Brief overview

This situation consists of planning a trip where the students will learn about the expenses involved in travelling. They will also experiment with converting currency, which is necessary when travelling outside of the country.

Subject area(s)

Mathematics
• Competency 1: Solve a situational problem
Analysis of the situation, appropriate organization and use of concepts and strategies

Explanation of the teaching goal

– Evaluate the costs of travelling to a foreign country
– Become aware of the different values of currencies
– Related costs when travelling

Expected outcomes

Ensure that the students understand that travelling involves numerous expenses, and ask them to plan the related secondary costs. The intention is not to follow a budget but to be well aware of the costs that travelling entails.

Role-playing

Role-playing can be done by having the teacher ask a series of questions introducing the idea of travelling:
– Do you like to travel?
– Have you ever gone on a trip?
– Have you ever participated in planning a trip?
– How do you plan a trip?
* Make an organizational chart of the ideas on the board to highlight the most important elements that should be considered when planning a trip.

Achievement

Starting from the organizational ideas chart completed earlier, the students will plan, in groups of 2, a trip to a foreign country of their choice by filling out the form available in the appendix, based on their Internet research.

To help achieve this, we offer three sites that will allow them to research a trip:
– VosVacances.ca (in French only)
– clubvoyages.com/
– envoyagesarabais.com (in French only)
*We do not wish to promote any particular site, but we have chosen the first three results from a search using “trouver un voyage (“find a trip”)
We also suggest a currency conversion website from the Bank of Canada: http://www.bankofcanada.ca/rates/exchange/daily-converter/

Reinvestment

Group discussion on what the students learned from this activity. In light of this, stress the different currencies and their respective values compared to the Canadian dollar.

Provision

This situation should be carried out using computers with access to the Internet for each group of two students.

Required material

– Appendix: Student file
– Pencil
– Blackboard
– Internet access

Evaluation tracks

Mathematics: evaluation of the ability to understand a situation, to use the appropriate knowledge, to follow steps to arrive at a solution (C. 1)
HThe teacher is free to adapt each section based on the group and as the situation unfolds.