Subject: Mathematics, Career Exploration, Economics, Technology

Grade Level: Grade 5, adaptable for grades 4-8

Materials: Internet access: Salary guides, shopping guides and advertisements for real estate, cars, groceries, and other living expenses. Word processing program, with use of spreadsheet/graphing tools (as in Appleworks or Microsoft Office); printer, preferably with color ink. Folders/large paper for students to create project portfolios.

About: After interviewing adults working in several fields of interest and using the Internet to research starting salaries, each student selects a career. The related salaries becomes their starting points as they develop their monthly budgets. Taxes are taken out as a flat percentage, and then the students calculate one third of the remainder as their maximum housing budget. They select an apartment or house, and then figure their various monthly expenses with online shopping tools. The highlight is the purchase of a car! Each budget item is calculated as a percent of the total income, and is expressed using spreadsheet and graphing tools.

Students build their Cost of Life folders as they complete each phase of the project, ultimately creating a reality-based compilation reflecting their financial priorities and obligations. On the cover is an illustration of the chosen career, with a brief essay explaining the reasons for this choice. The first page shows the salary and calculation of basic income tax and housing expenses, with housing not to exceed one third of income, and includes the ad clipping for the residence. The next page details the student's grocery budget, and so on. The last page of the folder includes a pie chart showing the breakdown of all of the expenses which together comprise the "Cost of Life."

Through this exploration, students start to consider the long-term impact of their life choices. One student changed her career choice after realizing that her peers who had elected professional jobs were going to make much higher salaries. Others have decided to go with lower-paying, more creative pursuits as a result of their interview research, and then have had the opportunity to see how these decisions impact their options as a consumer. Some students have minimized their housing costs by sharing apartments, and then have dealt with negotiations of what are shared as opposed to individual expenses when it comes to cable service and grocery selection. All students begin to appreciate the difference between variable and fixed expenses, as they see that certain expenses are roughly the same regardless of income. In using loan calculators for their housing and automotive decisions, they explore algebraic functions as they vary the terms and interest rates ... and begin to realize the importance of maintaining a good credit rating. Throughout this unit, students practice calculation and estimation in the context of real-life problem solving.

Teachers who implement this unit will find it helpful to set limited time frames for each phase, as students can become very absorbed in the various processes. In the initial phase of career research and selection, it may be helpful to begin by brainstorming possible interview subjects, in order to create a pool of possible candidates. Teachers can also select and provide web references, such as michaelgraves.com (product design and architecture), which students can use as "interview" resources. Recent classes have conducted email and speaker-phone interviews of an architect, a doctor, published authors, and an astronomer. This first phase is the most time-consuming, but is rich in subjective learning and in establishing a sense of motivation and investment on the part of the students. Each subsequent phase is a distinct "chapter" in the project; teachers can intersperse this with other units or use it as a "center" or as a Friday activity - but interest may lag if any one phase goes on too long. Students will need guidelines or graphic organizers to keep track of their information, especially with the online loan calculators. The individual portfolios are a good way to sum up the learning for each phase, and can then be stored by the teacher until it's time to add the next piece. Upon completion, each student will have an impressive presentation of work generated throughout the unit.

Kristin Baker

bakerk@warrennet.org

Mansfield Township Elementary School
50 PortMurray Road
Port Murray, New Jersey 07840

Kristin Baker is the teacher and coordinator of the Gifted and Talented program at Mansfield Township Elementary, a K-6 single-school district. Her current position evolved from her creative and engaging math explorations, designed to challenge learners at all levels of ability in her 5th and 6th grade classrooms. Her 6th grade mathematics unit, "Design Your Dream House," was selected as a 2006 New Jersey Best Practice award winner.