Million Dollar Project

Congratulations! You have been given $1,000,000.  As a part of this inheritance, you have been given guidelines to follow for how to spend it.  Make sure the follow the guidelines to the letter so you don't hurt Grandma Irene's feelings.

YOU MUST:

1. Put at least $75,000 aside for college education.  Research the cost of the education for ONE year at your favorite university and then calculate it against how many years it will take you to achieve your degree.  Add in 10% to cover inflation, books and other expenses related to education.

2. Purchase a home that is NO MORE than $300,000.  Research various homes in locations that you would like to live.  Find the home that you feel is PERFECT for you and print out one page with the specs from the home.

3. Take a family vacation.  Use a travel agency to determine expenses for the total cost including: hotel, airfare, meals, transportation, spending money, etc.

4. Purchase a vehicle. Using dealership sites, find a car or vehicle that is to your liking and print out the one page with the specs for the car from the dealership.

5. Make one charitable donation.  Remember that friends, family, and pets do not qualify as a charity.  Find a charity that means something to you and give them funds based on a project they are working on. 

You may NOT spend more than $1,000,000 but you want to spend as much of it as possible.  This project is developed to help you plan for your future and develop the math skills that you have acquired and put them in a real-life situation by spending money within a budget.

As part of this project you WILL NOT be required to pay taxes, closing costs or other fees.

Other rules for the Million Dollar Project:

1. All time used in class on the internet is to not be wasted. Make sure you are on appropriate sites and using time wisely as you will be receiving a grade based on participation and being on-task.

2. You may not purchase more than 2 of the same item.

3. Make sure to record all items that you purchase on the expense tracking sheet to total up your expenses as you go along.  YOU MAY NOT go over $1,000,000 from your budget and you MAY NOT borrow money from a friend.

4. Each purchase that you make MUST have a check written out appropriately. Use the model below to know how to write a check. You will not be able to write more than the 18 checks that you are given.

5. Design a cover for your project in Microsoft Publisher and staple it to your tracking sheets before turning your project and checkbook in.

This project is due April 24th and 25th depending on the class period that you have Pre-Algebra.

(This project has been modified from The Million Dollar Project from Janis Noble at Caffeinated Conclusions.)

Dream House Sites

You must have 6 rooms with carpet and 2 rooms with tile.  You MAY have more but this is the minimum.  The following are approved (and unblocked sites at school) that you can look up information on.

iCarpetiles

Home Depot

Don't forget to get paint for your walls as well! :)  One gallon of paint will cover approximately 350 square feet.  You will need to find the area of ALL of your walls and divide by 350 to determine how many gallons of paint that you will need.

Fencing is important as well and you will need to determine the total amount of feet covered in fence.  You can look on Home Depot > Lumber & Composites to find Fencing options.

Dream House

Yesterday we started the Dream House Project.  Each student has been given the mission to design a floor plan of their dream house for them and a friend.  The SKY IS THE LIMIT!  We will be using our understanding of area, perimeter and surface area to fill the house with carpet, tile and paint.

The final project is due on Tuesday, April 17th for 1st Period Pre-Algebra and Wednesday, April 18th for 8th Period Pre-Algebra.  The final project must include: rough draft, graph paper floor plan (with color) and planning sheets.

Thursday, April 12th we will be going to the computer lab to check out online sites for carpet, tile and paint prices to use in their houses.  The sites that are allowed to be used are on the back sheet of the planning packet.

This project is being used from Teachers Pay Teachers and I am very thankful to Lauren for such a great project. I can't wait to display our houses in the hallways at CMS!

Looking for Extra Credit?

Well, here is your chance!  The following project is something that you can work on for Extra Credit this Six Weeks.  The last possible date to turn this project in will be Thursday, March 22nd.

Information for what to include in your Pack Your Bags Project can be found below.  Make sure you print this out as you will need to compile all of your information on this document.:

Pack Your Bags

The list of approved countries is below.  Please only select one country for your trip.

Pack Your Bags Countries

If you need to see an example of what your Power Point should look like, Mrs. Forman has created the one below:

Irish Vacation

Where did the time go?

Can you tell we have been busy in class? I have totally forgot to update the blog in two weeks and I am so sorry for that.

Last week, we spent the entire week working on a diagnostic benchmark to reveal where each student is at in relation to being prepared for the upcoming state STAAR test on March 26th.  Can you believe that is only 14 class days away?  We have a lot in store for the next few weeks to help review our skills from the course of the year.

If you are a STAAR Math or Flex Day student, please use Catch Up Math at home.  You can log in to www.catchupmath.com and use the CMS875 login with your given password.  Let me know if you are using it at home as well. :)

Also, I have to say Thank You for all the wonderful wishes on Friday for my birthday. I had an amazing day all because of my great students! :)

White Ribbon Week

Week 24...

Week 24 is upon us and going strong.  We are studying the effects of changing dimensions this week and our packet is due on FRIDAY.  The packet is PINK and easily noticed just for Valentine's Week.

Don't forget that Bellringers will also be checked on Friday.

Grades are being pulled on Tuesday morning for report cards and then report cards will go home later this week.  Please make sure you have tied up all of your loose ends so you don't see a grade you are not happy with.

As of today, Monday, we only have 27 school days and 20 actual class periods until the STAAR test.  Please make sure that you are working hard to be here EVERY day and staying on top of the work as we still need to cover many things in that little amount of time.