Lesson Plan: How Would You Spend $1 Million?
The following lesson plan is geared toward high school students who are learning the basics of spreadsheets, Powerpoint, valuations and introductory finance. This lesson has been adapted from How to $pend a Million Dollar$.Lesson grade levels
9-12
Topics covered
Basic mathematics and finance, budgeting, understanding value, spreadsheets, researching
NCTM standards covered by this lesson
- Develop a deeper understanding of very large and very small numbers and of various representations of them.
- Develop an understanding of permutations and combinations as counting techniques.
- Develop fluency in operations with real numbers, vectors, and matrices, using mental computation or paper-and-pencil calculations for simple cases and technology for more-complicated cases.
- Judge the reasonableness of numerical computations and their results.
Massachusetts frameworks covered by this lesson
- Use estimation to judge the reasonableness of results of computations and of solutions to problems involving real numbers.
- Solve everyday problems that can be modeled using systems of linear equations or inequalities. Apply algebraic and graphical methods to the solution. Use technology when appropriate. Include mixture, rate, and work problems.
- Select an appropriate graphical representation for a set of data and use appropriate statistics (e.g., quartile or percentile distribution) to communicate information about the data.
Website evaluation criteria
- What is the domain extension? .com? .edu? .net? .org? Other?
- Is information delivered as fact or opinion?
- Are there links to additional resources? Do the links work? Are sources noted?
- Is it evident who runs/funds the site? Is this a personal site or a professional site?
- Is the information on the site up to date?
Reference Websites
Note: The following Websites all been evaluated using the criteria noted above.
Retail sites
High-end retail sites
Real estate sites
Budgeting, finance and consumer sites
Excel information
- Excel Formulas Step by Step Tutorial -- Useful for editing this lesson's required spreadsheets.
Lesson Objectives
- Create real-world reference points for value and finance.
- Use basic math skills to manage a budget.
- Develop critical analysis skills by balancing a purchase against an overall budget.
Lesson process
The lesson begins with the teacher asking students the core question: What would you buy if you had a million dollars. This 10-15 minute discussion is aimed at getting students into the mindset of the lesson -- they need to being conceptualizing purchases and costs. The teacher will write down suggestions (later, during the culminating discussion, the teacher will show the "real" cost of these early student suggestions -- see more on this under the "Culminating Discussion" section).
Lesson rules
- All of the money must be spent.
- At least 20% of the money must go toward charities and/or non-profits. Students must list the charities/groups they're giving to.
- Purchases can be used for personal or charitable purposes.
- All items must be noted, described and tallied on a spreadsheet.
Student activities
Working in small teams, students must use a spreadsheet to assemble a list of items they wish to purchase. Each student has a budget of $1 million, and they must spend every dollar. Using their spreadsheets (see attached template, million-dollar-spreadsheet.xls), students must note the name of each item, describe each item, list its value, list its "type" (personal or charitable) and list a reference/source that verifies the item's value (this can be an article, a catalog, a Web listing, etc).
Student teams will then use their spreadsheets to develop 5-minute presentations that outline the rationale behind their purchases. Presentations should include bar graphs or pie charts that visually reveal the breakdown between "personal" purchases and "charitable" purchases. Students should also select three items from their lists and use them to build a "Value Powerpoint Presentation." In these brief presentations, students will show the item and ask the class to choose the correct value of that item from a series of multiple choice answers (see million-dollar-powerpoint.ppt). Students will then click to the next slide and show the correct answer.
Teacher activity
While the students are developing their projects, the teacher will select 5-10 of the suggested purchases noted in the Initial Discussion and then find the "real" value/cost of these items. This information will be used in the Culminating Discussion.
Culminating discussion
Students will present their lists to the class and show how each purchase effects their $1 million budget. Students must also explain their rationale for making certain purchases: Why did they buy certain things? What purchases did they not make?
Following the student presentations, the teacher will reintroduce the list of suggested purchases students first noted during the Initial Discussion. Going down the list one-by-one, the teacher will ask the class if they think their initial concept of the item's cost is still correct. The teacher will then reveal the "real" cost. Discrepancies between the real cost and the students' original cost should be discussed.
(Note: If the teacher is feeling particularly creative -- and they're a fan of day-glo colors and ridiculous costumes -- the Culminating Discussion could be modeled after "The Price is Right." Students are asked to once again guess the value of certain products, and the students who come closest to the "actual retail value" will win a small prize).
Lesson rubric
- Students spent entire $1 million.
- Students did not go over their budget.
- Student allocated at least 20% of $1 million to charities or non-profits.
- Spreadsheet itemizes and describes each purchase.
- Each item's value is backed up by a source.
- Powerpoint lists at least three products from students' spreadsheet.
Lesson materials
Comments:
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