Planning suggestions:

Milestone 1

Sport and Event Selection

• Have students vote on the type of sports festival they would like to organize (e.g., soccer, basketball, baseball).
• Discuss the elements of organizing an event, such as venue, equipment, marketing, and logistics.

Milestone 2

Team Formation

• Divide students into teams, each responsible for organizing a specific aspect of the sports festival (e.g., marketing, logistics, finance, etc.).

Milestone 3

Budgeting and Financial Planning

• Introduce the financial aspect by providing each team with a budget for their respective responsibilities.
• Teams research and estimate expenses for their area, considering:
  • costs such as team uniforms, venue rental, equipment, judges & referees, decorations, marketing materials, and prizes. They present a comprehensive budget breakdown, outlining estimated expenses for different aspects of the event (venue, equipment, marketing, etc.).
  • revenue: Ticket sales, concession stands, merchandise.

Milestone 4

Financial Literacy Workshops

• Conduct workshops on financial literacy topics relevant to the project, such as budgeting, tracking expenses, cost-cutting strategies, and fundraising.

Milestone 5

Event Planning and Execution

• Teams collaborate to plan their assigned tasks, such as venue setup, scheduling matches, designing marketing materials, and coordinating logistics.

Milestone 6

Fundraising Challenge

• Challenge each team to come up with creative fundraising ideas to generate additional funds for the event.
• Teams implement their fundraising plans, learning about revenue generation and cost management.

Milestone 7

Marketing and Promotion

• Teams develop marketing strategies to attract participants and attendees to the sports festival.
• They create posters, social media campaigns, and other promotional materials.

Milestone 8

Event Day

• The sports festival takes place with each team responsible for executing their assigned tasks.
• Students experience the direct impact of their financial decisions on the success of the event.

Milestone 9

Financial Reflection

• After the event, teams gather to review their budgets and actual expenses, identifying areas where they succeeded and challenges they faced.

Milestone 10

Post-Event Activities

• Each team reflects on their financial decisions, discussing what went well and what could have been improved.
• Teams also reflect on how their financial literacy skills were applied during the project.

Planning suggestions:

Think of how will you break down and scaffold the mathematical skills (i.e., measurement, perimeter, area, operations, etc.) that students will need in order to successfully complete this project? How will you help students develop strong interview questions and prepare their presentations for contracting entity? What informational texts can you use as resources throughout this project? How can you use these texts to build students’ knowledge and deepen their literacy skills?

Milestone 1

How can we design a sports facility that meets the needs of our school?

• Give students the challenge of creating a dream sports facility using Minecraft as an entry event. Give them some criteria and constraints for their building, or leave the task open-ended. Have students share their designs using a gallery walk format or have them project their designs to share one at a time with the whole class.
• Consider connecting this entry event to the project by debriefing the challenge with questions such as the following:
  • What did you consider when you were building your dream sports facility?
  • Do you think this would make a good sports facility in real life? Why or why not? Introduce Risk & safety and the costs associated to being safe.
  • What do you think people have to consider when they plan a building project? Weather, Heat/Sun-UV?/Rain/Wind?
• Discuss the expectations for the final product.
• Ask questions such as these to prompt student thinking about what they know and need to know:
  • What sports facility have you ever played in and what do you remember of them?
  • What do you think might need to be included in the blueprint used to build a sports facility?
  • What needs might families have to consider when taking their children to a sports facility?
  • What might a budget for a sports facility include?
• Create a project wall to help visually scaffold this project.

Milestone 2

How are houses and buildings planned and built?

• Engage students in research to learn about how houses and/or buildings are planned and built.
• Facilitate activities and explorations to help students learn about area and perimeter. You can walk around campus and calculate the area and perimeter from sections of the school.
• Once students have practiced finding the area and perimeter, give them time to explore the sports facility plans. They can use graph paper to draw their own and label the dimensions of their plan along with its area and perimeter.
• Along with their individual sports facility plans and measurements, have students write an individual opinion paragraph about why their sports facility makes good use of space.
• Revisit the list of need- to-know questions with students (suggested above).
  • Identify questions that have been answered, as well as new questions that have emerged.
• Support student reflection throughout this milestone with prompts such as the following:
  • What are you most proud of in your sports facility design? Why?
  • How well do you think you understand area and perimeter? Is there anything you still find confusing?
  • Is there anything you still wonder about how houses are planned and built?
• At this point split your class into smaller groups. Observe their work on the independent sports facility plans in order to balance the groups based on skills or interest.

Milestone 3

How can we find out our contracting entity’s needs?

• Help students develop a list of questions to ask their contracting entity. Have students organize their lists in one of several ways, depending on the needs of your students, any prior experience they may have with conducting interviews, and how much time you have to spend. Have student teams or individual students begin by brainstorming their own list of questions and then share their questions with the whole group to develop an agreed-on list. Or have the whole class work together from the beginning to develop a list of questions. Regardless of which method you choose for developing the list, consider helping students by asking the following starter questions:
  • What were some decisions you had to make when you designed your sports facility?
  • What might you need to know about your clients’ community/families?
  • If you were hiring someone to build a sports facility for you or your family, what would you want that person to know?
• Facilitate client and student team meetings.
  • Before student teams meet with their client, give them a chance to practice asking questions and recording answers. Have student teams then pair up and practice asking each other questions so they become comfortable with their question list. Have students also practice introducing themselves and their project to their clients as well as asking for contact information in case they need more information about something.
  • If possible, have contracting entity to come in person to meet with their assigned student teams; if not, have contracting entity and student teams meet by using a virtual conferencing program. Depending on how many teams you have and how much time is available for the meetings, briefly go over the project with the whole group yourself or let a few students introduce it. If not, have student teams introduce themselves and the project before asking their questions.
  • Consider having student teams send thank-you notes to their contracting entity or send a thank-you from the whole class to each contracting entity.
• Debrief the experience with your students and discuss how it went, how it felt, and what they might like to change in the future if they needed to interview a contracting entity again.
• Support student reflection throughout this milestone with prompts such as the following:
  • How did it feel interviewing a contracting entity for a project?
  • Did your team work well together during the interview? How might you have improved your collaboration?
  • Did you get any ideas from the interview?
  • Are there any of the contracting entity needs you think it will be challenging to meet?
  • How did your expectations of the project change after you interviewed the contracting entity?

Milestone 4

In what ways can we meet our contracting entity needs with a sports facility construction

• Help students organize their client information to inform the design of their sports facility. Provide them with a graphic organizer to use as they read through their interview answers. Explain that they can sort the answers into three categories, as shown in the following example:
  • Need
  • Want
  • It would be nice to have
• Determine the building constraints for your students: get informed about US State construction regulations.
• Provide these guidelines to your students as construction limitations before they begin to build.
• Consider using a budget to determine how large the sports facility can be—a budget determined either by the contracting entity or through a random draw of a card—but keep in mind that giving students a budget for their construction will add time to the project as they look up the prices for items and other costs.
• Once students have organized their contracting entity input and know their construction constraints (whether they are determined by average sizes or by budget) have them begin using graph paper to draft their sports facility blueprints. Have students keep in mind the total area and perimeter as they design, because that information will be shared with the contracting entity during the presentation. Remind students (or even make it the role of a team member) to return multiple times to their client information to be sure that the sports facility they are designing will meet their contracting entity needs.
• Have students also use this time to draft their team opinion paragraphs. Consider having each member of the team write an opinion paragraph on their own, then the team can use pieces from each paragraph to create their final team paragraph. Note that this method also gives you another individual assessment point for students.
• Students must be able to justify budget costs.

Milestone 5

How can we improve our sports facility to meet our contracting entity’s needs?

• Students receive feedback from the contracting entity on their blueprints and opinion paragraphs and finalize their products, including a 3D model of the sports facility.
• Remind students that the most important thing on which they should focus is their contracting entity information; their sports facility design first and foremost needs to meet contracting entity needs.
• Once the students have finalized their blueprints and opinion paragraphs and both are in a high-quality form ready to share with contracting entity, have the teams begin constructing their 3D model. Consider the resources you have and how much time you have to spend on constructing the model.
• Have students build a model that looks right to them; however, in both the 3D model and the blueprint students must label the dimensions of the sports facility using the correct units.

Milestone 6

How can we share our sports facility with our contracting entity’s and get construction approved?

• Give students time to practice their presentation.
• Invite the contracting entity back into the classroom to meet with their student teams or, if necessary, set up virtual meetings.
• As students begin to share with their contracting entity, encourage clients to ask questions and give students feedback. Consider putting together a feedback slip for contracting entity to fill out or suggest the clients give students verbal feedback on their designs.
• Be sure to schedule time to celebrate a job well done with the class. If you can, find a place within the school or on a website to display the student work; even though the most authentic audience is the contracting entity themselves, students will be proud to share their work with the community also.
• If time and resources permit, consider partnering with a building trades program at a local high school or community college or a handy community member to actually build the sports facility that the students designed.

Planning suggestions:

Milestone 1

• Concept of waste – discuss with the students the concept of waste, its impact on the environment, and the importance of recycling. Highlight the types of materials that are commonly recycled and why recycling is essential for conserving resources.
• Can it be recycled? – propose a very simple game: show some images and ask if that material can be recycled or not. After that you can show real-world examples of recycling processes.

Milestone 2

• Concept of entrepreneurship – explain how it involves identifying opportunities and creating products or services that people value. Discuss the importance of creativity and innovation in entrepreneurship.
• Brainstorm – brainstorm ways to repurpose common waste materials (e.g., plastic bottles, cardboard, old clothes) into useful and attractive products. Encourage them to think outside the box and consider the practicality and marketability of their ideas.

Milestone 3

• Upcycling project – in small groups, students can select the idea they liked most and start to work on it. It could be making reusable bags from old t-shirts, turning glass jars into decorative containers, or creating planters from plastic bottles. Provide the necessary materials and resources, and allow students to work on their projects. Emphasize creativity, functionality, and environmental impact.
• References – Share some product references.

Milestone 4

• Cost x value – Discuss the idea of “cost versus value” and how it relates to pricing their upcycled products.
• Budgeting and pricing – Explain how to determine the cost of materials and calculate potential profits.

Milestone 5

• Research – Guide students in conducting simple market research to understand potential customers’ preferences and willingness to pay for their upcycled products. Help them set reasonable prices that cover their costs while remaining attractive to buyers.

Milestone 6

• Green Entrepreneurship Market – organize a mini market where students showcase and sell their upcycled products to their classmates, teachers, and parents. This provides a practical experience in marketing, sales, and customer interaction.

Milestone 7

• Reflect on their experience – Ask them to analyze their sales, expenses, and profits, and share insights about the business aspect of the project. Also, discuss how their upcycling efforts contributed to waste reduction and environmental preservation. Reinforce the idea that small actions can make a significant positive impact.

Planning suggestions:

Milestone 1

• Group research – in small groups, students can do research on the origin of flea markets, garage sales etc. It can be an opportunity to talk to teachers, family or friends if they have already bought objects, clothes in such markets.
• Project wall – on the project wall students can put the main findings about the origin of bazaars, flea market or garage sale. They can also post a reflection on what this type of trade has to do with economy and sustainability.

Milestone 2

• Brainstorm – organize a brainstorm session with students so they can discuss what will be needed to set up their own garage sale.
• Project wall – add to the project wall the ideas and steps that will be needed to make the project happen.
• Departaments – define which group will be responsible for what.

Milestone 3

• Design – encourage students to organize different types of communication to get as many donations as possible.

Milestone 4

• Organizing and pricing – the challenge here is to separate all the items, classify them and, above all, assign a fair price. You can use a spreadsheet as a model at this point.
• Research – students can research the price of items on different websites and compare how much a new, used or semi-new item costs.

Milestone 5

• Visitors – organize the space and the items that will be sold. agree with students who will serve customers, who will be responsible for payments and packaging

Milestone 6

• Balance – prepare a balance sheet on what was sold and what was not. Check on the spreadsheet the amount that was collected and discuss with the group what will be done with the money.
• Reflect – talk to the group about the experience, challenges the role of garage sales and flea markets in a more sustainable trade perspective.

Planning suggestions:

Milestone 1

• Narrative – Tell the class a story about being invited by a publisher to write a comic book that teaches concepts of financial education.
• Brainstorm – Have students brainstorm their favorite comic books, graphic novels, manga, superhero cartoons, and movies. You can split then into groups based on their interests.

Milestone 2

• Money concepts – discuss what money is and its different uses—saving, spending, and sharing. You can use relatable examples to explain these concepts.
• Finance in comics – brainstorm different real-life situations that finance is important to. Have students sort them out and choose the ones they would like to introduce in their narratives.

Milestone 3

• Brainstorm – As a class, brainstorm ideas for characters who will embark on financial adventures. These characters could be young superheroes learning about money.

Milestone 4

• Hands-on – Work together to outline the comic book’s storyline. Each chapter or group can focus on a different financial concept, such as earning money through chores, making choices about spending, or sharing with others.
• Financial vocabulary – Introduce financial terms appropriate for the age group, such as “earn,” “save,” “spend,” “needs,” and “wants.” Incorporate these terms into the comic book dialogues.
• Design – encourage each group using different techniques to illustrate and color their story, ensuring characters’ actions align with the financial concepts being taught.

Milestone 5

• Presentation – Each group can present their comic book to the class. Explain the financial lesson taught in your chapter and showcase the illustrations.
• Reflection – Discuss the characters’ financial journeys and the lessons they learned. Ask students how they can apply these lessons in real life.

Planning suggestions:

Milestone 1

• Interest gathering – students discuss which countries they would like to visit and what they know in advance
• Brainstorm – what is needed for a trip around the world: transportation, accommodation, food, tourist attractions , health & safety.

Milestone 2

• Discuss and work within the available budget
• Craft Falcon Dollars
• Craft the “Falcon Passport”

Milestone 3

• Research the main touristic points of the chosen cities, also the country’s currency.
• Discuss the budget for each part of the trip based on how much money they have (Falcon Dollars) and where they’ll spend their money: attractions, food, hotel etc.

Milestone 4

• Itinerary – With the help of a world map define the best itinerary. show distances, continents and discuss possible means of transportation.
• Entrance Tickets – With the available budget, they must have fun visiting places and taking pictures
• Travel journal – Encourage students to track their spending and discoveries in their travel journal. This will be the best place to keep memories and pictures from each city.

Milestone 5

• Reflection – encourage group reflection on the places that have been visited, the choices that have been made and, mainly, how they have used the available budget.
• Assign each student a famous landmark from the places they visited. They can research and create 3D models or presentations to share information about the landmark’s history, significance, and location.
• Each student creates a travel poster for their dream vacation destination. They can use images, text, and creative design elements to capture the essence of the place and explain how much money they need to get there.

Planning suggestions:

Milestone 1: Introduction to board games

• Begin by discussing what board games are and why they are fun.
• Show examples of different board games (e.g., Snakes and Ladders, Candy Land, Monopoly).
• Explain the project’s objective: to create their own board game from scratch.

Milestone 2: Brainstorming

• Encourage students to brainstorm game ideas. Ask them to think about themes, goals, and rules.
• Have a group discussion where students share their ideas and classmates can provide feedback.
• Introduce basic financial concepts in an age-appropriate manner. Explain terms like money, savings, spending, and budgeting using simple examples. You can use stories or games to make it engaging.
• Teach students about income (earning money) and expenses (spending money). Have a discussion about different ways people can earn money (e.g., jobs, allowances) and common expenses (e.g., toys, snacks).

Milestone 3: Game Design

• Once students have decided on their game idea, have them draw a rough sketch of their game board on a blank poster board or large paper.
• They can also create game cards, special spaces, and other components.
  • Incorporate a currency system into the board game. This can be done by creating play money with different denominations, such as $1, $5, and $10 bills. Each student or group of students can design their currency with creative images.
• Emphasize the importance of clear and simple rules.
• Modify the game objectives to include financial goals. For example, instead of just reaching the finish line, students might have to save a certain amount of play money to win the game.
• Create “Chance” and “Decision” cards for the game. These cards can present financial scenarios and choices. For example, a Chance card might say, “You received a $5 allowance,” while a Decision card could say, “You found a toy you want to buy for $3. Do you want to spend your money?”
  • Teach students the concept of budgeting by setting limits on how they can spend their play money. Encourage them to plan their expenses wisely within their budget.
  • Introduce the concepts of saving and investing in a simplified way. You can include special spaces on the game board where students can “save” money or make “investments” (e.g., buying a pretend savings account or a stock in a fictional company).
  • Ensure that the game rules incorporate financial concepts such as earning money, making decisions about spending, and saving to achieve goals.
  • During play-testing, emphasize the financial aspects of the game. Encourage students to discuss their financial decisions and the consequences of those decisions.
  • After the game creation and play-testing, have a discussion with students about what they learned about money, saving, and spending during the game. Ask them to reflect on the importance of making wise financial choices.

Milestone 4: Game Creation

• Provide time for students to create their game boards and other components using art supplies and craft materials.
• Assist with cutting, pasting, and decorating as needed.

Milestone 5: Playtesting

• Divide the class into small groups and have them play-test each other’s games.
• Encourage them to make notes on what they like and any confusing parts.

Milestone 6: Game Improvement

• Based on the feedback from play-testing, allow students to make improvements to their games.
• This is a valuable learning opportunity where they can apply problem-solving skills.

Milestone 7: Final Presentation

• Have each student or group present their board game to the class.
• They can explain the rules and objectives and play a short demonstration round with their classmates.

Milestone 8: Reflection and Celebration

• After all presentations, gather the students for a reflection session. Ask them what they learned from the project and how they enjoyed the process.
• Celebrate their creativity and effort with a small class party and/or host a game night where they can play each other’s games and invite their families to play their games.

Planning suggestions:

Milestone 1

• Investigation – talk to the children about the hypotheses they have about where food comes from. Since this is farm country, maybe it should go from ”Farm to supermarket to table”, so they can see how the regional work ends up on tables across the city, county, state, country… If possible, take them to a local supermarket so that people can help show them the production chain and what is involved.
• Project wall – display the ideas the children have come up with and their discoveries.

Milestone 2

• Production chain – put together a production chain with the children, showing the money and the products we buy. It’s important to recognize the different stages of work and who does them – include field workers, truck drivers, industrial workers, supermarkets attendants etc.

Milestone 3

• Shopping list – each student can search for the week’s grocery list with their families. The focus can be on vegetables and fruit. It would also be very interesting if, in addition to the list, they could also share the receipts. This way, they can add up and check how much they’ve spent on vegetables and fruits.

Milestone 4

• Choose vegetables – decide which vegetables they would like to grow in their classroom garden. Select easy-to-grow options like lettuce, radishes, or green beans. You also can research the one that can be planted according to the season.
• Plant life cycle – guide students in planting seeds in small pots. Let them ask about soil, sunlight, water, and the importance of caring for plants. As the plants grow, you can talk about the different stages of a plant’s life cycle: seed, sprout, plant, flower, and harvest.

Milestone 5

• Harvesting Time – once the vegetables are ready, hold a harvest celebration. Discuss how growing your own food can save money and provide healthy options.
• Sharing with families – Invite families to the harvest and encourage the children to show the whole process – from researching what they eat and how much they spend to the harvest.
• Savings – ask the children to calculate how much they have saved by consuming the vegetables from the garden.

Milestone 6

• Reflection – invite the children to reflect on the process of caring for a garden and producing their own food. You can check who is interested in maintaining the garden and if families would like to contribute.

Planning suggestions:

Milestone 1

• Different countries, different coins – Begin by introducing different types of coins (penny, nickel, dime, quarter). Show their sizes, colors, and discuss their values. you can extend the activity, showing them coins from different countries.
• Falcon Dollars – challenge the children to create their own currency. It needs to have coins and notes and respect the decimal system. They can create coins and bills using paper and markers.

Milestone 2

• Brainstorm – create one or more stories about pirates or treasures that have been forgotten in lost cities. Encourage the children to give details about where the pirate might be or what the treasure might look like.
• Craft clues and treasure map – the children can be divided into small groups and the map and clues will be exchanged between the groups. This way, everyone has the chance to draw clues and be challenged to find the treasure.

Milestone 3

• Create your own treasure – what can be valuable and treasured? It could be a trunk full of Falcon coins, some candies, drawings…
• Treasure hunt – organize groups and have fun unraveling the clues and getting closer to the treasures

Milestone 4

• Sharing the treasure – Guide students in counting the play coins in the treasure. Discuss the total value and talk about how sharing the treasure is important.