Introduction
You and your best friend are going for a day trip to the mall! Your mom gave you $50 to spend on some new things for the school year from doing chores to help out around the house. You only have so much money, so it is important to determine what items you should purchase now and what other items can wait until later. If you have left over money, your parents even said that you may start your own savings account. It is important to really think about what items you need right now and what bigger purchases you should do more chores to buy later on.
Task
Buying everything that you want and need is not possible for most when they are on a budget. With a budget of $50 it is time to make some decisions on the differences between wants and needs. Some examples of wants could be a new movie, a book, or a toy and examples of needs are notebooks, pencils and glue sticks for school. It is your decision to figure out which of the items below you will purchase. Make a chart to determine whether this item is a want or a need and make sure to budget your money so that you don't have to go through the school year without some necessary items!
Add up the prices of all of these items to see if you made it under budget and if you did by how much?
How much money do you have to start up a new savings account with?
Do you think that next time you go shopping you will have to make better choices on what items you purchase?
Process
This is an individual activity because people's wants and needs can vary depending on what is going on in their life. Budgeting is also a very personal thing and is something that you must understand to be a successful adult. Start by reading over the following items and their prices:
pack of pencils-$5, basketball-$15, new xbox game-$45, notebooks-$8, pencil pouch-$5, backpack-$25, candy-$7, outfit-$35, shoes-$15, doll-$10, pens-$4, folders-$4, stuffed animal-$10
Once you have read over all of these items complete the following:
1. Separate all of the items into a chart of wants and needs.
2. Determine which items you are going to purchase from the list.
3. All up the prices of all of the items that you choose to purchase.
4. If your amount was lower than $50 would you buy more items or use that money to start a savings account?
5. Think about the decisions that you have made in regards to your budgeting while at the mall and write a reflection about whether you would make the same decisions again or change them.
Evaluation
Grading Rubric
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Student Expectation |
Meets Expectation |
Meets Some Parts of Expectation |
Doesn’t Meet Expectation |
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Student was able to decide if each item was a want or need. |
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Fully answered all other questions that were asked. |
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Completed the reflection and used evidence from the activity within their answer. |
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Conclusion
You are now asked to complete a reflection based on the activity that you completed. To earn all possible points for this assignment you must use specific examples from your results of the activity and be detailed. Please answer the following prompt:
Think about the decisions that you have made in regards to your budgeting while at the mall and write a reflection about whether you would make the same decisions again or change them.