Links to the Foundation for the Atlantic Canada Arts Education Curriculum:

• Organizing Strands and General Curriculum Outcomes: Creating, Making, and Presenting.
  • Students will be expected to create and/or present, collaboratively and independently, expressive products in the arts for a range of audiences and purposes.

Brief Overview of the Lesson:

The students will create a “mind map” of the cost of running a household and present their ideas to the class.

Estimated Time Required for Implementation:

One class period

Materials Needed:

large paper and markers

Suggested Implementation Strategy:

• Ask the class to think about all the necessary costs that their family incurs over the course of a month.
• Arrange the students in groups of 4–5.
• Tell them first to brainstorm their ideas about the cost running a home.
• They are to think about how they will represent these ideas, using pictures only, to create a mind map.
• Share their mind maps with the class.

Evaluation:

• Ask the students if they were aware of the cost of running a household. Then ask them how they personally can help their families reduce some of these costs (for example, turning off lights to reduce hydro costs, taking shorter showers to lower water bills).

Options for Consideration:

• If available, magazine pictures could be used instead to make a collage of the cost of running a household.

Extended Learning Opportunities:

• Ask the students to discuss with their family what the costs are per month for these necessities and record their findings in chart form.

Sharing Opportunity:

• Post a picture of the mind maps online for other classes to see.