Math 7 – Technology Integration Project

Student webquest: http://mathninja.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/If-My-Life-Started-Today-Webquest.htm#7b

Mathematical Objectives:

●     Students will find a percent of a number.

●     Students will understand why creating a budget is important and will see that there are many factors that attribute to creating a balanced budget.

●     Students will understand the practical application of percents.

7^th Grade Standards:

7.RP.3 – Use proportional relationships to solve multistep ratio and percent problems. Examples: simple interest, tax, markups and markdowns, gratuities and commissions, fees, percent increase and decrease, percent error.

7.EE.2 – Understand that rewriting an expression in different forms in a problem context can shed light on the problem and how the quantities in it are related. For example, a + 0.05a = 1.05a means that “increase by 5% is the same as “multiply by 1.05”.

7.NS.3 – Solve real-world and mathematical problems involving the four operations with rational numbers.

If My Life Started Today Teacher Directions

Exittix (warm-up) – Questions are a review of percents that we have been covering. Groups will be formed based on the data collected.

1. Show the following video to introduce the idea of budgeting to students:
2. Students will be completing the following webquest: http://mathninja.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/If-My-Life-Started-Today-Webquest.htm. In this webquest, students will be taken through a series of web-based activities in order to create a balanced budget.
1. Task 1 – Calculate your salary, based on your current math grade. Students will figure out what their salary is per year, per month, and per hour.
1. Students will use their salary (from current math grade) to pick a profession that fits their salary criteria. Once they have selected a profession, they will notate its median salary. The site thoroughly details how to translate the median salary into their actual monthly and hourly wage. 
2. The following website could be used as a supplement to the webquest. While it doesn't provide salary information, it is a very kid-friendly site with detailed explanations and videos to accompany various careers.
1. https://kids.usa.gov/teens/jobs/index.shtml 
2. Task 2 – Students will determine how much of their money will be taxed. Next they will figure out their yearly and monthly net income after taxes are taken out.
1. This website gives students a little bit of background information on taxes and why they are typically collected as percentages. The site is very kid-friendly!
1. http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/economy/taxes.htm
   
3. Task 3 – Students will use the provided websites to determine whether they want to rent or purchase a house. Using this information, they will approximate property taxes per year and per month, as well as home insurance. Whichever route students choose to go, they will have a monthly home cost at the conclusion of the task.
1. To provide students with some background knowledge about the pros and cons to both buying and renting, the following videos can be used to supplement this task.
1. https://www.bettermoneyhabits.com/home-buying-renting/deciding-to-buy-or-rent/should-i-rent-or-buy.html 
2. http://www.businessinsider.com/buy-or-rent-city-mortgage-sale-house-2015-1  
4. Task 4 –Students will find a car, calculate taxes, and estimate gas and insurance. For purposes of this assignment, students will only have the option to buy a car (not lease).
5. Task 5 – Using a chart, students will calculate utilities, such as electric, gas and water, cable, telephone, and internet. It is important to note that some apartment already provide some of this utilities – students can save money here if those are already included in the monthly home cost.  
6. Task 6 – Lastly students will budget money for food, cell phones, health insurance, clothes, and entertainment.
7. Task 7 - Students will figure out their total monthly budget, using their Monthly Expenses worksheet.
8. Task 8 – Students will sum up their findings in a typed 1 page essay. Here students will have the opportunity to discuss lessons learned and tie in those lessons to their middle school experience. What can they do now to achieve their dream jobs? Are they on the right path?
9. Task 9 – This task is not listed in the webquest. Students will be responsible for creating either a powerpoint or a poster which displays the highlights of their budget. For example, they could include a picture/video of the profession that they choose along with basic salary information. They would include an image of their house or apartment and car, along with pricing information. Students would end with a summary of their monthly budget in the form of an excel spreadsheet. At the end of the webquest, students would have the opportunity to share their budgets with each other in a booth-style set up, where some students would be presenting/sharing while other students watched/listened and vice versa.

References

Gillespey, A. (n.d.) If my life started today [webquest]. Retrieved from http://mathninja.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/If-My-Life-Started-Today-Webquest.htm#7b