Teacher(s) Name: Ms. Cragle
School: Laburnum ES
Grade Level(s): Grade 4
Content Area(s): Math, Language Arts, Reading
Lesson Summary
Fourth graders use their math, map, and research skills to plan a budget for a dream vacation. They begin by researching possible vacation spots within the contiguous United States, and then plan a road trip from start to finish with a budget of $10,000. First, they calculate the distance from Richmond using Google maps and select the number of people they want to travel with. Next they visit a car rental website and select a car calculating round trip gas prices and total travel time using Google maps. They must also figure out lodging and food costs for all travellers based on how many days/nights they will spend on the road driving to and from their destination. Finally, it is time to calculate lodging, meals, and entertainment costs in the destination city and the length of stay they can afford. Students research and select activities and the cost of each. They subtract that from their leftover budget to see how much remains for food and lodging. If students run out of money, they must go back and make changes to their budget. A Microsoft Excel template is used to create a graphic organizer of total travel costs, broken down into categories. Upon completion, students evaluate their choices and discuss what surprised them and what they would do differently. Students share their projects on Schoology and collaborate with one another throughout the project.
TIPC Ratings
Research & Information Fluency
Rating:Approaching – Explanation: The students had to find all of the information they needed online. They used a variety of sources such as Google Maps, Google search, car rental websites, hotel websites, dining websites, and travel websites. They evaluated their sources for reliability. They presented their findings in an online spreadsheet with graphs.
Communication & Collaboration
Rating: Developing – Explanation: Although they worked individually on their spreadsheets, the students collaborated with each other throughout the project, helping with research, calculations, and entering data. They published their spreadsheets online so that they could evaluate each other’s budget decisions.
Critical Thinking & Problem Solving
Rating: Ideal – Explanation: The students had to solve their own economic problems to stay within their budget. If they went over budget they had to go back and re-evaluate their decisions. Managing a budget like this is an authentic problem as well as an important life skill.
Creativity & Innovation
Rating: Developing – Explanation: Although they all used the same template, the students were able to make many personal choices about where they wanted to go and what they wanted to do. They had to come up with creative solutions to their budget problems.
Student Artifact
Lesson Materials
