Financial Lesson for Youngins' (100 points)

Financial literacy is a topic we'd like to see spread out over several years of academia for students, not just on their way out the door. Students in their younger years could use a solid base of understanding certain things to help acclimate to our financial world quicker. This task asks you to create a lesson plan for a 5th grade class that is interactive and lasts approximately 15-20 minutes. The recommended topic would be credit vs. debit, but if you feel as though there is a preferable topic you'd like to pass on in the realm of personal financial literacy, that's fine as well. Either way, I need to approve said lesson. The goal is to pass on what you've gathered these few months to a group of 10-year-olds such that they feel as though they've gained a bit of understanding on the topic you presented.
To complete:
1) Design a lesson plan for 10-year-olds about a financial literacy topic (credit vs. debit will work) such that you have an introduction (a teaser if you will), a body that includes interaction from the students in some fashion, a prop (or props) for the students to view/touch/explore, and a conclusion (closure) that wraps it up and ties to your introduction.
2) Present the plan to me at a time where we could discuss it for approximately 15 minutes.
3) I'll establish the classroom location and time for you to 'present'.
4) I'll excuse you from the necessary classes if applicable.
5) Do it!
6)*it needs to be videoed, so one of your group presenting needs to film the proceedings.*

Grocery Budgeting (30 points)

Often times, the young American adult neglects to consider groceries as a necessary budgeted item, and views it as "whatever I have left after I pay all my bills." A better way to handle your finances is to actually consider groceries as a 'bill' that you must attend to each month, much the same as a car payment or electric bill. You need to eat. You need to stay clean.Our trip to Wally World was intended for you to see what these groceries actually cost, and see it at pretty much the cheapest possible venue. The task here is to determine what amount of money should be budgeted for you in order to maintain proper hygiene and sustenance, in other words you need to eat something other than Top Ramen or Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.
Here's a link to my description of the budgeting project we're doing, for your viewing pleasure!

To complete:
1) Off to the grocery store with a shopping list!
2) Price it all for a month's worth.
3) Determine what you can and cannot have in order to stay in a budget. You'll need to determine what budget $$$ you're satisfied with, then subtract what you'll need to, if anything.
4) Put it in your official budget sheet as "Groceries."
5) Then, account for your vice as well. Put it your budget sheet right under groceries, and then make a determination if anything needs to be cut from either in order to afford. Your vice amount should reflect what you actually did spend on it during the first semester.
6) Show me personally both.

Gen i Revolution, Beyond the Mission (80 points)

The next Gen I Revolution task is Beyond the Mission, located adjacent to Murktide Invasion on the left side of the main page of Gen I Revolution. This task asks you to 'help' someone make good decisions in 6 different scenarios. The questions are very tricky, but if you follow carefully, your chances of answering them correctly are much greater. The task is to successfully point the 6 people in the right respective directions with what they are doing, and each time identify the 'double agent'. If you fail at the individual mission, you will be directed by the site to retry.
 To complete:
1) Go to Gen i Revolution
2) Choose the Beyond the Mission link
3) Complete all 6 missions, successfully pointing the operative in the right direction and identify the double-agent.
4) Screen shot every success
5) Post all 6 success shots on a blog post entitled "Beyond the Mission"

Gen i Revolution, Murktide Invasion (50 points)

Gen i Revolution is a personal financial literacy game made by the authorities on the topic, The Council For Economic Education. The Council constantly strives to further economic education for the American student at all levels, and part of their philosophy is that the resources for learning need to be engaging to a 21st-century student, like yourself. The material covered in this game is the standard economics that have been taught in schools for decades, but they've included a 'modern' flair. The hope is that the student will find the material more engaging if it is presented in a game-challenge fashion. Let's find out if we agree, shall we?

Gen i Revolution

You'll need to go to the site for the game, and login with the username you chose a bit back, remembering the password you put in as well. There will be 4 tasks associated with this site, the first being Murktide Invasion. Your task here is tough, and will require some research and questioning of me. You need to have successfully conquered 3 lands that began the game as red, without losing any other lands in the process. In other words, you need to be up three territories from where you started. The process to gain land is first answer the questions appropriately, second 'reinforce' your current territories with the troops you just gained by answering correctly, then attack the lands you wish to attack. It will most likely take at least 4 rounds of questions to successfully pull this off, but the questions are good ones that we certainly want to know the answers to. If you find this game engaging, as the Council hopes you do, you can try for the jackpot: 125 points to actually win the Murktide Invasion and completely wipe out the red opponent.   Tough to do, but if you're so inclined, go for it, but keep in mind there is no in between. Either take the 50, or achieve the threshold for 125. Good luck!
To complete:
1) Open Gen i Revolution
2) Play Murktide Invasion (link on the middle-left side of the main page)
3) Successfully maintain 3 lands (territories) more than when you started
4) Screen shot and post to your blog under "Murktide"

Biz Kid Video (200 points)

More high value! This one will require 2 partners, and each member will receive the 100 points. Biz Kid$ is an American television series for middle-school-aged children ages 11-14 that debuted on PBS Kids Go! on January 6, 2008. The series was produced by American Public Television. It has 65 episodes on 5 seasons, it debuted the episodes on most PBS stations and reruns on the weekends. The series ended on March 25, 2012. The cast of the show is about 10 teenagers. The TV rating for this show is rated TV-G. Biz Kids was created by the producers of Bill Nye the Science Guy, the Emmy Award winning science show from the 1990s. It teaches financial education and entrepreneurship to a preteen audience. It uses sketch comedy and young actors to explain basic economic concepts.^[1] Its motto is "Where kids teach kids about money and business." [wikipedia]
Your task here is to create your own version of one of the Biz Kid videos produced, either #304 "Where is My Allowance?", or #501 "What's Your Money Personality?"
I have shown you the DVD of these episodes, now it's your turn. Your task here is to create your own incarnation of one of these videos. The video should be 8-15 minutes in length, and detail exactly what was detailed in the video you chose (they have several other choices as well, you can investigate on their website, Biz Kids). 
Before you embark on the making of your video, please detail to me the plan for making it. In order to receive credit, I first need to know your plan. If you're completed project can be shown to our discrete class, add 20 points, and if you can manage to get the video announcement crew to air a portion of it in the announcements, then 25 additional points (but only one group could possibly receive that 25). To complete:
1) Watch the video you're going to re-create.
2) Detail a plan for your re-creation.
3) Show me the plan
4) Make the video.
5) Put the video on youtube, and give me the link.
6) If applicable, we'll show the video to either the class or the video announcement crew, or both, for the potential of more bonus points

Dollars & Sense (165 points)

This is the first posted 'high value' task, where it will require a bit more effort to complete, but has a far greater return. In order to achieve 2100 points successfully, you'll need to do at least a few of these 'high value' tasks, so choose the one(s) that work best for you and your schedule.
Dollars &Sense is a financial literacy book written by Carol Carter, a Denver-based transition expert who helps teens take the next step towards adulthood, whatever step that may be. This one specifically is meant to assist late teens with understanding of personal financial decisions they'll make from 18 to 25, why they make those decisions, and what the consequences (good or bad) of those decisions are.
The task is simple enough: read the book and answer all the questions that are found throughout. The questions challenge you to give self-thought about your decision both current and future.
The book can be found here:
Dollars & Sense     or here:     Amazon

I have a copy, and we can discuss you borrowing it, but you wouldn't be able to write in it, and I'd have to limit you to 7 days of holding the book before I would demand it back for another to check it out. It might be easier for you to obtain your own copy, but cost may be prohibitive. Remember, these tasks aren't necessarily mandatory, and if you feel as though this one isn't right for you, skip it and do others.

To complete:
1) Get a copy of Dollars & Sense
2) Read it in its entirety
3) Complete ALL work and activities within
4) Show completed book to me in person. Reflections are part of the activities you'll do within the book.

Credit! (20 points)

Ha! Furnishing an apartment is quite difficult. Maybe we should all thank our parents for all the furniture they've provided for us! This task is another that goes into our budget sheet as something we need to budget for, namely credit card. It is quite common for an American adult to acquire some items through the use of credit in order to establish an adult identity. We 'shopped' for furnishings for our pads, now we need to pay for it. Using the loan payment formula we've investigated, put in what it would cost per month to pay that loan back in 2 years with a steady payment.


1) Shop for furniture, writing all items and prices down. Add them them up for a total
2) Add in 7.5% sales tax
3) Use the formula to determine ho much per month you'd need to pay in order to finish paying it off in 2 years.
3) Show me the budget with the entry 'credit card' appropriately filled in.

Budgeting Transportation (mandatory) (20 points)

Transportation is an essential element of being an American citizen. The U.S. has basically evolved around the highway the last 50-75 years, and it's inescapable that one needs to navigate those streets in order to be a productive member of society. Your task here is threefold: you need to determine how you are going to transport yourself. Car? Motorcycle? Bus? Please accurately reflect what you will do as an adult. If you honestly feel as though you will not own a personal vehicle, t hen so be it and we'll price a bus pass/light rail pass. If, however, you are one who appreciates a personal vehicle and has every intention of owning one post-college, then it needs to be accounted for. You will need to find an actual available right now vehicle to purchase (that is affordable; you should have already done this). Then you need to figure what it would cost you to own this vehicle and pay for it in a loan from a bank, a loan that covers 5 years, at a routine interest rate. We will have discussed the formula to figure what your loan payment would be before you complete this task. It will then be entered into your budget. To wit:
1) Find an available vehicle.
2) Determine the loan payment per month
3) Enter it into your budget.

Further, there are costs associated with owning a vehicle. Gasoline, repairs, routine maintenance, and registration just to name a few. All of these need to be accounted for, but we'll attack these on a case-by-case basis.
This task is considered complete when you have shown me the budgeted costs for transportation entered into your official budget sheet. I have to visually approve this for the points!

Budgeting Modern Technology (mandatory) (10 points)

It's 2014, and technology is undeniable in its present form as a necessity. Cell phones, internet, television, and gaming are everywhere and in some fashion a part of all of our lives. These need to be budgeted for in our budget project.Your task is to budget for these 'necessities'.
You need to first determine what type of internet you want to have. Just on the cell phone? A land-based one only? Both? Then you'll need to price them accordingly, keeping in mind you ain't rich. But you will need to account for this; there will be no accepting (by me) of no interent.
Then you'll need to determine what type of television you'll want as a 20-something. This is where a roommate is extremely helpful, as TV is a touch more expensive than one might expect, and paying for it often feels like a waste. Do you want cable? Satellite? Just Netflix? All of them? Nothing? that determination is entirely up to you, but please, keep it realistic; if you watch 25 hours of television a week right now, then chances are you'll do something similar 10 years from now, and you'll need to account for that. Price it.
Then, without question, you'll need to price an appropriate cell phone plan for yourself. No options here, you MUST have a cell phone as part of your budget. Price it wisely. Look carefully. How important is texting to you? Do you want to combine the internet with it? Are there more options you want? Consider it carefully.
All of these that you include in your budget need to reflect real options that available to you right now. Once you find the plan you want to go with, you might want to capture it in a screenshot kept on your iPad to prove to me, in case I'm skeptical. When done, just like utilities, show me for credit.

1) Search for existing cell, internet, and if applicable TV plans.
2) Choose the plan(s) you want to commit to.
3) Include costs in budget
4) Ask me about additional costs, taxes, and fees that come with these.
5) Show me budgeted result in your official budget sheet you're creating.
This task is considered complete when I have physically seen that you've done it and responded with "okay" in some fashion

Economic Ed Lowdown (20 points and 15 points)

Another app on the iPad is called "Econ-ed lowdown" and is yet another app that challenges you to understand terminology in finances and, most importantly for us, living smartly within a budget. Upon launching the app, you'll find 4 choices of topics you can study: Inflation, Cost of Credit, Budgeting, and Personal Finance Flashcards. While all 4 entries are interesting and worthy, this task is focused on the "Budgeting" part. Within that, there are 2 options I'd like you to investigate: "Experiment" and "Challenge".
In "Experiment", your task is to defeat the expert. You are given choices to make, and if you can wisely choose the correct option each time, then you'll beat the expert! It's not so simple! Some of the choices are very thought-provoking, and you'll need to carefully consider what is in front of you. If you do manage to beat the expert, capture the evidence in a screenshot and post it in a new blog entitled, "Econ Lowdown". 20 points your way!
Further, if you can ace the challenge questions (also fairly challenging), then post the screenshot of that as well in the same blog, for 15 MORE points. 35 riding on the successful completion of this one.


This app was developed by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Surprisingly, the Fed is one of the leaders in the world of personal financial literacy, as they continue to conduct workshops for educators across the country hoping to develop a strong foundation in the topic for the youth of America.
This task is complete when you have successfully gone through the experiment and/or the challenge questions and posted the screenshots of that success on your blog as a new entry. I will verify from there.

Financial Football (10-25 points)

One of the apps on the iPad is called "Financial Football" (I've seen many of you messing around with it from time to time), presented by Visa. It asks a variety of financial questions ranging from fairly simple, to challenging and not so obvious. There are 3 levels the game can be played at: Rookie, Pro, and Hall-of-Fame. In each, the game's objective is drive the ball down the field and score, while stopping the other team from doing the same, all by answering questions correctly. All questions are personal finance based. Your task is this: score twice in the 10-minute version of the hall-of-fame level. Not the easiest thing to do. Incorrect answers definitely get in the way of success. If you can manage this feat, 25 points are yours. If you find that task too difficult to achieve, then for 15 points you can score just one touchdown in a half (10 minutes) on the hall-of-fame level, or for 10 points you can score at all in any level. You can only record one score into your grade with this task, but you can try as many times as you'd like! Once, however, you've decided to enter a score, it's over, that's what you'll get, no improving it. To complete:

1)Launch Financial Football app
2) Play game, choose teams (irrelevant to success, although I will look closely at who you've chosen to play as and against), and choose a 10-minute half.
3) Play the game by answering questions. Don't dilly-dally, the clock keeps ticking and time is of the essence (it helps to win the toss; I wouldn't blame you if you ensured that happened before you embarked playing).
4) Get your satisfactory score and post it as a blog post entitled "Financial Football", with a screenshot of the final score of your game.
This task is complete when you've posted in your blog a screenshot of your final score. I will verify from there.

Voicethread (10 points)

https://voicethread.com/?#u3912422.b5264306.i26846400

This is a voicethread I made for my AP Statistics students to help them understand their study guide for the midterm. Go ahead and scan through it to see what a voicethread is. Effectively, a powerpoint presented via the internet, with the user being able to comment on the powerpoint itself (if the user is a registered user as well with Voicethread). Voicethread is a powerful tool of communication, one I'm near certain you will encounter in college in some fashion. You will utilize Voicethread for one (or more) of the tasks this semester, so we need to all have accounts with them. It is free, and quite simple to sign up, and indeed that is your task here. Just create an account. Feel free to experiment with Voicethread on your own, but I will have a short discussion on how it is used in class, so no need. 
This task is complete when you have created a voicethread account of your own and post "Done" in the comment section of this blog post (mine). No need to include any evidence, your word is good. 

Active Investments (10 points)

We've been running a mock investment portfolio for the past several months, with the eventual 'winner' receiving a gift card for a restaurant establishment. Your cash needs to be invested though!
Create a blog post detailing your investment strategy up to date. Did you invest aggressively in just a few stocks? Did you spread out your cash over a wide range of possibilities? Tell us.
1) Create a blog post entitled "Investment Strategy"
2)  Write a one paragraph blog that details your strategy, why you chose it, and what the up-to-date results are of that strategy. Include your current standing and actual money won/lost.(a screenshot will suffice)
3) Post a link to the blog entry as a comment to this blog
This task is complete when you have posted a link to your blog post as a comment in this blog post. I will read it and verify you acquiescence from there.

Budgeting Utilities (mandatory) (15 points)

Part of our budget that we've been creating for the past month is maintaining your utilities. Each facility needs electricity, natural gas, and water services. You need to determine your budget for each of those, and the methodology will be proportional to what I (Mr. Letter) pay for each based on my square footage of my house.
I have a 2900 square foot home, pay $85/month for electricity, $65/month for natural gas, and $105/month for water. These values are consistent. Using proportions, you need to 'budget' how much you should spend for utilities in your place. You'll need to know the square footage of your apartment/house in order to successfully complete this.
1) Determine your square footage
2) Mathematically solve for what you should allot for each of the 3 utilities based on what I pay.
3) Enter those values in your actual budget sheet we've been constructing.
4) Show me

This task is considered complete when I have physically seen that you've done it and responded with "okay" in some fashion.

Wise Money! (15 Points)

This task is simple. An app on your iPad is entitled "Wisemoney". It walks you through some basic personal finance questions. In order to progress through the game, you need to answer the questions correctly. You will not advance if you do not! To do:
1) Launch the app.
2) Begin playing the game. Carefully answer the questions.
3) When you've completed the game successfully, your screen will indicate that by claiming "Winner!"
4) Take a screenshot of that
5) Post the screen shot on your blog, under the title "Wise Money"

This task is considered complete when the post is entered with the appropriate screenshot.

Open Blogger Account (25 points)

Part of the process this semester is effective digital communication. You yourself need to have a venue in which you pass on what you've ascertained, learned, or determined, and that venue needs to be accessible for all to see. This Blogger site is an excellent option for that, so it's what we'll use. I'm going to post the available options for points right here, and you'll post many of the responses on your account. Often times, it'll be a blog post of text, other times it'll be an image you're putting here, and further it may be a link to a video.
This task is simple:
1) Using your bvsd provided gmail, open a blogger account to accompany it. Your iPad has an app titled "Blogger" for you, and you alone.
2) The blog should be named your actual name, not some slang variation or nickname.
3)  It is a "limited use" blog.
4) Create a new blog entitled "[your name] Discrete Learning Log"
5) Make the blogspot be "yourname4digits"
6) Dress up your blog how you'd like it!
7) Email the link to it to robert.letter@bvsd.org


This task is considered complete when the email has been opened by Mr. Letter and verified that indeed the learning log has been created.