Spring Break

UNIT TITLE: Spring Break

Author: Nicole Roth
E-Mail Address:
School: A. Vito Martinez Middle School : Romeoville, Illinois
School Home Page URL:

THEME : The best place to travel over spring break and what to do while you are there.

BROAD CONCEPT: Enjoyment, adventure, planning

GRADES: seventh grade

INTEGRATED SUBJECTS: Math, Language Arts, Social Studies

UNIT GOALS AND PURPOSE: The students will be exploring the internet to find the best prices for activities to do on their spring break, and the temperatures/climates of the area they are in for spring break. The students will learn how to budget their money and find the best prices on activities and places to stay. The students will be evaluated on their final presentation and on the different activities that they put together as they go through the project. It will be evaluated by a combination of summative, on-going and individual parts.

TIME FRAME: This unit will take at least 14 days because the students will have at least 13 activities that will need to be completed and presented to the class as a sales pitch.

OBJECTIVES:

In this lesson, students will:

Decide which is better economically, flying and renting a car, train, bus, or drive to the destination.
Find the best price for lodging.
Research what the weather is like in the area in which they are traveling within the last five years.
Research what activities can be done in the area and what there is to see.
Plan what the itinerary will be.
Budget the trip.
Put together a brochure on your destination.
Put together a sales pitch on why your destination is the best place to go.

MATERIALS:

General materials and equipment: calculator, paper, drawing materials

Technology tools: color printer, computers with access to the internet

Software Used in this Unit (Include the type and the title of the software.)

_X_Desktop Publishing- (Microsoft Publisher) _X_ Brainstorming (ex. Inspiration)

_X_Word Processing (Microsoft word) _X_Spreadsheet (Microsoft excel)

_X_CD-ROM Encyclopedia (Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia)

X_Other software pertaining to unit (Microsoft Automap Street Plus)

X Kid Pix/Power Point

_X_ Quicken 2003 basic (budgeting and checkbook program)

STATE STANDARDS ADDRESSED BY THIS UNIT:

Technology Standards:

Basic operations and concepts

Students demonstrate a sound understanding of the nature and operation of technology systems.
Students are proficient in the use of technology.

Technology research tools

Students use technology to locate, evaluate, and collect information from a variety of sources.
Students use technology tools to process data and report results.
Students evaluate and select new information resources and technological innovations based on the appropriateness for specific tasks.

Technology problem-solving and decision-making tools

Students use technology resources for solving problems and making informed decisions.
Students employ technology in the development of strategies for solving problems in the real world.

Mathematics Standards:

6.C.3b Show evidence that computational results using whole numbers, fractions, decimals, percents and proportions are correct and/or that estimates are reasonable.
8.C.3 Apply the properties of numbers and operations including inverses in algebraic settings derived from economics, business and the sciences.
9.D.3 Compute distances, lengths and measures of angles using proportions, the Pythagorean theorem and its converse.
10.A.3a Construct, read and interpret tables, graphs (including circle graphs) and charts to organize and represent data.
10.B.3 Formulate questions (e.g., relationships between car age and mileage, average incomes and years of schooling), devise and conduct experiments or simulations, gather data, draw conclusions and communicate results to an audience using traditional methods and contemporary technologies.

10.C.3b Analyze problem situations (e.g., board games, grading scales) and make predictions about results.

Language Arts Standards:

3.C.3b Using available technology, produce compositions and multimedia works for specified audiences.

5.A.3a Identify appropriate resources to solve problems or answer questions through research.

5.A.3b Design a project related to contemporary issues (e.g., real-world math, career development, community service) using multiple sources.

5.C.3b Prepare and orally present original work (e.g., poems, monologues, reports, plays, stories) supported by research.

Social Studies Standards:

17.A.3b Explain how to make and use geographic representations to provide and enhance spatial information including maps, graphs, charts, models, aerial photographs, satellite images.

N.C.T.M. STANDARDS ADDRESSED BY THIS UNIT:

Problem Solving Standard for Grades 6–8

build new mathematical knowledge through problem solving;
solve problems that arise in mathematics and in other contexts;
apply and adapt a variety of appropriate strategies to solve problems;
monitor and reflect on the process of mathematical problem solving.

Reasoning and Proof Standard for Grades 6–8

recognize reasoning and proof as fundamental aspects of mathematics;
make and investigate mathematical conjectures;
develop and evaluate mathematical arguments and proofs;
select and use various types of reasoning and methods of proof.

Communication Standard for Grades 6–8

organize and consolidate their mathematical thinking through communication;
communicate their mathematical thinking coherently and clearly to peers, teachers, and others;
analyze and evaluate the mathematical thinking and strategies of others;
use the language of mathematics to express mathematical ideas precisely.

STUDENT ACTIVITIES WHICH WILL PROMOTE ENGAGED LEARNING:

In lesson 1, the teacher will be using the program Inspiration to get the students ideas about the spring break project. During this time the teacher will be asking the students for their ideas such as: where they would like to go on spring break vacation, what are types of things that they need to plan for when you go on a vacation (i.e. place to stay, how are you going to get there, how much money to bring, what you are going to do), what type of math are we going to have to do, how many people do you plan to have go with you. All of this information will be typed up on inspiration and then they will organize everything into different categories.

In lesson 2, the students will begin to work on the Quicken 2003 basic to work on their budget. Each group of students will have the same amount of money to have for their trip, they will all have $3000 to spend. In this lesson the students will learn how to balance their bank account using this program and budget their money.
In lesson 3, the students will be choosing their vacation place for their project from the list that the class came up with. The students will begin to look on the World Wide Web for the prices of flying and renting a car. They will put their data in a spreadsheet, using excel, from what they have found. The teacher will give them a list of airlines and car rental places that they can go to and get an idea of the price (i.e. Delta, United, American, Northwestern, Hertz, Avis, Budget). The students will also have access to go to the web sites, such as, Funjet Vacations, Expedia, Cheapticket, and Price Line in order to compare those prices to booking everything separately.

vacation buildings

In lesson 4, the students will be investigating the price of driving to their destination. They will have to look up the gas mileage on three cars of their choice. They will place this information on a spreadsheet using excel. The next thing that the students will have to do is figure out how many miles it is and how many days it will take to get to their destination. The students will be using the Automap Street Plus to do this part. They will have to know which states they need to go through and which is the best route to go. The teacher will set up with all of the students the formula to figure out the price of the gas for the different types of cars. The students will have to do a research on how much the gas is in all of the states that they will have to drive through. They will need to find the average of the gas. The students will already have to know how to find the average of prices. If any students do not remember how to do it the teacher will be going around to help with this.

In lesson 5, the students will now find out how much it will cost to take the train and how long and how much it will cost to take the bus. The students will put the information in the spreadsheet. They will need to compare the prices of the two when you leave on different days.

In lesson 6, the students now need to copy and past the best price that they found for the bus, the train, the airfares and car rental, and driving with gas into a table in a word document. After they have completed the table the students need to write a paragraph explaining why they choose the means of transportation that they did. Since the students have decided on how they are getting to their destination they must now open up their account in order to deduct the amount and keep track of their budget.

In lesson 7, the students need to decide where they are staying. They need to find the best lodging. They will have to do this in the same manner as they did for the means of transportation. They will set up a spreadsheet showing the different amount of days they will be staying in the hotel/motel (i.e. Holiday Inn, Hampton , Red Roof Inn), they can also check out condos if there are any for rent in the area. After the students have decided where they are staying they must now deduct the amount that it will cost them into their budget program.

In lesson 8, the students are going to be deciding how much they are going to spend on food, so they need to look up the types of restaurants that are in the area. They will do this by going to the yellow pages on the internet. Here they will be able to see what type of restaurants are in the area and a round about price range. Here they will use the spreadsheet to fill in the meals down the y-axis and the dates across the x-axis. The students will have to use formulas to find out the totals for each day roughly and for the total amount.

In lesson 9, the students need to research the type of weather that will be occurring during the time that they will be there. They need to know so that they know what type of clothes to pack. They will need to look up the past five years to see what it has been like. The students will then need to find the average of all of the temperatures. This will give them an idea of what the temperature will be close to. The students can do this on the spreadsheet. The students will need to use the Almanac, and the CD-ROM Encyclopedia.
In lesson 10, the students will be investigating what they would like to be doing for recreation on their vacation. They must have at least three activities. The students will be using the program inspiration to brainstorm their ideas about what they would like to do on their trip. After they have all of their ideas they will need to look up to see how much their activity costs and how long it will take. They will also have to take into account driving to the place. They will then transfer this information into a spreadsheet and then decide what they want to do. After that they will have to deduct the amounts form their budget. This is where the students can also use the travel brochures.

In lesson 11, the students will use microsoft word to plan out their itinerary for their trip. They will need to decide how many days they are staying, how they are getting there, where they are staying, what they are doing, and ideas of where they are eating.

In lesson 12, the students will be using microsoft publisher to prepare a brochure on their vacation. While they are doing this they will also need to use the internet to get pictures off of so that they can have pictures also.

In lesson 13, the students will put together a presentation either using Kid Pix or using Power Point. In this presentation they must try to persuade the rest of the class that they have the best vacation spot.

Rubric for Presentation:
                  Using at least 10 pictures in presentation 10 pts.

                  Showing the cheapest amount for the flying with the car rental, route to drive with cost of gas, train ticket, and bus ticket 40 pts for each

                  At least 3 activities 3 pts.

                  Restaurants to eat at 5 pts.

                  Type of weather in that area for the time of travel 5 pts.

                  Total points (possible 63 pts.)

SHARE YOUR IDEAS:

The student will have a be putting together a travel brochure and kidpix or power point presentation on their spring break vacation. They will then present this to the class in order to persuade the class that their trip is the best.

STUDENT AND TEACHER ROLES: The role of the teacher is to facilitate during the class activities. The teacher will give the students the list of the expectations for the day and then will be assisting and supervising the students while they are working on their projects. The role of the students is to be working with their group member(s) to find all of the material and place it together in an organized manner for the day.

ADDITIONAL REFERENCE PRINT RESOURCES STUDENTS MAY USE :

Encyclopedias, Travel brochures that the teacher will get from a travel agent, Any books that your school library has about the different states, Almanac

THE FOLLOWING BOOKS CONTAIN INFORMATION ABOUT THIS TOPIC:

FOR ADDITIONAL ONLINE INFORMATION AND MEDIA PERTAINING TO THIS UNIT, TEACHERS MAY WANT TO USE THE FOLLOWING INTERNET ARTICLES: (minimum 6 sites)

Title 1: Individualizing Unit Destination: Anywhere

URL 1: http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/letsnet/noframes/Subjects/math/

Description 1: This web site has different lesson plans about planning a trip. In order to get to the specific lessons you need to scroll down to destinations. There are a couple of lesson plans that have different activities that the students can do in order to prepare for this unit.

Title 2: Education Center--Armchair Travelers

URL 2: http://www.eduplace.com/rdg/gen_act/travel/armchair.html

Description 2: This is a social studies lesson plan that has the students travel virtually. There are different activities that the students must complete as they go through the lesson. There is an idea for a treasure hunt that the students must do. This site also has links for the students to use on their journey.

Title 3: Education Place--Activity Search

URL 3: http://www.eduplace.com/activity/

Description 3: At this web site the teacher can pick any theme that they want and it will take you to lessons that specifically deal with that theme/topic. There is all kinds of topics from government, to science and a range of all grade levels.

Title 4: Cultures, Geography, Reading

URL 4: http://www.eduplace.com/ss/act/planvac.html

Description 4: This lesson plan has a rubric that the teacher used for grading part of the students work. This rubric can help the teacher decide how to create a rubric themselves. It can also give them other ideas of how they want to go about this unit.

Title 5: edHelper.com

URL 5: http://www.edhelper.com/

Description 5: This site has several different reproducible worksheets in all subject areas and topics. The teacher may want to find a worksheet that refreshes the students memory about how to find the average of numbers.

Title 6: The Vacation of a Lifetime...a real-life vacation planning experience

URL 6: http://www.secondaryenglish.com/vacationofalifetime.html

Description 6: In this unit the teacher has the students give the different perspective on planning a vacation. The students can decide to travel anywhere in the world as long as it is not in the United States. The students not only have to plan what they are doing on the trip but they also have to be aware of the customs.

Title 7: Microsoft Education

URL 7: http://www.microsoft.com/education/default.asp?ID=GeographyGeometry

Description 7: This lesson involves both geography and geometry. It gives a nice perspective on how to involve the two subjects together. The lesson is detailed on how involved math can be in geography.

Title 8: Brochure

URL 8: http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/king/learningusa/ustemplate.htm

Description: This page has a printable brochure template that a teacher put together. There are things that need to be changed on it but at least it is a place to start.

RELEVANT INFORMATION, STUDENTS WILL VISIT THE FOLLOWING WEB SITES: (minimum 6 sites) Title 1: Travelocity

URL 1: http://www.travelocity.com/?Service=TRAVELOCITY

Purpose of Use 1: The purpose of this web site is so that the students have access to the cheaper tickets, different hotels, car rentals. This web site shows the students the prices so that they can compare them to other prices that they have.

Description 1: On travelocity it has a place to click for flights, flights with hotel, flights with hotel and car rental. The web site shows all of the prices and what is available in that area.

Title 2: Expedia

URL 2: http://www.expedia.com/daily/home/default.asp?rfrr=-1065

Purpose of Use 2: This web site has the same purpose as travelocity to give the students an idea of the cost of the things, i.e. airfare, car rental, hotels. On expedia it also gives you access to driving directions which then tells how many miles it is and how long it will take to get there.

Description 2: This is a good web site for the students to use because they will have access to all of the information.

Title 3: USAToday--Weather

URL 3: http://www.usatoday.com/weather/whistory.htm

Purpose of Use 3: To find the temperature in the different parts of the United States from past years.

Description 3: The students are able to access the average temperature on specific locations and specific months not the days.

Title 4: National Climatic Data Center

URL 4: http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/ncdc.html

Purpose of Use 4: To find the temperature in different parts of the United States from past years.

Description 4: The student are able to see the average temperature of a specific state but not the specific town. The students are able to look up a specific month.

Title 5: Funjet Vacations

URL 5: http://www.funjet.com/plan/index.asp

Purpose of Use 5: To help the students plan their vacations

Description 5: This web page allows the students to plan a trip and then to change the dates to see if the price increases or decreases. The students also have the opportunity to see what activities they can purchase through this web site in their specific location.

Title 6: Web Crawler

URL 6: http://www.city.net/ type in city and it tells you what you can do

Purpose of Use 6: To help the students plan what they would like to do on their trip and what there is to do in that area.

Description 6: Type in the city that you want to look up and it will tell you what you can do in that area. They give you suggestions and then all you have to do is click on that activity and then it will take you to the web site.