Process
Main
Question:
How
would each team plan a full-filled weeklong vacation to Europe for
three
people from
three different generations on $6,000 or less?
Step
1:
Students
choose
their destination (the land
of
their ancestors, as agreed upon by all team members).
Which
country in Western Europe will
each group visit?
You
will probably want to give your students a list of countries
they may choose.
Step
2:
Students
divide
up the Roles and Responsibilities between team members.
They read the Roles and Responsibilities
carefully
then
divide up the research tasks according to their roles.
Students will print and fill out the KWL chart to help get started. You may
need to explain how the KWL chart works if students are unfamiliar with
the concept.
Step
3:
Students
research their country.
Each
partner will work on his or her own
research tasks. Some items you may want the groups to learn about
include:
- Transportation
to, from, and within the country
- Culture
and attractions (what to see and do there)
- Customs
to know about and respect
- Language(s)
spoken there
- Native
cuisine, including specialties they may want to try
- Geographical
features relevant to their proposed trip
- Different
regions of the country
- Climate,
especially during the summer when their proposed trip will take place
- Currency,
including the current exchange rate
Resources Click on this
link to access valuable sources of information.
Students
also record
what they learned about their country.
Note: An
excellent example of a note taking sheet you can print out ahead of
time and photocopy is found at http://www.ri.net/schools/East_Greenwich/notesheet.htm.
Step
4:
Each
team begins
to plan a practical itinerary for their journey.
- As a
group, they will discuss where each family member would like to go and
what they
would like to
see (and do) on their trip.
- Teams will discuss
the pros and cons for each suggested activity.
- They will need to compromise
to find activities for each member of the family.
Step
5:
Each
team will calculate
the cost of the trip and create a realistic budget.
- They will create
an Excel spreadsheet to show
their proposed budget for the trip.
- Each team will make
sure to convert all prices to U.S. Dollars using Oanda.com,
The Currency Site 164TM Currency Converter or X-Rates.com
Currency Converter.
- Teams will make
sure their trip is possible for $6,000 or less at the current
exchange
rate.
- Groups will make
adjustments to their itinerary as necessary to stay within the allotted
budget.
Click
here for a list of Things to
Include in the Budget.
Note to teacher: You may wish to create a spreadsheet
template for students to use, and a sample of a detailed budget to show
them.
Step
6:
Students design an itinerary for their
trip using a
desktop publishing
application.
Ideally, show the class an example of
an
itinerary you have created so that they will be able to picture what
they are supposed to do. If possible, show them samples of some
brochures (good and bad) from local travel agents.
Let the students know which desktop publishing application (Publisher, PrintArtist, ClarisWorks,
AppleWorks, etc.) they will use to create their itinerary.
Should it be on one page or two? How do you want them to set up the
page? I usually have the students choose
Be sure to discuss the different design elements they will need to
consider, including graphics (Will they use photos or clip art?), color
(How much is enough? too much?), and organization. It should be
arranged chronologically, from the time they depart to the time they
return, with as much detail filled in as possible. They should be sure
to separate each day from the next, noting where they will spend the
night.
Note: I have not divided the
responsibilities for the actual end product. Students should split the
work between them, and complete it as equitably as possible. Or, if you
prefer, you may divide it up among them yourself. If one student is
great at spreadsheets, he or she could create the budget and the more
artistically-oriented teammates could work on the itinerary. There are
many skills involved in completing this WebQuest, and each student is
likely to be challenged.
Groups
need
to include a
bibliography to cite all sources. They may use one of the
following
online
resources to create their bibliography entries, then copy and paste
them
into a Microsoft Word
document.
EasyBib.com
NoodleTools
Make sure students know to click on Quick
Cite, the free resource.
Otherwise, you need a subscription to use NoodleTools.
Step
7:
Project
Evaluation and Discussion
-
How
did each team work together?
- Did
each team member perform the same amount of work?
- What
did each group do well?
- What
could they have done better?
- What
did they learn?
Evaluation
Rubric
Step 8:
Students turn in their notes,
itinerary, bibliography, and budget.
Having each group turn in their notes will help you to
make sure that they have not plagiarized.
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