In the Game of Life, which I had in my classroom, the students were given 'vacations' and 'go to college', etc. but they didn't have to budget these items, or deal with class schedules, or make decisions on how they were getting to the destination or how long they would be there. They never had to look up what was included or excluded from the prices for the adventures, or find out if they needed to get a VISA for their trip or medical shots. These are things you have to do and they are important for students to know how to do.
I am in grad school, living on an extreme budget, but I still find time and money to travel, because I love doing it and because it's an important part of this experience for me. Now, I'm kinda cheating, because I am currently living in Europe, so getting to places is a bit easier and cheaper, but the steps I go through are steps that students need to know, because they will be used in all aspects of their normal lives once they are on their own.
Dream Vacation Lesson Plan
Time: Variable, 2 class periods minimum, 1 week optimum
Objective: Students learning critical thinking skills, planning skills, decision making and budgeting skills by planning their dream vacation.
Directions:
Have students write down their dream vacation (for Earth). Make sure it is something actuable like going on safari and not going to the moon.
Give the students a budget to work within. This can be any amount the teacher thinks is reasonable, but $2,000 (or Euros) is a good start.
Give the students the following instructions:
You have $2,000 to go on your dream vacation. We will be using the internet to plan and organize our trips. You must write down your trip plans in WORD (or whatever the equivalent word processing progam on your computer is) and use EXCEL (or equivalent) to show your budget for each item. You will only have 2 weeks for your trip. You must also plan to leave from and return to your actual home, so flying out of Paris when you live in Nebraska won't cut it. You will need to show travel from Nebraska to Paris and back as part of your plan.
You need to plan for:
- transportation to the destination and any transportation wihin the destination
- time of year
- lodging (hotel, hostel, etc)
- food
- languages needed
- tour guide or solo activities
- excursions (activities)
- taxes, tips, fees
- travel insurance (if required)
- medical coverage (if required)
- VISA fees (if required)
- emergency (back-up) money
- What does the State Department (in the US) say about traveling to your destination? Is it safe?
- other items (list what they are and how much
Teacher information:
Teachers should explain how to search for information online. If this is not part of your normal curriculum, you should spend a classperiod doing so before starting this lesson. Topics should include how ads work, how to judge websites, where to go to find information like VISA requirements, etc.
For teachers who have not done these types of classes before, a good, free source is gcflearnfree. Specifically, their pages on Search Better, Use Information Correctly, and Using the Web to Get Stuff Done are great pre-activities.
Search Better includes:
- All About Online Search
- Google Search Tips
- How to Read a Webpage
- Judging Online Information
- Evaluate a Webpage Practice
- and a Quiz
Use Information Correctly includes:
- Putting Info Together
- Avoiding Plagiarism
- Copyright and Fair Use
- and a Quiz
Using the Web to Get Stuff Done includes a lot of resources, but for this activity, the following are recommended:
- Buying and Selling Stuff Online
- Online Shopping Advice
- Finding Online Reviews
- How to Buy Tickets Online
- Online Research
- What is Wikipedia?
- Effective Research with Wikipedia
- More Tips
- Using OpenTable.com
- Make Travel Plans with These Free Resources
- To-do Lists
The quizes can be used to judge if your class is ready for this project or for a grade if you are so inclined.
Once the students have a basic understanding of how to use the internet and some options for their searches, teachers can allow them to start planning on paper some places or things they may want to do for their trip. Limit them to solo travelers so the budget is reasonable and you don't have to worry about kids and double rooms. Make sure that as you work with the students you explain the difference between single and double occupancy, why some places might not be safe to go to, or other travel tips you have learned yourself, like plan to take a money belt to places where pickpockets are known, or how some places in Italy don't allow you to drive a car. These little, in-class comments, are things the students learn without realizing they are learning them. This project can take up to a week, if the teachers have the time and inclination. A great final project is for the students to make their own Vacation Ad Poster, where they give trip highlights, cost, flight information, room info, etc as well as a final travel itinerary report and budget. This also allows teacher's to focus on Word and Excel skills like bullets, font choice, sum features, etc.
A sample final poster may be made by hand, with pictures cut from magazines, or in a digital design program...
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| Sample ad poster |
Have the students make up sample itineraries and discuss travel between destinations. How long does it take by car, bus, tram, etc to get there? Is purchasing a travel card or a tour trip easier and cheaper? Can you legally drive in the location? Is it safe to drive? Discuss how to group sites together and plan appropriate amounts of time for each activity. You won't see all of Rome in one day, but maybe a tour group will allow you to see the highlights.
Is is smarter to stay in one area or travel? Maybe a cruise down the Nile will allow you to see the sites in a more relaxing setting than an overland trip. Maybe it's safer.
Maybe you want to hike up and see a volcano in Hawaii, what's the best time to do this? How hard are the hikes? If it takes 6 hours to get to the top, are you going to appreciate the site or are you going to be too tired? Maybe a helicopter trip would be better.
Help your students think through their activities and ask them questions like how much clothes would you pack? Is it better to pay a few more dollars and get a private room vs. a hostel? What about free-breakfast? Where's the closest grocery store to your hotel? Do you have to pay seperate for linens and towels? Do they have an airport transport included or public transport to your hotel?
If you fly out at 5am, is public transport even running? Is it safer to get a cab? What do people say about taxis in the area? Can you drink the water? Are tips included? Will you have to exchange currency to go to your location? What types of fees are added on to a currency exchange? Are you allowed to bring in foreign currency?
In my travel itinerary planning, I found out Morocco is a closed currency. This means you are only allowed to bring in, or leave with, a set amount of their currency. This may affect what was planned for the trip.
Another thing to talk to students about is the use of credit cards, debit cards, or cash in different places. What is safe, expensive, or feasible? All of these items are things that should be taken into consideration when planning for a trip (or life).
Some sites you can use could be Orbitz, Hostelworld, Wizz airlines, Hertz, etc. Talk about the difference between budget and normal airlines. Maybe they don't fly into the same terminal and you need to plan for transportation from one area to the other (like in Lisbon).
Maybe your students live in California or Florida and want to go to Disney (it's popular with my students), talk to them about other local activities they could do as well as go to Disney. Maybe there is a city close by they can add to the trip or maybe they really just want to only do 3 days, but do it to the nines, that's fine. Let them decide, but make them explain their choices.
Adaptations:
If you want to try this with younger kids, a good activity is to have them pick places they want to go (they can do this as a class) and then have them learn about each place. At the end of their research, you can have them turn the room into the world. Make up fake passports, stamps, and airplane tickets and turn your doorway into a Customs box. Make them show you their ticket and passport and you can 'stamp' them with the country they are visiting. When they enter the room you can have them go to each of the different areas to see what the groups came up with. Maybe there is tea time in London, Camel plushies in Egypt, dancing in Mexico with music. Be creative and get the kids to help make and set-up each of the areas. If you have space/time constraints, just pick 3 or 4 countries to focus on.
You can set-up activities for them to try at each station, or create mini-lessons for a single class period on each culture they chose. See below for some examples and ideas from other teachers.
I hope you have fun with this project. It really can be a blast and the kids really get into it. If you have a student that says they don't know where they want to go, let them play online for a bit to get some ideas. Type in "Best travel spots" or other phrases that might spark their imaginations. If all else fails, give them a Vacation Card from the game and let them use that.
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