Let's Have a Picnic

Let's Have a Picnic! A WebQuest for 7th Grade Mathematics Designed by Kurt J. Ulle Kurtulle@cox.net
Introduction \| Task \| Process \| Evaluation \| Conclusion \| Credits \| Teacher Page Introduction If you were to organize a picnic for the entire class, what would you serve? How much would it cost? How much would each student have to contribute to pay for it? In other words, how would you, along with two of your classmates, organize a picnic for the entire class? Task You will have to compile a menu for our picnic. Keep in mind that some students have special dietary needs so it's best to have a variety of items on your menu. For example, some may be allergic to peanuts, some cannot eat pork due to their religious beliefs, diabetics need to monitor their sugar intake and may not be able to drink sodas that are not sugar free, and so on. Do more people prefer potato chips or corn chips? In what proportion? Your menu needs to consist of, at least, a main course, a snack, a dessert, and a drink. The cafeteria has agreed to provide all the necessary utensils, plates, cups, and napkins, so you won't have to worry about that. You will also have to determine the quantities needed of each item. For example, how many loaves of bread might you need? How do you determine this? Once you've decided on a menu, you need to determine "How much is this going to cost?" To do this, your group will use the internet to visit at least 3 online grocery websites to compare prices. Everyone in the class has agreed to contribute $4.00 towards the picnic. Your final results will be compiled on the worksheet provided. You will need to report the items on your menu, the quantities of each item, the unit price of each item, the total cost of each menu item, the total cost of the picnic, and the amount each student must contribute. You will do this for at least 3 different grocery websites. Lastly, you will provide a recommendation of the best online website for us to shop. Process Part 1 Researching The class as a whole will brainstorm possible menu items. What are some items that we could include in our menu? How can we be sure that we have sufficient variety of foods? What are some things that we might have to consider in determining our menu? Should we take a poll to determine what people prefer? Once these questions are answered, your teacher will assign you to groups of three. Each group will have to print 3 copies of the worksheet. You will use this worksheet to compile your information. With your group, make a list of your menu for the picnic. Keep in mind what we discussed while making up the menu. For each menu item, write down the ingredients that will be needed. Review the sample on the worksheet. You may want to do this on a sheet of scratch paper until your menu is finalized. You will have to determine the quantities needed of each ingredient. How much will each person eat? How many people will it take to consume a jar of peanut butter? You may want to visit some of the online shopping websites to get a better understanding of the sizes and quantities available for each ingredient in your menu. Show all your calculations and assumptions on a separate sheet of paper. Make sure you label each of your calculations so that anyone could look at your work and determine what you did. Assign your group members to be the researcher, calculator, and recorder. You will rotate through these assignments for each website so that each person will have an opportunity to fill each role. The researcher will visit the website to determine prices. The calculator will determine the total cost for each item, the total cost of each menu item, the total cost, and the cost per student. The recorder will complete the worksheet. Keep in mind the different brands of each item. Why did you choose the brand that you did? Is it the cheapest? Is it the best? Is it better to choose the largest size? Visit at least 3 online grocery shopping websites to determine unit cost of each item on your list. You may use the following sites, or you may find a website on your own. Vons.com - Type in 91910 in the zip code field, and click on "Preview" Albertsons.com - Under "New Shoppers/Visitors" type in 91910 in the zip code field, and click on "Go". Peapod.com - Click on "Groceries for Your Home". On the next screen, type in 60007 in the zip code field and click on "Go". Record the results of your calculations on your worksheet. You should have one worksheet for each website visited. Part 2 Compiling Now that you have compiled the information needed to determine the costs of our picnic, which site do you recommend? Select the best worksheet that you will use for your final recommendation. Use a separate sheet of paper to answer the following questions: Provide a recommendation for the best website to do our shopping. Why do you recommend this website? For each menu course on your worksheet, explain why you chose that menu item. For each ingredient item on your worksheet, explain why you chose that brand. Your group will turn in your three worksheets along with the associated calculation sheets and your final recommendation. Evaluation You will receive a group grade for this project based on the following rubric.
	Beginning 5 pts	Developing 10 pts	Accomplished 15 pts		Exemplary 20 pts	Score (100 pts)
Variety and completeness of Menu	Less than 4 menu items chosen.	At least one menu item chosen for each category.	More than one menu item chosen from each category with some variety of menu item choices. Consideration is made for differing student's tastes and nutritional needs.		More than one menu item chosen from each category with great variety of menu item choices. Consideration is made for differing student's tastes and nutritional needs.	20
Accuracy of Calculations	Few calculations performed accurately.	Some calculations performed accurately.	Most calculations performed accurately. Few conceptual errors.		Most calculations performed accurately. All calculations conceptually correct with minor math errors.	20
Clearly labeled and understandable Calculation Sheet	Completed calculation sheet with poor explanations and labeling.	Completed calculation sheet with some explanations and labeling.	Completed calculation sheet with good explanations and labeling.		Completed calculation sheet with excellent explanations and labeling.	20
Proper Quantities of Menu Items	Little consideration of proper quantities to purchase.	Some consideration of proper quantities to purchase.	Good consideration of proper quantities to purchase.		Excellent consideration of proper quantities to purchase.	20
Thoughtfulness of Final Recommendation	Improper selection of recommended site with little reasoning displayed.	Proper selection of recommended site with little reasoning displayed.	Proper selection of recommended site with good reasoning displayed.		Proper selection of recommended site with good reasoning displayed.	20
Conclusion You are now a successful picnic planner! Maybe you should go into the business! Could you use the techniques you learned in this webquest to be a successful party planner? Perhaps you'd be a good wedding planner. The methods you used to plan and organize this classroom picnic could be used to organize and plan just about anything. As you can see, it's best to organize in steps and try to think of all angles of a problem as you plan. You've also had to make shopping decisions. This is the same process that people go through when doing the family grocery shopping. Which brand should I buy? How much does our family need? I bet you didn't realize how much thinking goes into the family shopping trips that your parents make. Why did you choose your menu items? Was good nutrition a part of your decision? Learn more about nutrition at Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Why did you choose the brands of grocery items? Is it because you like that particular brand? What makes some brands more popular than others? Read more about brand loyalty at Emedia.com. Credits & References The design of this webquest page is based on The WebQuest Page and the Design Patterns page developed at San Diego State University. "We all benefit by being generous with our work. Permission is hereby granted for other educators to copy this WebQuest, update or otherwise modify it, and post it elsewhere provided that the original author's name is retained along with a link back to the original URL of this WebQuest. On the line after the original author's name, you may add Modified by (your name) on (date). If you do modify it, please let me know and provide the new URL." Last updated on August 23, 2003. Based on a template from The WebQuest Page