UNIT TITLE: Bon Voyage Unit                 Author:Tia Campbell E-Mail Address: tcampbell@oprfhs.org  School:Oak Park & River Forest High School: Oak Park, IL School Home Page URL: http://www.oprfhs.org  THEME : Around the World Travel BROAD CONCEPT:Cultural Appreciation and Finance Management GRADES: 8-10 INTEGRATED SUBJECTS: Math, English, Geography, Social Studies, Art

UNIT GOALS AND PURPOSE:
Students will use several technological instruments, such as the internet, spreadsheets, word processing, and publisher to plan a vacation given a limited budget.

 

TIME FRAME: 10 days
 
 

OBJECTIVES:

Students should be able to:

• Use a spreadsheet to convert currencies and decide how budgeted funds will be allotted
• Design a brochure for the location being visited
• Use the internet to research the selected location, travel needs, and planned activities
• Use a word processing software to keep a journal of daily events and activities
• Learn about a different place and culture in the world

• General materials and equipment  none

• Technology tools Computer

• Software Used in this Unit :

Illinois State Standards

• Model and solve contextualized problems using various representations, such as graphs, tables, and equations.
• 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 solvin
• Recognize and apply mathematics in contexts outside of mathematics 
• Create and use representations to organize, record, and communicate mathematical ideas  
• Select, apply, and translate among mathematical representations to solve problems  
• Use representations to model and interpret physical, social, and mathematical phenomena
• Judge the effects of such operations as multiplication, division, and computing powers and roots on the magnitudes of quantities;
• Judge the reasonableness of numerical computations and their results.
• Understand the meaning of equivalent forms of expressions, equations, inequalities, and relations; 
• Write equivalent forms of equations, inequalities, and systems of equations and solve them with fluency—mentally or with paper and pencil in simple cases and using technology in all cases; 
• Use symbolic algebra to represent and explain mathematical relationships; 
• Draw reasonable conclusions about a situation being modeled.  

STUDENT ACTIVITIES WHICH WILL PROMOTE ENGAGED LEARNING

You’ve been working hard and have decided that it is time to take a well-deserved vacation.  You have managed to save up $3000 which you hope will be enough to vacation for 7 days.  You will need to pick a destination and plan your budget and activities for the 7-day trip.

Day One:  Choosing a Place to Visit
Use the internet to research possible places outside of the United States to visit.  The country you pick must use a different currency.
Once you have decided on a location, use a travel website to look for things you would like to do, such as cultural events, museums, landmarks, food, and/or shopping.  Some travel sites that you might find helpful:
http://dir.yahoo.com/Recreation/Travel/
 
Select a destination and make a list of all of your findings.

Days Two and Three:  Persuading your Friends
Pick some friends that you would like to join you and make a brochure using Microsoft Publisher for the destination you are planning to visit.  The brochure should include the following:

• A map of the location you have selected which highlights or pinpoints the places you are planning to visit within that location.
• Pictures and descriptions of the places you plan to visit and descriptions of what makes the location you have selected so appealing.

Day Four:  Planning your trip
Once you have convinced your friends to join you at your selected destination, it’s time to start planning your budget and activities.
First, you will need to convert your money to foreign currency. Use the website below to find the current exchange rate:
http://www.xe.net/ucc/
Once you’ve exchanged your money, you need to figure out how you are going to spend it. You need to pay for airfare, rental car or cab fees, food, shopping and activities.  Include a list of all of the websites for flight and rental car rates you are using and restaurants and activities you plan to partake in as well as the amount of money in the foreign currency that you have to spend.  Use the following websites to help you:
http://www.expedia.com
http://www.travelocity.com

Day Five:  Budgeting your trip
Once you have figured out your plans, you need to prepare your budget.  Estimate the cost of food, transportation, entertainment, and shopping.  Using Microsoft Excel, make a spreadsheet using your currency conversion to convert the amounts in each category.  Add up your totals and make sure that you stay within your budget.  Make sure to use formulas to do your conversions.

Day Six:  Getting Ready for your Trip
Using Microsoft Word, put an itinerary together in a table to plan out your activities for your 7 day trip.  

Day Seven:  Packing for your Trip
Using Inspiration, make a list of travel items that you plan to take with you.  Make sure to check the weather so you can plan appropriately.
http://www.weather.com

Day Eight:  Taking your Trip

Write out a detailed daily journal entry for each day of your vacation.  Include detailed descriptions of activities, items purchased, and restaurants visited

Day Nine:  Scrapbooking Your Trip
Create a powerpoint presentation that documents the highlights of your vacation and describes your destination.  Make sure to include historical information about your destination
as well as digital pictures or pictures from the internet.  

Day Ten:   Telling about your Trip
Present your bon voyage trip to your classmates.  Make sure to bring copies of your brochure and your powerpoint presentation.

SHARE YOUR IDEAS:
Students will share and present their brochures and powerpoint presentations on their destination.

Do you have the following? 
Before turning in your project, look over the checklist to make sure you have the following items:

• Websites including currency conversions, airfare and rental car rates, restaurants and activities
• Brochure with pictures and map of destination
• Spreadsheet including budget in the foreign currency
• Travel checklist
  
• Journal and itinerary for the 7-day trip.
• Powerpoint presentation
  

 Final Project Rubric
 

STUDENT AND TEACHER ROLES:
  Student will work individually with general guidance from the teacher.  The teacher acts as more of a facilitator, while the student is actively involved in completing the assigned tasks needing little to no direction besides the written tasks.  The students should be actively researching, creating, and engaging in the activities.
 

ADDITIONAL REFERENCE PRINT RESOURCES STUDENTS MAY USE :

World Book Encyclopedia
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: