Predicting Future Expenses

http://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/edtec596/Units/Respon/PredictingFuture.html

Introduction

The focus of this week will deal with the increase of the cost of living over time. This lesson will guide you through what future situations may occur, as well as help you to determine the best way to handle such experiences. You will develop strategies that will help you to maximize your money.

The Task

At the end of this lesson you will be able to:

Learn how to manage your money responsibly.
Make responsible decisions about what is affordable.
Become aware of the increases of the cost of living.
Apply math to real life situations.

The Process

During the third week of this unit, we will be focusing on what expenses you might encounter in the future. We will discuss the following topics as well as the expenses associated with each. Most of these topics are linked to resources that you may use as a guide to help you with your research. You must also use other resources such as magazines, newspapers, pamphlets, books etc..

College/Schooling
Buying a home
Marraige
Children
Insurance
1. Car
2. Health
3. Home
4. Life
Luxuries (i.e. purchasing a computer, vacations, home furnishings)
Investments

You will be working in groups of three or four and you will be required to research the items listed above. Each group will be assigned one of the topics that they will be responsible for researching. For example, if you are researching college/schooling, you must include things such as tuition, room and board, books, transportation and food.

Learning Advice

In order to lessen the amount of time that this lesson will take you, brainstorm about what ideas your topic will encompass. At this point you should have a list of the various components of your topic. Each student in your group should take on the responsibility of researching one or more of the components. Each member in your group should make use of the variety of resourses available, which have been listed above. This implies that if one group member is using the Internet, the other students in that group may use the other resources available. Take notes on the information that you acquire so that you may use it for your final report/write up. After you have researched your individual assignments, come together as a group and organize your work. What information is the most pertinent? Do you get your information from a wide variety of sources? Was each subtopic researched thoroughly? Have you chosen an organizational format? Do you have an outline, summary, clear explanation of your findings?

Evaluation

Your grade for this week's lesson will be determined by completion of the following:

One final paper per group which must include:
1. An introduction explaining the different ideas within your topic.
2. A summary giving detailed information about the subtopics that you have researched.
3. A list of resources used.
An individual reflection in which you will address how you will prepare yourself for these future expenses.
A group presentation in which each member will present their findings.

Last updated April 28, 1996. Return to the Responsibility Page