hours wind turbines. It was n't until the 1972 oil crisis that wind power began to come into fruition with Denmark and the USA taking the manner in invention. Gedser air current turbine Denmark ( hypertext transfer protocol: //www.energimuseet.dk/ )Modern twenty-four hours wind turbinesModern twenty-four hours wind turbines differ greatly from Charles Brush ‘s 144 blade turbine both in aesthetics and public presentation, but the rule behind bring forthing electricity is the same. Aerodynamic lift forces caused by the air current blowing past the blades cause them to revolve a shaft and in bend power a generator which converts this mechanical power into electricity.CategorizationThe air current turbines can be split into two classs: HAWT ; horizontal axis air current turbines, these are turbines which axis of rotary motion are horizontal, and VAWTS ; perpendicular axis air current turbines, these are turbines which axis of rotary motion are perpendicular. There are advantages for utilizing either for case the VAWT in non wind way orientated and does non necessitate to confront the way of the air current whilst HAWTS do, but HAWT ‘s are much more economical and practical than VAWT ‘s and besides produce more power. HAWT ‘s are by far the most common constellation of air current turbine and therefore for the intent of this thesis merely HAWT will be discussed. Example of a typical HAWT Example of a typical VAWT ( hypertext transfer protocol: //www.turbinesinfo.com/ ) ( hypertext transfer protocol: //www.top-alternative-energy-sources.com/ ) When planing a HAWT there are several factors which have to be taken into history: The HAWT design can be split into four different subsystems: Turbine rotor subsystem Power-train subsystem Nacelle subsystem Tower subsystemTurbine rotor subsystemThe design of the rotor subsystem if frequently considered the most of import, as it straight affects the cost, efficiency and public presentation of the air current turbine. When planing a rotor subsystems there are several facets which must be examined:Shape of rotorFrom flying tip to root, the form of the rotor blade does non stay changeless. The tip of the blade is much narrower than the root. This is because of demand for the root to structurally back up the remainder of the rotor blade. Besides the farther off from the root the greater the additive velocity, purchase and the greater the part toward the blades rotation.Power= force ten velocity This means that points nearer the shaft have less of an consequence on rotary motion, and hence holding a thicker less aerodynamically efficient blade subdivision at this point will non hold every bit serious effects as it would at the tip. Unlike a typical aeroplane flying blade a air current turbine blade has a just sum of turn. Besides unlike an aeroplane wing, turbine blades undergo rotational motion doing this demand for greater turn. Turn of a turbine blade is when the tip is non parallel to the root. As mentioned before the tips of the blade have a greater additive velocity than closer towards the root, but the air current velocity along the full blade remains changeless. Due to the comparative velocity non staying changeless along the blade, holding the same angle of onslaught throughout would intend different points along the blade meeting the air current at sub-optimal angles of onslaught with hapless lift to drag coefficients. Therefore to do the angle of onslaught relation to the way of wind the same throughout the full blade, a turn angle must be implemented. ( wind turbine engineering, pg 53 )Number of bladesModern twenty-four hours HAWT most normally have merely two or three blades, although they would st ill work with a smaller or larger figure of blades, but these constellations are uncommon. It is mostly considered that three blade turbines are the most effectual with the best combination of balance, efficiency, and aesthetics.Blade pitchBlade pitch is the angle between the blade chord line and the plane of rotary motion. Pitch mechanisms allows for a manner to command the starting torsion, peak power, and halting torsion of the turbine ( Wind turbine engineering, pg 51 ) . Most big air current turbines have a pitch mechanism integrated into the design, but due to their cost some smaller turbines have fixed pitch. Some wind turbines may besides hold tip interruptions. These halt the rotor rotary motion by turning the tip of the blades to right angles with the way of gesture, doing an addition in retarding force.Blade MaterialChoosing the right stuff for the design is of import, depending on the rotors size and design a stuff with equal strength, stiffness, weight and cost must be found. Early on air current turbine rotor blade designs consisted of wooden complexs and lightweight metals. Most wind turbines today use either fiberglass or plastic complexs for building due to their low costs, strength and weariness features. ( wind power, Paul gipe, pg 110 )Power train subsystemConsists of a series of mechanical and electrical constituents, to change over mechanical power caused from the rotor to electrical power. It includes ; low velocity and high velocity thrust shafts, a gear box, an electrical generator and a rotor brake every bit good as subsidiary equipment. ( wind turbine engineering, pg 52 ) . This is done by reassigning mechanical energy from the low velocity thrust shaft attached to the rotor, to a high velocity thrust shaft to power a generator.Nacelle subsystemThe nacelle is the lodging to all of the power train subsystems every bit good as the gaping systems. It must protect these systems from all conditions conditions every bit good as act a primary burde n way from the shaft to the tower. ( wind turbine engineering, pg 54 ) . The ability for a turbine to gape is of import. A turbine turned at 90 & A ; deg ; to the air current will bring forth no lift and hence no rotary motion, whilst if it is at 0 & A ; deg ; to the air current it will bring forth maximal sum of lift and maximal rotary motion. Yawing is of import in acquiring maximal power out of a air current turbine and even gaping a twosome of grades to confront the air current will profit. Modern air current turbines have a yawing mechanism to let, non merely for the turbine to confront the air current but when in non in operation to confront 90 & A ; deg ; to the air current to halt rotary motion. ( wind turbine engineering, pg 54 )Tower subsystemThe tower raises the nacelle and the rotor off the land. The tallness of the tower is dependent on geographical location and the trade of between increasing the tower tallness to make more powerful air currents and cost. The tower must be structurally really strong and stiff both to back up the nacelle and rotor, every bit good as withstand quivers caused by the rotor. Towers are normally made from steel or reinforced concrete. ( wind turbine engineering, pg 56 )Tip velocity ratioThe velocity in which the blades rotate is an of import factor to see. If the blades rotate excessively easy so most of the air current will go through between them undisturbed with really small energy extracted. If excessively fast, so the blades wi ll be whirling through disruptive air caused by the other blades, every bit good as doing the turbine to be put under increased emphasis which could take to mechanical failure. Wind turbine blades are hence designed to revolve with an optimal tip velocity ratio to pull out the maximal energy possible from the air current. Tip velocity ratio can be defined as the ratio of blade tip velocity to weave velocity. The tip velocity ratio is straight affected by the figure of blades of a turbine, the fewer the figure of blades the faster the rotary motion velocity will necessitate to be to pull out maximal power. For three bladed air current turbines the tip velocity ratio is by and large in the scope of 6-8 with 7 being the most common value ITECHOPEN.com pg Betz one pg 29 Generally interior decorators will take to maintain the tip velocity ratio every bit high as possible to increase the velocity in which the shaft connected to the generator spins, but higher tip velocity ratios besides have several disadvantages: Increased tip losingss ensuing in decreased efficiency Increased noise Increased quiver Erosion caused by dust atoms Efficient airfoil design is hence particularly of import to let for higher optimal ratios to be met whilst restricting these negative effects.Finish! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !Lift, Drag and Pitching MomentThe lift, retarding force and pitching minute are all moving on a air current turbine rotor blade. And figure†¦ †¦ . shows the orientation of these. Lift is the force moving perpendicular to the oncoming air flow and is required to get the better of gravitation. ( Hansen,2008 pg 8 ) The retarding force force acts perpendicular to the lift force and hence parallel to the oncoming air flow. The retarding force force is a combination of the syrupy forces between the air and the airfoil, and the force per unit area differences over the airfoil ensuing in whirls. As mentioned by Hansen, 2008 pg 8 the lift to drag ratio should be maximised to acquire a more efficient airfoil. The coefficients of lift and retarding force can be defined as: Where, is the air denseness and is the length of the airfoil chord. These coefficients are maps of Reynolds figure, Mach figure and angle of onslaught. To to the full depict the forces it is necessary to cognize the pitching minute about a point of the airfoil. As stated by Hansen 2008, pg 8 This is located at a distance of ? length along the chord line from the taking border. It is defined as:Betz boundThe Betz bound was foremost introduced by German applied scientist Albert Betz in 1919 and is the maximal theoretical power that can be extracted from a air current watercourse. Harmonizing to Intechopen.com pg 26 for maximal energy extraction the downstream speed should be equal to of the upstream speed, therefore the optimal value for the power coefficient will go: This value is about and is known as the Betz bound. Using this standard a value for air current turbine efficiency can be defined as the ratio of power coefficient to Betz bound: Figure†¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ Hansen 2008 pg 40 shows how the maximal efficiency is affected by the tip velocity ratio. For low tip velocity ratios the efficiency will be decreased for illustration, a tip velocity ratio of 1 will give a maximal efficiency of about 70 % , whilst a tip velocity ratio of 10 will give a maximal efficiency of about 98 % . This shows that air current turbines higher tip speed ratios can pull out more energy and therefore a higher tip velocity ratio is a coveted feature.Blade Element Momentum theoryBlade component impulse theory is a combination of two air current turbine analysis methods. The 1st method is to execute impulse balance equations on a revolving annulate watercourse tubing which passes through the turbine. The 2nd is to analyze the forces generated by the lift and retarding force coefficients along the blade by dividing it into subdivisions.Momentum theoryAxial forceAssuming a air current turbine as being in a control volume disc actuat or theoretical account as seen in figure†¦ †¦PremisesThis is a really basic theoretical account which assumes no aftermath rotary motion. Stations 1, 2, 3 and 4 are at places upriver of the turbine, merely before the turbine, merely after the turbine and downstream of the turbine, severally. Between Stationss 2 and 3 energy is extracted from the air current ensuing in a force per unit area alteration. The mass flow rate of the control volume must stay changeless harmonizing to the continuity equation: Besides if we assume continuity of speed through the turbine so and and because the flow is frictionless so we can use Bernoulli ‘s equation between 1and 2, every bit good as 3 and 4 giving up: Uniting these equations gives: As force is equal to coerce clip ‘s country so the push generated by the turbine can be calculated as: The axial initiation factor is a factor of vaiation of the cross sectional country of the turbine blade which varies as a map of flow speed. ( Eng.fiu.edu, pg 21 ) . It can be defined as: Therefore: If this is substituted into the trust equation it yields: Using this equation the power end product of the turbine can so be found by specifying it as thrust times speed. Therefore:Power and Thrust CoefficientThe power generated by the kinetic energy of the air current fluxing at a air current turbine can be defined as: The public presentation parametric quantities of a air current turbine can be characterised by the power and thrust coefficients. Where the coefficient of power is the ratio of power generated by the air current turbine to power available given by: Similarly the thrust coefficient can be defined as: Harmonizing to the Betz limit the coefficient of power can ne'er transcend a value of. These public presentation parametric quantities can be related to the axial initiation factor by uniting with the power and thrust equations severally giving:Blade Element TheoryBlade component theory involves dividing a blade up into N figure of subdivisions ( or elements ) . The fluid flow will be different across each component as they will hold different rotational velocities, chord length, and turn angle ( wind turbine design grant ingram ) . Therefore numerical integrating along the blade span is required to find the overall public presentation.Relative speedThe comparative air current speed is the vector amount of the horizontal air current speed at the blade, and the speed caused by blade rotary motion. The rotary motion constituent is the vector amount of the blade speed and the rotational flow due aftermath rotary motion is.To give a more accurate estimation of the airfoil public presenta tion an norm of recess ( place 2 ) and issue ( place 3 ) is used where is the mean rotational flow due to wake rotary motion. Wind turbine explained pg 107. Knowing this an equation can be writ for the mean digressive speed: Figure 5 shows the geometry of a air current turbine blade grant ingram pg 9 From the figure 5 we can infer that: Where the value of will change along the span of the blade. This equation can be related to the tip velocity ratio which is defined as: Threfore: Using figure 6 we can besides associate that the equation for the comparative speed is:Blade ElementssFrom figure 6 the forces moving on a blade component can be seen. These forces can be equated as: Taking into history the coefficients of lift and retarding force antecedently defined as equations†¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ .. ClCd graph possibly? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? so the forces moving on a blade component can be written as: Where B is the figure of rotor blades. The torsion moving on a subdivision of the blade is the digressive force moving at a distance R from the Centre and is given by: From this equation the influence of retarding force can be clearly be seen. An addition in retarding force will diminish the torsion hence the power end product of the turbine. This is why when selecting or planing an airfoil for turbine usage, one of the key aims is to maintain the coefficient of retarding force every bit low as possible while keeping a high coefficient of lift. These equations can be expressed in footings of initiation factors by replacing equations†¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ and simplified by utilizing the solidness factor. The solidness factor can be defined as the ratio of blade country to country of the disc given by the equation ; The equations can so be written as: These two equations†¦ †¦ †¦ specify the push and torsion moving on an annulate subdivision of the blades severally.Tip losingssDue to the difference in force per unit area on the top and underside of the airfoil, air flows from the high force per unit area side to the low force per unit area side around the blade tip, cut downing the lift of the blade. To account for this loss of lift and hence power, a rectification factor is implemented. A method of gauging the tip losingss was obtained by L. Prandtl and the equation for the rectification factor is: Where is in radians. Equations.7,17†¦ †¦ so go:Blade component impulse theoryEquations for blade component impulse theory which are used in blade design and optimisation can now be defined by uniting the impulse theory equations for axial push and torsion, with blade component forces equations. These are:Used for ciphering initiation factorsPower end productThe entire power of each ring can be calculated utilizing equation: The entire power from the rotor can be calculated utilizing the equation: Where is the hub radius. The power coefficient of the rotor can now be calculated utilizing the equation: Where is the blade tip radius. Using the annulate subdivision torsion equation this power coefficient can be written as:

American Films and Northern Lights

Remember how you felt in that moment when you realized there was a big world out there that needed exploring? I don't remember the first time I saw a photo of Iceland. I know it was of the Northern Lights on a starry night with snow covered mountains in the background. I knew I had get there but, for years, I kept putting it off. And, In that time, my expectations for Iceland became very high.The friendly coals, untouched mountains, Northern Lights, being alone with nature – I built It all up In my head. And, now that I am here, I can safely say Iceland has exceeded my expectations beyond my wildest dreams. There are places you love and then there are places you carry inside forever. Places that change you. They are, In Hemingway words,†a movable feast†. For me, Iceland Is one of those places. I knew It from the first moment I got here.From the warm locals to the untouched landscape to magic f the Northern Lights, Iceland has changed me. It's made me remember the n eed to slow down. Life is too short to only look at pictures. It's too short to look at someone else's journey and say â€Å"one day, I'll go there†. So today's main blob post features ten new websites that will help you reach your travel goals quicker by helping you plan better and travel cheaper. Because your travel dreams shouldn't stay dreams but should become moments you remember.

What Is Microeconomics

Like most definitions in  economics,  there are plenty of competing ideas and ways to explain the term microeconomics. As one of the two branches of the study of economics, an understanding of microeconomics and how it relates to the other branch, macroeconomics, is critical. Even so, should a student turn to the internet for answers, he or she would find a plethora of ways to address the simple question, what is microeconomics? Here is a sample of one such answer. How a Dictionary Defines Microeconomics The Economists  Dictionary of Economics  defines microeconomics as the study of economics at the level of individual consumers, groups of consumers, or firms noting that the general concern of microeconomics is the efficient allocation of scarce resources between alternative uses but more specifically it involves the determination of price through the optimizing behaviour of economic agents, with consumers  maximizing utility  and firms  maximizing profit. There is nothing false about this definition, and there exist many other authoritative definitions that are merely variations upon the same core concepts. But what this definition may be missing is an emphasis on the concept of choice. A More General Definition of Microeconomics Roughly speaking, microeconomics deals with economic decisions made at a low, or micro, level as opposed to macroeconomics which approaches economics from a macro level. From this  standpoint, microeconomics is sometimes considered the starting point for the study macroeconomics as it takes a more bottom-up approach to analyzing and understanding the economy. This piece of the microeconomics puzzle was captured by The Economists definition in the phrase individual consumers, groups of consumers, or firms. It would be easier to take a slightly simpler approach to defining  microeconomics. Here is a better definition: Microeconomics is the analysis of the decisions made by individuals and groups, the factors that affect those decisions, and how those decisions affect others. Microeconomic decisions by both small businesses and individuals are mainly motivated by cost and benefit considerations. Costs can be either in terms of financial costs such as average fixed costs and total variable costs or they can be in terms of opportunity costs, which consider alternatives foregone. Microeconomics then considers patterns of supply and demand as dictated by the aggregate of individual decisions and the factors that influence these cost-benefit relationships. At the heart of the study of microeconomics is the  analysis of the market behaviors of individuals in order to better understand their decision-making process and how it impacts the cost of goods and services. Common Microeconomics Questions To accomplish this analysis, microeconomists consider questions like, what determines how much a consumer will save? and how much should a firm produce, given the strategies their competitors are using? and why do people buy both insurance and lottery tickets? To understand the relationship between microeconomics and macroeconomics, contrast these questions with one that might be asked by a macroeconomists such as, how does a change in interest rates influence national savings?