BUYING YOUR FIRST CAR

Have you ever dreamed of moving to another city in the United States? Think of the excitement involved in packing up all your things and selecting another place to settle that would be similar in population (number of people living there) to the largest city nearest you (i.e. Cincinnati, OH). You will get a chance to choose any city in the United States to compare and contrast the standard of living with Cincinnati.

Task

Use the Internet to select a city with a population similar to Cincinnati. Check the average temperature, average salary, average cost of housing, historical and recreational sights available, and population. Each group will give a presentation to the class using posters, dioramas, a PowerPoint presentation, or a collage. Be creative!

Resources

Process

Day 1 - The teacher will divide the students into groups of five. Each group will select a leader. Each leader will divide the group so as each member will be in charge of the five areas to be researched: temperature, salary, cost of housing, historical and recreational sights, and population. The leader will begin a brainstorming session on ways to accomplish the goal.

Day 2 - Use the web site http://www2.homefair.com/calc/salcalc.html to choose the city in the U.S. for your group to research. In the section on Guides, go into the portion called Choose Where to Live. Find a city with population close to the nearest city to where you live.

Day 3 - Each student will use the web site to find information on the cost of a 3 bedroom house, the climate, and the unemployment rate in the two cities.

Day 4 - Use the salary calculator to compare the cost of living in the two cities.

Day 5 - Use the site http://www.city.net to research the historical and recreational sights in the city you have chosen.

Day 6 - Use the site http://www.census.gov. In the U.S. Gazetteer print a map of the city for your class presentation.

Day 7, 8 & 9 - Use this time to develop how your group would like to present the information to the class. Compare and contrast the items researched in the two cities. Explain why you chose to move to the new city. Tell about the advantages and disadvantages of living there. Be creative in developing your presentation so it will be interesting to the rest of the class.

Evaluation

4 Points - All students show evidence of participation in the group work and presentation. Students explain the advantages and disadvantages of living in the chosen city. They show a map of the city. They compare and contrast the two cities in the areas of climate, average salary, cost of housing, historical and recreational sights, and population. They use interesting visual aids in their presentation.

3 Points - Students show evidence of understanding the concepts. four of the five mail areas are presented in an interesting manner to the class. It is clear that all students have participated in the research and presentation.

2 Points - The students have presented four of the five main areas, but have not done a thorough job their research and/or presentation. Most of the students show evidence that they have participated in the gathering of the research.

1 Point - The students show lack of developing their research. Their presentation lacks cooperation of all students in the group. They have failed to address the topics.

Conclusion

Have a class discussion following the presentations by all groups. Talk about any new web sites the groups have discovered that helped them develop their project. Discuss what went well with the presentations and what areas could have been improved upon. Discuss what was learned about the cities researched. Display the visual aids at the next Parent-Teacher Conference or Open House.

INTRODUCTION
If you were the primary shopper for your family, what would you do? Sound easy? Remember you need to feed all your family for the lowest price. Still sound easy? Well in this lesson you will use your health knowledge, math, and your family's preferences to feed your family for one day! If this still sounds easy, then you're ready to shop!

TASK
You will answer the following question: How much will it cost to feed your family for one day based on their choices from the food pyramid?

EVALUATION
Your grade will be based on how well you follow the above process. If you work in a group , it may consist of no more than three people . Your menus must include each person’s family. Your final report must indicate which part of the process was done by each team member. There will be one grade for the group.

CONCLUSION
By the end of this lesson ,you will have three delicious meals planned for your family. You have also discovered how much it costs to feed your family for only one day! Imagine what it would be like to plan healthy and inexpensive meals for one year! By the way, you have also used your math skills in a real world situation.

These lesson plans were created as part of the "Wandering the Web" Workshop sponsored by the Greater Cincinnati Center for Economic Education. These pages are examples of online lesson plans and are submitted for the benefit of teachers. The Center is not responsible for their content or accuracy.

You and a partner are interested in explaining to your friends about nutrition and how you can eat healthily and save money, too. You have $200 to spend at the grocery store and have some coupons, keeping in mind that it is Super Double Coupon Week at Kroger’s.

In order to be successful in your shopping endeavors, you must visit the internet and show proof that you did a thorough investigation of the much needed nutrients.

List each food on a separate sheet of paper and show the fat content and calories of that food.

Create a formal paper to be handed in and a presentation to be given to friends in the class.

Each pair will learn how to work cooperatively, the essentials of planning, and how intelligent decision making leads to success and how much money can be saved. Through their research students will become better able to shop and read labels concerning fat and calorie content. This will lead to better food habits in the future, hopefully.

Introduction

The Economic Institute of Global Travel is interviewing prospective employees for a position as Planning Expert. You are applying for this exciting job. As part of the interview process, you have been asked to submit original travel plans for a one week trip to France ,appropriate for high school students. The submission deadline is Sept.30,1998. You have been asked to keep costs under $2,000. You will have a follow-up interview with the hiring committee to determine your employment status .

Task

	Formulate an itinerary which best utilizes the resources available - travel sites, cities, provinces, museums, sports events, restaurants, beaches, shops, transportation options, accommodations, money and time limitations.
	Account for overnight accommodations, transportation, food ,and admission fees.You must decide what will make this trip attractive to your potential employer. You must carefully weigh the opportunity costs of your plan so that you can justify your choices to the Institute during your follow-up interview.
	Be creative with your itinerary. Make destinations and costs clear and easy to understand.

Resources

Here are some suggested resources to help you evaluate your travel and cost options.
Travel books from library or bookstore
Travel brochures available from travel agents
Currency exchange from newspaper financial page
Maps

Internet Web sites
http://travel.yahoo.com/Destinations/Europe//Countries/France/

This site will provide destinations, currency exchange, weather information and maps.
http://travel.yahoo.com/destinations/travelocity_air/yfinal_fits_roundtrip.html/

This site provides round-trip airflight information.
http://www.conciergerie.com/

This site details Paris museums, metro passes and hotels.
http://www.bonjour.com/wta/

This site gives information about the different regions of France, local events, map, and links to additional sites.
http://www.w3i.com/eng/HOME.HTM/

Here are listed restaurants ,hotels, map of Paris, transports, and other regions.
http://www.France.com/

General information on France will be found here.

Process

Take a general look at places you might want to visit and things you might like to do. Zero in on where you want to go and what you want to do.

Approximate costs by evaluating transportation options, accommodations, food options and admission prices.

Allocate time and money resources to fit your destination and activity plans.

Make a detailed itinerary with cost approximations.

Itinerary is due: . Interview will follow the next week. Hiring committee will ask you questions about the trip, sites, activities, and costs. Be prepared to justify opportunity costs, and allocation of time and money. Your employment status will be determined by your expertise.

Learning Advice

Decide what sounds fun and educational to you and also what would make the employer view your plan as a good one. Determine why you are choosing a particular destination or activity so you can justify your choices at the interview. Be specific in your plan, and don’t plan more than you can reasonably accomplish.

Evaluation

You will be given an employment status at the end of the interview process which includes successful completion of your itinerary and a follow-up interview.

Employment Status

A - Candidate exhibits high interest, careful planning, and travel expertise. Employment offered as a Planning Expert. (Equivalent to a 95% test score)

B - Candidate shows interest and ability in planning. Needs some help in fine tuning decisions. Employment offered as a Planning Assistant, (Equivalent to an 87% test score)

C - Candidate shows promise with fair planning ability. Needs to show more detail and responsible decision making. Part-time employment offered as free-lance agent. (Equivalent to a 79% test score)

D - Candidate exhibits low level interest and little depth in planning. No employment is offered. (Equivalent to a 71% test score)

F - Candidate failed to appear and is still unemployed due to lack of interest. (Equivalent to a 0 test score)

Conclusion

Upon conclusion of this interview process, you will be able to identify places of interest in France, have a concrete concept of travel costs as well as opportunity costs. You will have gained experience budgeting time and money. You are now competent to plan trips to other destinations. You can think more critically about how you make decisions for yourself and for an employer.

Ohio Economics

Introduction

Task

Resources

Process

Evaluation

Conclusion