Mrs. Mouchet

Fourth grade students at North Hart Elementary recently participated in a project based learning activity involving vacation planning on a budget. Students were presented with a set budgeted amount, but were allowed choice in their destinations, activities and other expenditures. After introduction of the project, students worked through sustained inquiry in their research for destinations. Not only did students have to complete the challenging task of planning a vacation with a budgeted amount, they also had to work with partners and agree on all the decisions that were made throughout the project. The project was designed to give students the opportunity to think critically when it comes to planning a vacation and establish realistic expectations through the process. They had to not only locate a vacation destination within their budget, they also had to figure out logistics of arrival, transportation, food, lodging, activities, departure, etc.

In the beginning of the project, students had big ideas for their relatively decent budget amount of $4,000. However, upon researching all of the components of a vacation, students quickly realized their destinations and expectations would need to be adjusted to meet the budget. Once students worked through all of the vacation details, they had to reflect upon their decisions and ultimately decide if they had made the best choices. Students organized their budget plan and itinerary with a Google slides presentation. They also concluded their project with a video that summarized their expenditures, travel plans and what they found to be the most challenging component of the project.