ProjectTemplate

Name

LisaLiPuma

Date

June2015

ProjectTitle

HowDoYouMakeItWork?

GradeLevel/SubjectArea(s)

5th/6thGrade

Purpose

Studentswillgetanideaoftheprocessofcreatinga
budget.Theywillapplytheirmathskillstomakedecisions
andsolvereallifeproblems.

Directions:
Youareabouttostartanewjobinanewcity.Youneed
tostartyourlifebydoingthefollowingtasks:
Chooseyourcareerpath
Findsomewheretolive
Findamodeoftransportation(car,buspass,subway
pass,etc.)
Createaweeklygasbudget
Createyourmonthlygrocerylist

CCLS/ISTEStandards

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.5.OA.A.2

Writesimpleexpressionsthatrecordcalculationswithnumbers,
andinterpretnumericalexpressionswithoutevaluatingthem.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.5.NBT.A.3

Read,write,andcomparedecimalstothousandths.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.5.NBT.B.5

Fluentlymultiplymultidigitwholenumbersusingthestandard
algorithm.

ISTE.1A

Applyexistingknowledgetogeneratenewideas,products,
processes.

ISTE.1B

Createoriginalworksasameansorpersonalorgroup
expression.

ISTE.4A

Identifyanddefineauthenticproblemsandsignificantquestions
forinvestigation.

ISTE.4C

Collectandanalyzedatatoidentifysolutionsand/ormake
informeddecisions.


ISTE.4D

Usemultipleprocessesanddiverseperspectivestoexplore
alternativesolutions.

DesiredOutcomeKnowledge

Studentswillbeabletochooseacareerandlearnabout
theircareer.Whatisinvolvedinthiscareerfield?How
muchmoneywillyoumake?Whattypeoftrainingdoyou
need?Howmanystudentloanswillyouhavetopayoff?

Studentswilllearntheirincomeamountandusetheir
mathskillstobudgetfortheirmonthlycosts.

Studentswillchoosefromdifferenttypesofhomestolive
in,carstodrive,andotherexpenses.Theywilllearn
abouteachcostandseewhattheycanaffordbasedon
theincometheyhave.

DesiredOutcomeSkills

Studentswillusetheirbasicandcomplexmathskills.
Someoftheseskillsincludeadding,subtracting,
multiplying,anddividingdecimals,fractions,and
percentages.Studentswillusecommunicationskillswhen
learningabouttheircareerandmakingdecisionsabout
theirbudget.

EssentialQuestion(s)

Howdoyoumakeitwork?

Youareabouttostartanewjobinanewcity.Youneed
tostartyourlifebydoingthefollowingtasks:
Chooseyourcareerpath
Findsomewheretolive
Findamodeoftransportation(car,buspass,subway
pass,etc.)
Createaweeklygasbudget
Createyourmonthlygrocerylist

ProjectPlan
Phase1:Activity(ies)tosetthe
stagefortheproject

Tosetthestagefortheprojectstudentswillparticipatein
careerdays.Differentadultsfromthecommunitywillvisit
forthedayandpresenttostudentsabouttheircareer.
Studentswillchoosethepresentationsthatinterestthem
mostandtheywilllearnallaboutthecareer:whattraining
isrequired?Isacollegedegreerequired?Whatarethe
mainresponsibilitiesofthejob?Attheendoftheday,

studentswillchooseonecareerfromthatdayastheir
favoriteandsomethingtheycanenvisionthemselves
doinginthefuture.
Phase2:Activity(ies)that
engagestudentsinlearning
(includingfieldtrips,other
explorations,visitingexperts,
etc.)

Afterlearningfromtheexperts,studentswillusethe
website
http://www.careeronestop.org/
tolearnmore
abouttheircareer.Specifically,studentswillbelooking
forhowmuchmoneythejobmakesandhowmuch
trainingisrequired.Studentswillseethathigherpaying
jobsoftenrequiremoretimeandmoneyinthebeginning,
leavingmoremoneyyouoweintheend.Studentswill
takenotesabouttheircareerusinggraphicorganizers.

Basedontheircareerchoiceandsalary,theteacherwill
assignstudentsadesignatedstudentloanpaymentthey
mustmakeeachmonth(example:higherdegreeswill
owe$200.00/month,lesstimelydegreeswillowe
$50.00/month,nodegreeowesnone).

Onceeachstudentknowstheirmonthlysalaryandloan
payment,studentsarefreetobeingsettinguptheirlife.
Teacherswillbeassigneddifferentroles:landlord,
grocerystore,cardealership,andgasstation.First,
studentswillexploretheirlivingoptions.Theywilllookat
differentpicturesofapartmentsandhomes,each
showingamonthlypaymentthatincludesrentandall
utilities.Basedontheircareerchoices,studentswill
decideonwheretheywanttoliveandwillpaythe
landlord.Thelandlordwilltellthemhowmanymilesaway
theirhomeisfromwork.

Next,studentswillvisitthecardealershipwheretheywill
decidewhichcartobuy,iftheywouldliketobuyany.
Theywillhavetoconsideryear,model,andgasmileage.
Atthecardealership,thecurrentcostofgas(pergallon).
Usingthemileagefromworkandhome,theywillhaveto
calculatehowmanymilestheyneedtodriveeachweek
forworkandhowmuchmoneytheymayneedtoset
asideforgas.Studentsmayalsopurchasetheirbusand
subwaypasshere.

Afterdecidingontransportation,studentswillgotothe
grocerystoreandgasstationtoseewhatgroceriesand
gastheywillneedfortheweek.Usingthecurrentgrocery
ads,studentswilldecidewhichgroceriestobuy.Included
withthegroceryadswillbediscounts,coupons,and
nutritionalinformationabouteachfood.Studentswill

createtheirlistandseehowmuchmoneytheywillhave
leftforgas.Studentsmustkeepinmindthatsome
groceriesmayneedtobepurchasedweeklywhilesome
mayonlyneedtobeboughtmonthly.Certainfoodswill
have8%tax(sodapop),andstudentsmustcalculatethat
intotheirbill.Iftheycannotaffordgroceriesorgas,they
mayhavetogobacktotheirlandlordorcardealership
andreconsidertheiroptions.

Throughoutthisentireprocess,studentswillhavepaper
andaclipboardtodoshowtheirwork(adding,
subtracting,multiplying,etc.)Studentscandowhatever
theychoose(withinreason)tomaketheirbudgetwork
(becomeroommates,carpooltowork,etc.)
Phase3:Activity(ies)inwhich
studentssharetheirknowledge
inaculminatingevent,aswellas
reflectontheprojectandtheir
learnings

Tofinishtheproject,studentswillcreateaposter
presentationoftheirchosenlife.Theywillincludephotos
oftheircareer,home,car,andgroceries.Theywill
includeinformationabouttheircareerandtheirbudget.
Studentswillcometogetherasaclasstopresenttheir
chosenlife.Didtheymakeitwork?Studentswillshare
theirchosencareersandeachstepthroughtheir
budgetingprocess.Studentswillsharewithotherclasses
intheirgrade.

ProjectSchedule
TimeFrame
Week1

Objective
Studentswilldemonstratetheability
toactivelylistentotheguest
speakersaboutdifferentcareers.

Studentswillchoosetheirfavorite
careerofthatdaytofurther
research.

Studentswillbeabletouse
http://www.careeronestop.org/
tofill
inthegraphicorganizerabouttheir
career.

Task
Thetaskforstudentsinthisphaseis
toactivelylistentotheirguest
speakers.Theyshouldtakenotes,
askquestions,andparticipatein
discussionaboutthepresented
career.Attheendofthe
presentations,studentswillchoose
thecareerthatwasmostinteresting
tothem.

Thenexttaskisforstudentstofind
moreinformationontheircareer.
Theywillhaveguidedquestionsto
answerintheirgraphicorganizer
aboutsalary,training,andjob
responsibilities.

Week2

Studentswillbeintroducedtothe
entireHowDoYouMakeItWork?
project.

Thefinaltaskthisweekisforstudents
tobeintroducedtotheentireproject.
Studentscanaskallquestionsthey
have.Studentswillbegiventheir
career,salary,andloanpayment
informationattheendofthisweek.

Studentswilldemonstratetheability
toproblemsolve.

Studentswilldemonstratetheability
toworkcollaboratively.

Studentswillbeabletocreateand
presentaposterincludingtheirfinal
life.

Studentswillmovefromroomtoroom
astheycomparetheirdesiredlifestyle
totheirsalary.Theywillshowtheir
workastheybudgetwhattheycan
andcannotafford.Thiswilltake
multipleattemptsoftrialanderror.

Studentsspend34daysworkingwith
theteachers(landlord,cardealer,
etc.)andotherstudentstocreatetheir
life.

Studentswillcreateaposterincluding
picturesandinformationabouttheir
job,home,transportation,grocerylist,
andgasexpenses.Thestudentswill
presenttotheclass,explainingtheir
thinkingprocessthroughoutthe
project.

Monitoring/AssessingtheProject
Benchmarks/Formative
Assessments

Iwillcheckforunderstandingalongthewaybymeeting
individuallywitheachstudenttoseetheprogresstheyve
madetowardasuccessfulbudget.Iwillbeusing
checklistsforthestudentstoseethattheyvehitcertain
deadlinesfortheproject.Forexample:studentsmust
havefoundsomewheretolivebyacertainday(students
maygobacktochangethisbasedontheirfurther
exploration).

AssessingtheProject(Include
rubric(s))

IwillassesstheprojectbyusingarubricthatIpreviously
gavethestudentswhichcontainswhatIamlookingforin
theirbudgetandaseparaterubricfortheposter
presentation.Someoftheserequirementsinclude:Iwas
abletopaymymonthlyloanpayment,Ihaveenoughgas
money,Ihaveenoughnutrients(example:1productwith
calcium)onmygrocerylist,etc.Iwouldalsoassessthe

studentsbyobservingtheirmathcomputationsand
assistingwherenecessary.Finally,Iwillassesstheir
overallposterandpresentation.
EvaluatingtheExperience

Iwillevaluatethestudentsexperiencebyaskingthemto
respondtoaticketoutthedoor.Theywillanswerall
questions:Whatwasyourfavoritepartofthisproject?
Whatpartsdidyoufinddifficult?Howmightyouchange
thisproject?Whatdidyoulearnfromthisproject?How
canyouusewhatyoulearnedinyourfuture?Iwillcollect
theirtickets.