Ooh-la-la! Paris on a Budget

A WebQuest for 9th Grade Math



Introduction | Tasks | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion | Credits | Teacher Advice

Introduction:

Bonjour! Comment allez-vous? You are doing well because your grandparents have just given you and your cousin $2000 to spend on your first trip to Paris. After you two have stopped jumping up and down in excitement, you realize that a trip to France may be fun, but it will also involve some planning and budgeting, too. You'll need to choose airfare, hotels, and tickets to museums and concerts, all the while staying within your budget. (Hopefully, there will be even be enough left over to buy your sister an Eiffel Tower keychain.) But you can handle that, right? After all, you're going to Paris! Bon voyage!

The Tasks:
Using the "My Paris Budget" worksheet, you should be able to complete the following tasks to formulate a $2000 budget plan for a 5-day, 4-night trip for two to Paris, France. Be sure to print out the worksheet before starting. (Also, you might want to print out the French phrases guide so that you can pick up some new words while working on your budget.)

The Process:
To get ready for your trip, you will need to do some research to find certain rates and prices. C'est la vie. The following websites can be used to accomplish the tasks listed above.

 
1. Best Fare Finder. This interactive site will search for airfare options according to your criteria. You need only to enter where you are leaving from, the destination, and if you want child or adult airfare. After searching, it supplies you with a list of possible choices for departure times, prices and layover information and you may even book your flight on this site. Choose your departure date and visit your travel agent to use the Best Fare Finder to find the best round-trip rates for two. You will be flying from Nashville, TN and will land at the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. Print your list of options and indicate which flight you have chosen, s'il vous plait.
2. Hotel Search. With the interactive section of this website, you may compare prices of many hotels. The site offers choices of location, dates, prices, and number of nights. After choosing the criteria, you may browse the different selections to see pictures of the rooms, rates, a map locator, and the availability. Visit this site to find a place to stay. You will be in Paris for 4 nights, so plan accordingly. Compare rates in three area of the city and then print the information on the one you would choose. Bonne nuit!
3. Personal Currency Assistant. This is a very helpful site that allows you to quickly and easily convert American dollars into many other types of currency and vice versa. Oui, you must use the currency assistant to figure out how many francs and dollars you have spent so far. Use this same link any time you need to from now on.
 
4. Parisian Restaurants. Looking for a nice restaurant in Paris becomes easy with the help of this site. Especially interesting are the choices of theme restaurants, such as "romantic," "cellar," or "palace." After choosing one, you may browse menu and reservation prices. You can even book the reservation on this site. If your hotel serves breakfast, you will need to budget for only two more meals per person per day. Go to this site and choose at least one theme restaurant to eat in during that week. Look at the estimated meal costs under "Menu" and then find out how much it is to make a reservation for two. Excusez-moi? Oh, yes, for the remainder of your meals for this week, you will probably eat at fast food restaurants and small cafes. Estimate that you will spend $6-10 for each person for each meal. Record this information on your budget sheet. Bon appetit!
5. Paris Tour Packages. This site provides information for many Parisian tour packages. You can look at the description of each tour, what languages the tour is offered in, departure times, tour dates, and prices. The prices are given in both French francs and Euros, which is helpful. You may book the tours on this site also. Go to the site and choose "Discovery of Paris." Choose one tour that you and your cousin might like to take and check prices. Record that expenditure on your budget plan. Merci beaucoup!
6. Paris Museums. This site includes helpful information about 42 museums in Paris. Each one has a section about the history of the museum and also a description of the special collections found there. Important general information, such as directions, opening times, and entrance fees, is also given. Find ticket prices for Musee du Louvre, Musee d'Orsay, Musee Picasso and one more museum of your choice in Paris museums. Pourquoi? Because you now have to decide which three you would like to visit and record those prices on your budget sheet.
7. Event Tickets. A search for specific Paris events on specific dates can be performed on this site. Choices from "opera" to "theatre" to "classical concerts" are offered. This is also a good site on which to do a generic search to find out a broad outline of events happening while you are in Paris. Go to the site and choose one cultural event you would like to attend to record its price in your budget plan. Bon soir!

The Evaluation:
 

   Beginning

1

 Developing

2

 Accomplished

3

 Exemplary

4

 Score
Budget Plan
Unable to completely or correctly fill out the budget plan sheet
Able to complete budget plan and stay within $500 of the $2000 budget.
Able to complete the budget plan sheet and stay within $100 of the $2000 budget.
Able to correctly and completely fill out the budget plan sheet and stay within the $2000 budget.
  
Airfare
Unable to print out correct list of airfare rates for two round-trip to Paris.
Able to print out list of airfare rates for two round-trip to Paris, but choosing a rate higher than $1,200 for both tickets.
Able to print out list of airfare rates for two round-trip to Paris, but choosing a rate higher than $1000 for both tickets.
Able to print out appropriately low choices for airfare rates for two round-trip to Paris and choose the best rate, staying within the total budget of $2000.
  
Hotel
Unable to use search device to to identify appropriately prices hotels.
Able to correctly use search device to identify appropriately priced hotels, but chose hotel room over $150 per night.
Able to correctly use search device to identify appropriately priced hotels but chose hotel room over $100 per night.
Able to search for appropriately priced hotel rooms for two for a 4-night stay in Paris and choose the best price, which would be under $100 per night.
  
Food
Unable to budget for fast food meals in Paris.
Able to budget for fast food meals in Paris, but did not budget for one nice meal.
Able to budget for fast food meals and one nice meal but food budget exceeded $300.
Able to budget for at least one meal at a nice Parisian restaurant, while planning for rest of meals and staying within food budget of $300.
  
Cultural Events
Unable to budget for any cultural events in Paris.
Able to budget for 1-2 cultural events in Paris.
Able to budget for 3 cultural events in Paris.
 Able to budget for at least 4 cultural events (3 museums, 1 event) to attend in Paris, while staying within $2000 budget. 
 
Currency
Unable to use 
currency assistant
correctly.
Able to use currency
assistant correctly
but did not convert all
expenditures into both
dollars and francs.
Able to use currency
assistant correctly
but misfigured one 
conversion.
Able to use the 
currency assistant
to correctly
determine every
expenditure in
dollars and in francs.
  

 

Conclusion:
Now that your planning is done, it's time to pack! I hope you have enjoyed this WebQuest and that it has inspired you to take the actual trip. Thanks for visiting. Au revoir!


 

Credits & References:
Merci beaucoup to Art Today, GR Sites, A Freebie Site, Blue Hare Graphics, and Bells-n-whistles for their great graphics.

 

Teacher Advice:
This WebQuest was designed for 9th graders. Because it is about budgeting skills, it can be used in an actual math class, but it can also be used in some type of financial resource management class. This WebQuest can easily be used throughout the high school grades and even into college. Budgeting skills are usually neglected in the classroom, but they are highly desirable skills in the "real world," and this WebQuest combines true-to-life lessons and the fun of travel to help students sharpen their budgeting skills.

The students and the teacher must possess basic computer and Internet skills in order to work through this WebQuest. Basic math skills must be used throughout the WebQuest.

This WebQuest might take a student 2-3 class periods to complete. The balances for each section might have to be reworked if the total is not under $2000. This WebQuest would be ideal for independent enrichment after class study of a chapter on budgeting. The budgeting project could be done in class or even at home or at the library. Students should be able to complete it on their own, with minimal help from an instructor. Much trial-and-error judgment will be used, as it is almost like solving a puzzle.

After completing this WebQuest, the students might be interested in learning more about Paris. You might suggest that they visit Bon-Journey, which is another WebQuest that is a virtual field trip to Paris.
 
 

Created by Kristen Hester for EDU 506 @ FHU School of Education by Dr. Bruce Lewis on November 10, 2001.