Pre-Algebra
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Unit 1 WebQuest - Internet Project

Vacation Travelers Include More Kids

Introduction | Task | Process | Guidance | Conclusion | Questions

Introduction
USA Today, November 17, 1999
     Taking the kids with you is increasingly popular among American, according to a travel report that predicts an expanding era of kid—friendly attractions and services.
     Commissioned by Better Homes & Gardens, the April survey was based on interviews with 1,500 adults conducted by the Travel Industry Association of America. It found that 87 percent of adults love to travel with their children, and that kids went along on 72 percent of all vacation trips in 1998.
     In all, vacation trips with children were up 5 percent over the year before. Travel parties with children included trips with grandparents and friends, and 20 percent of the trips spanned three family generations.
     "The number of family vacations that include children have increased by 55 percent since 1992, and the family travel market is booming," said Peter Mason, who is director of the travel marketing group of Meredith Corp., which includes Better Homes & Gardens.
     "The next millennium is going to see an expanding era of kid-friendly attractions, services and destinations to cater to this surging phenomenon."

The Task
You are currently working part—time as a travel agent. Your supervisor at the travel agency wants to offer a special vacation for families. He wants you to design three different 7—day vacation packages for a family — two adults and two children. The packages must cost from $2500 to $5500 for transportation, entertainment, and lodging. Food costs will not be included in the price of the package. You are to design a brochure or Web page showing the three options. Your brochure or Web page must include the following information:

In addition, you must include the cost of transportation, lodging, and entertainment in a one—page report to the head of the travel agency for each of the three packages. This information will not be part of the brochure or Web page designed for the families.

The Process
To successfully complete this project, you will need to complete the following items.

Guidance
Here are some additional questions and ideas you may want to consider for your project.

  1. Will the cost of each vacation be the same at all times of the year?
  2. What factors might affect the cost of the vacation package?
  3. What type of graph would be best for showing the temperature variations for the travel destination?
  4. Would the Internet be a useful tool in estimating the cost of meals, since meals are not included in the plan?
  5. How could you use a spreadsheet to find the cost of different vacation packages?

Conclusion
Here are some ideas for concluding your project.

Questions


A student collected these data about the average high and low temperatures for Orlando, Florida, using the Internet.

  1. Let numbers represent the months. For example, let 1 be January, 2 be February, and so on. Write two sets of ordered pairs. The first set will be (month, high temperature) and the second set will be (month, low temperature).
  2. Construct a scatter plot of the data. Let the horizontal axis represent months and the vertical axis represent temperatures. Plot the first set of ordered pairs with a red colored pencil. Plot the second set of ordered pairs with a blue colored pencil.
  3. Describe the two scatter plots.
  4. Why would travelers be interested in your scatter plot?

Lesson 2—4
A popular amusement park offers a discount if you buy 4 tickets or more. The regular price of the tickets is $50 and the discount is $5 per ticket when buying 4 or more.

  1. Show how you can use integers to find the total cost of 4 tickets with the discount.
  2. Write an algebraic expression to show the cost of any number of tickets t using the discount. Assume that the number of tickets is always 4 or more.

Lesson 3—7
For a particular vacation, the cost of each round—trip airline ticket is $275.00, the cost of each night's lodging is $99.00, and the cost of amusement park tickets for each person for the entire seven days is $254.00.

  1. What is the cost of this vacation for four people for seven days? (The cost of the night's lodging is one room for the four people to share.)
  2. Suppose that the cost of airline tickets can vary and the cost of the amusement park tickets can also vary, but the room charge stays constant at $99.00. Let a = the cost of each airline ticket and let p = the cost of each amusement park ticket. Write a formula for calculating the cost of this vacation for four people for seven days.
  3. How could you use a formula, like the one you wrote in part b, to help you complete this WebQuest?

 
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