Lesson Template for Big 6 Online Research Assignment

Title / My Dream Computer Project
Grade: / Subject: General Math and Technology
Overview / This lesson is designed to help the students work within a budget, use technology to assist them in understanding a new real life topic, as well as help them continue in the development of skills by creating another spreadsheet in excel and then graphing that data to be displayed around the classroom.
I also hope that after this unit my students will have a bit more knowledge about computers and because of this knowledge be less likely to be taken advantage of in the future! Because sometime down the road they will be purchasing their own computer and just maybe they will remember something from this lesson.
Standards /

Subject Matter:

Mathematical Reasoning

1.0 Students make decisions about how to approach problems:

1.2 Formulate and justify mathematical conjectures based on a general description of the mathematical question or problem posed.
2.0 Students use strategies, skills, and concepts in finding solutions:2.8 Make precise calculations and check the validity of the results from the context of the problem.
Technology:
3. Technology productivity tools
·  Students use technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity, and promote creativity.
5.  Technology research tools
·  Students use technology to locate, evaluate, and collect information from a variety of sources.
·  Students use technology tools to process data and report results.
6.  Technology problem-solving and decision-making tools
·  Students use technology resources for solving problems and making informed decisions.
·  Students employ technology in the development of strategies for solving problems in the real world.
Assignment / Big 6 Skills
Essential Question / -  How do I know that I am getting what I am paying for when purchasing or building a dream computer?
-  What are the most important components necessary for a computer to operate?
-  When given a budget of $1250, what should I spend the majority of my money on to get a computer with excellent performance and reliability?
-  How can I create a visual representation or graph of how much I spent on each essential component of my computer? / 1. Task Definition
1.1 Define the information problem
1.2 Identify information needed in order to complete the task (to solve the information problem)
Subsidiary Questions / 1.  What are the essential components for a computer to work properly?
2.  How do I build or put together my dream computer?
3.  How much will I spend on each individual component? / 2. Information Seeking Strategies
2.1 Determine the range of possible sources (brainstorm)
2.2 Evaluate the different possible sources to determine priorities (select the best sources)
Student Tasks
Activities
Procedures / In this lesson students will:
-  Be using a graphic organizer to help guide them to the websites that will give them the necessary information.
-  Students will also have a list of back-up resources to gather data and information.
-  Design their own "Dream computers", however they have to stay under a total budget of $1250
-  Determine which components of the computer are necessary or essential for you to have a fully operational computer!
-  Research, locate and price out each individual component necessary for your project.
-  Create an excel spreadsheet that lists each component and it's price making sure to stay under the 1250.00 budget.
-  Graph the prices that they found on each of the components and represent it visually in a bar graph.
-  Students will make a list of each component they would like to have on their system and list it with the price in an excel document template . Then they will make a table of the item and price, then graph the cost of each item to make sure they remain within their budget!
-  http://www.ehow.com/video_4984382_create-simple-budget-excel-2003.html
-  http://www.ehow.com/video_4984400_make-bar-graph-using-microsoft.html
Internet Data Collection: (List websites and describe data you want students to collect for research and comparison in Excel).
1.  http://techreport.com/articles.x/17787
2.  http://www.build-your-own-cheap-computer.com/build-your-own-cheap-computer.html
3.  http://www.nextag.com/
See student example that follows the lesson plans. / 3. Location and Access - Locate the Data
3.1 Students will be 3.2 Find information within sources
4. Use of Information - Collect the Data
4.1 Engage (e.g., read, hear, view, touch) the information in a source
4.2 Extract relevant information from a source
5. Synthesis - Create the Spreadsheet Picturing the Data in Excel
5.1 Organize information from multiple sources
5.2 Present the information
Assessment / Students will be assessed a few different ways:
1.  They will take a quiz filling in a blank graphic organizer identifying essential and non-essential computer components.
2.  Students will evaluated on their Excel document - Is the spreadsheet completed correctly with a list of components and prices.
3.  Was a graph completed according to SULTAN - see example below / 6. Evaluation
6.1 Judge the product (effectiveness)
6.2 Judge the information problem-solving process (efficiency)