Modeling Prompt

Tell students that they have complete freedom to decide what type of trip they want to plan such as a plane trip, car trip, cruise, or hiking trip. But that they have to keep track of all their assumptions and account for all expenses.

Monitor for students who try to plan something too easy, such as an all-inclusive vacation or a “staycation” where all expenses can be spent on food and entertainment. Ask them to come up with a secondary plan that requires more complicated travel plans (the cruise gets canceled due to bad weather or their dwelling is being remodeled and they have to leave).

Consider building in at least one structured opportunity for groups to iterate their model. For example, a “dry run” or a “first draft” presentation to a tiny audience. The job of the audience is to poke holes in the vacation plan, asking things like “How do you plan to get from the airport to the hotel?” “What are you going to eat on your travel days?” or “That expense seems unreasonably low, how did you research it?” Then, the presenter has time to incorporate the feedback into their final draft.  

If you would like to take the focus off of spending money, instead of planning a vacation, students could plan a backcountry hiking trip instead where they consider things like: 

• Where do you want to go?
• For how long? How far can you hike each day?
• How much do you pack, what are weight restrictions?
• How much food do you need and how much can you carry?
   

1. You are planning a vacation. Start by deciding:
   1. Who is going on this trip?
   2. What type of vacation are you taking?
   3. What is your budget?
2. Make a detailed plan outlining the logistics and all expenses for the vacation.
3. Now, analyze your plan. Categorize the different expenses of your trip. 
   1. What percentage of your budget are you spending on different categories?  
   2. Which of the costs are one-time costs and which costs depend on the length of the vacation, or on the number of people going on vacation? 
   3. Describe how the total cost changes if you change the length of the trip or the number of people. 
4. Prepare a presentation about your vacation. Include a visual display that would help somebody who wants to take a similar vacation on a different budget decide how long their vacation could be.
    

Tell students that they have complete freedom to decide what type of trip they want to plan such as a plane trip, car trip, cruise, or hiking trip. But that they have to keep track of all their assumptions and account for all expenses.

Monitor for students who try to plan something too easy, such as an all-inclusive vacation or a “staycation” where all expenses can be spent on food and entertainment. Ask them to come up with a secondary plan that requires more complicated travel plans (the cruise gets canceled due to bad weather or their dwelling is being remodeled and they have to leave).

Consider building in at least one structured opportunity for groups to iterate their model. For example, a “dry run” or a “first draft” presentation to a tiny audience. The job of the audience is to poke holes in the vacation plan, asking things like “How do you plan to get from the airport to the hotel?” “What are you going to eat on your travel days?” or “That expense seems unreasonably low, how did you research it?” Then, the presenter has time to incorporate the feedback into their final draft.  

If you would like to take the focus off of spending money, instead of planning a vacation, students could plan a backcountry hiking trip instead where they consider things like: 

• Where do you want to go?
• For how long? How far can you hike each day?
• How much do you pack, what are weight restrictions?
• How much food do you need and how much can you carry?
   

You are planning a vacation for a family of 4. Your budget for the trip is $3,500. This must cover:

• transportation
• lodging (like hotels or camp sites)
• food
• entertainment

1. Make a detailed plan with the activities and expenses for the trip.
2. Now, analyze your vacation. Categorize the different expenses of your trip. 
   1. What percentage of your budget are you spending on different categories?  
   2. Which of the costs are one-time costs and which costs depend on the length of the vacation? 
   3. What other quantities could be considered variables?
   4. Describe how the total cost changes if you increase the length of the trip.
3. Prepare a presentation about your trip and all expenses. Include what percentages of the total budget are spent in the different categories. Describe mathematically how the cost of the vacation changes if you increase the length of the trip.