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Before the computer:
1.
The teacher
will lead a discussion on colleges and the cost of college. Allow students to
give feedback and estimate how much it cost to go to college.
2.
The teacher will give the students the assignment and discuss the grading
rubric.
3.
Give the students a set of questions to help them brainstorm what type of
college they might want to go to in the future. Questions might include:
What major? Where would you like to live for four years? Do you like
hot/cold climate? Do you want to live near your parents or far from them?
What extracurricular/sports activities are you interested in? etc.
4.
Have the students to write answers to these questions for homework
(Language Arts—write an essay on “What do you look for in a college?”).
They also need to have what colleges they want to research in mind before going
to the lab.
5.
It would be helpful to have a list of colleges/universities for
the students to have as a reference tool concerning which college/university
offers certain majors. You can take a survey the previous day or before to
find out what majors the students are interested in and compile a list of colleges/universities
that offer their majors. This will save time in the lab.
6.
If students
do not have knowledge of using a spreadsheet program, the teacher will need
to use an Infocus projector and teach a lesson on how to use Excel for
the project.
While at the computer:
1.
Students
should already have in mind what type of college in which they are interested.
They will begin using the Internet to research their colleges/universities.
2.
Students
are to collect data on the following prices/costs:
- Application
Fee
- Parking Fee
- Activities
Fee
- Tuition (in-state
or out-of-state)
- Room and
Board
- Cost of living
(average is $1500 per year)
- Books (average cost is $450 per semester)
- Technology
Fee (if applicable)
- Registration
Fee
- Laboratory
Fee
- Other
3.
All fees
should be listed in a cell on a spreadsheet and data should be collected for
each college/university selected.
4.
Once they
have found all necessary information, students should calculate the total cost
for each college. Then the students will use the inflation rate of 6% per year
to calculate the rising cost of college until the year they graduate. This will
give the students an idea of how much it will cost them to go to college.
5.
After they
complete their research, they must choose one college to go to and write an
essay on why they chose that specific school.
After the lab:
1.
As a final
product of their research, the students must turn in a report with the following
completed and typed:
- Cover Sheet
- Summary of
college/universities chosen (1 paragraph for each) (including location, number
of students, etc.
- Spreadsheet
with each school listed
- Line graph
for each college (3)
- Essay on
why the student chose the school
- Extra credit:
the student may do a visual presentation of his/her choosing to illustrate the
chosen school.
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