UNIT OVERVIEW – ORGANISING A CHARITY CONCERT

A CROSS-CURRICULAR UNIT OF WORK FOR

MUSIC, MATHS, BUSINESS STUDIES AND ICT

Introduction

These ICT-based lessons are designed to bring together elements of Music, Maths and Business Studies in order to create a realistic scenario where students are responsible for organising a charity concert. 2010 is the 25th anniversary of Live Aid – the most high-profile of all charity concerts – and there have been many other examples over more recent years with which children will be familiar. Indeed, they may well have organised such an event themselves in school and this unit could be adapted to fit a school production, for example. Many of the skills covered will be the same.

Spreadsheet software is the key focus for this unit and students will use them in many different ways as they organise their event from scratch. Live Aid is used as an example of how to use a spreadsheet for various reasons, and some quite advanced functions are built into the tasks; however, we start from spreadsheet basics and include the finances behind the scenes of a charity show too.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this unit of lessons, students should be able to…

  • Use the internet effectively, using the advanced search functions, to find data and information relating to music and concerts from the past
  • Use a spreadsheet to organise collected data into a useful and presentable format
  • Use a spreadsheet to calculate financial information such as income, expenditure and profit
  • Use a spreadsheet to calculate time
  • Use the if, countif and vlookup formulae within a spreadsheet system
  • Use the conditional formatting function within a spreadsheet system
  • Link together spreadsheets
  • Understand how a spreadsheet model can be used to experiment with different possible scenarios

Unit Structure

Lesson 1

  • To understand how spreadsheets can be used to store data and make calculations
  • To learn how to search the internet effectively by using advanced search techniques

All students must….

… be able to describe the elements of a spreadsheet and how they could be used; and also know how to use the advanced search functions of a search engine

Most students should

... be able to change variables in a spreadsheet to and see how calculations are made

Some could…

… begin to think about how they would create a balance sheet for their concert

Lesson 2

  • To understand what is meant by income and expenditure
  • To begin to develop an understanding of financial management and using budgets
  • To investigate how spreadsheets can be used to help keep track of finances

All students must….

… be able to explain what is meant by income and expenditure

Most students should

... be able to make the link between the two and understand the concept of using a budget

Some could…

… begin to build their own spreadsheet system to make calculations

Lesson 3

  • To understand how spreadsheets can be used to compare variables and situations
  • To learn about how lists and pull down menus can be used to model scenarios
  • To learn about the vlookup and int formulas

All students must….

… be able to use a spreadsheet to select variables from a list and see the effect of their choices

Most students should

... be able to understand how the vlookup formula (and the int formula) works and how they can be applied

Some could…

… adapt the example system to create a similar one for their own charity concert

Lesson 4

  • To understand how spreadsheets can be used in the organisation of an event
  • To learn about the count formula and how it can be used
  • To learn about absolute cell referencing in formulas
  • To learn about and be able to apply conditional formatting

All students must….

… be able to use the theatre example spreadsheet to book tickets and to see the calculations which take place as a result

Most students should

... understand how the count and calculation formulas are used and why they are appropriate for such a booking system; adapt the system for their own event

Some could…

… create a similar system of their own

Lesson 5

  • To be able to see the link between different uses of spreadsheets
  • To connect together the different elements of their system
  • To develop teamwork skills

All students must….

… have created the three elements of their event system – a balance sheet, running order for the event and a ticket booking system

Most students should

... be able to connect together the different elements to create one large system

Some could…

… work together to develop their systems

Lesson 6

  • To evaluate the systems and consider what has been learned
  • To develop skills in self-evaluation
  • To consider what user documentation could be developed for the end user

All students must….

… be able to describe what they have done during the unit of work and how their system works

Most students should

... be able to explain the work done and how the system works, evaluating its worth in real life scenarios

Some could…

… produce some user documentation to assist the user of their finished systems

Additional Resources on the web:-

About Live Aid -

Live Aid Running Order -

Organising A Concert –

And for Excel help:-

…plus as you probably know, there are loads of resources at