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Katy McDonald
CEP 811
March 28, 2010
Web Quest Design
Teacher/Design Information
1. Learners – This WebQuest is designed for a high school Alternative Education
Economics class. The learners in this class may range from grade nine to grade twelve
and may have a variety of strengths, weaknesses, and educational backgrounds. Though
many of the learners have been referred to an Alternative Education setting, typically, it
is for behavioral issues rather than academic ones. In other words, the students are fully
capable of accomplishing academic goals, but their behavior is often the road block to
that accomplishment. This WebQuest could also be used in a High School Personal
Finance class.
2. Goal – There are two main goals of this WebQuest. The first goal is for students to
practice their use of the decision-making model in a real life task. The second goal is to
expose students in a low socio-economic area to the idea of saving and investing for the
future. Students will be asked to create a PowerPoint presentation to show what they
have learned and demonstrate the accomplishment of these goals.
3. Standards – By completing this WebQuest, students will have met the following
Michigan High School Content Expectations:
a. E1.1.1 Scarcity, Choice, Opportunity Costs, and Comparative Advantage
b. E1.1.2 Entrepreneurship
c. E1.2.2 Price in the Market
d. E4.1.3 Personal Finance Strategy
e. E4.1.4 Key Components of Personal Finance
f. E4.1.5 Personal Decisions
g. E4.1.6 Risk Management Plan
4. Process – Students will be asked to complete this WebQuest as a final project in an
Economics or Personal Finance class. Students will be asked to create a savings plan and
an investment portfolio that includes a variety of stocks, bonds, and perhaps mutual
funds. Prior to starting the WebQuest, the class will or should have covered key concepts
related to savings and investment including interest, different types of savings accounts,
stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. Students will be asked to make their decisions based on
an entry level position in the field of their choice. Students will be asked to:
a. Research entry level positions, salaries, and benefits
b. Create a personal budget
c. Create a savings plan
d. Research and create an investment portfolio
e. Determine how much money they could save or invest in a period of 5 years, 10
years, and 20 years
5. Resources - Students will need the following resources to complete the WebQuest:
a. Economics: Principles and Practices textbook
b. Internet access
c. Websites including but not limited to:
Site
Can You be the Next
Market Guru? (Part
1)
Can You be the Next
Market Guru? (Part
2)
Can You be the Next
Market Guru? (Part
3)
New York Stock
Exchange Made
Easy by EconEdLink
Career One Stop
Address
http://www.econedlink.org/lessons/popup.php?lesson_numb
er=333&flash_name=main.swf
http://www.econedlink.org/lessons/popup.php?lesson_numb
er=334&flash_name=main.swf
http://www.econedlink.org/lessons/popup.php?lesson_numb
er=335&flash_name=main.swf
http://www.econedlink.org/lessons/popup.php?lesson_numb
er=292&flash_name=em292_interactive.swf
http://www.careeronestop.org/
Career Overview
U.S. Department of
Labor
Google Finance
http://www.careeroverview.com/salary-benefits.html
Qwoter
http://www.qwoter.com/
Money Central
http://moneycentral.msn.com/home.asp
Edustock
http://library.thinkquest.org/3088/
Big Charts
http://bigcharts.marketwatch.com/default.asp?siteid=&avatar
=seen&dist=ctbc
Investor Guide
http://www.investorguide.com/
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
http://data.bls.gov:8080/oes/search.jsp
http://www.google.com/finance?hl=en&tab=we
Decision Making Grid
Microsoft Word
Personal budget template on Microsoft Excel
Microsoft PowerPoint
Videos
i. Investing in Plain English by www.commoncraft.com found at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QvW1XETz2g
ii. How to Budget Personal Finances : Personal Budget Tips by Expert
Village found at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI_l7c94yJY&feature=related
WebQuest Elements
1. Title: Earn It, Save It, Invest It!
o Subject Matter: Budgeting, saving, and investing
o Author: Katy McDonald
2. Task – You have learned many skills this semester that you will be able to use in the future.
But why wait? Let’s put those skills to use so you can see where your future plans can take
you!
You will use a series of videos, interactives, and websites to help you complete all of the
following:
 Choose an entry level job and research its salary and benefits.
 Create a budget based on the entry level job you have found using real figures.
 Determine how much money you can potentially save or invest each month.
 Create an investment portfolio of stocks, bonds, and mutual funds.
 Determine how much money you could potentially save and/or invest in 5 years, in
10 years, and in 20 years.
3. Process – You will be given 10 class periods or 2 weeks to complete this final project. You
will see that I have broken down the project into smaller chunks. Please complete the steps
in order, as they will help you in your decision making process. I will guide you and help
you along the way, of course!
o Day 1 – Job search and job research.
 Use the career websites like the U.S. Department of Labor, Career One Stop,
and Career Overview to research a job or career you are interested in after
graduation. If you plan on going to college, choose an entry level job in the
career you plan to begin after college. If you are not planning to go to college,
please remember that your job and/or career choices will be limited. For
example, please do not tell me you will be a Construction Manager or
Engineer without any education after high school.
 Consider what human capital you have when looking for jobs you are
qualified for.
 Find at least 3 job postings in the area in your desired field.
 After you have researched your job/career, write a one page summary in
Microsoft Word. In your summary, make sure to answer the following
questions:
1. What is the job/career/position you are interested in?
2. Why are you interested in it?
3. Describe the job postings you found in the area.
4. What is the starting salary or starting wage?
5. Does the job have benefits? If so, what benefits? If not, what benefits
will you need to find on your own?
o Day 2 – Find a car and a place to live.
 Use the internet to find a car you can afford and a place to live you can afford.
 Be realistic! For example, do not tell me you plan on buying a brand new
Escalade when your entry-level job pays ten dollars an hour. Also, I do not
want you to plan to live at home. Everyone needs to budget for their own car
and their own place to live.

Write a short summary of your findings for today in Microsoft Word. Explain
the choices you made. Provide links to the ads for the vehicle and housing.
o Day 3 – Create your budget.
 Create your monthly budget in Microsoft Excel.
 Please use the template provided. You may make changes as necessary.
o Days 4 -5 – Can You be the Next Market Guru?
 Complete the three part interactive called Can You be the Next Market Guru?
Parts One, Two, and Three. Answer the questions that follow in a Word
document. Then write a paragraph summarizing what you have learned about
investing.
 They are located at:
1. http://www.econedlink.org/lessons/popup.php?lesson_number=333&fl
ash_name=main.swf
o Explain how trying to predict stock prices is like flipping a
coin. Use an example from the interactive to help you in your
explanation.
2. http://www.econedlink.org/lessons/popup.php?lesson_number=334&fl
ash_name=main.swf
o Keep track of your progress. What were you able to do with
the $100 you started out with?
o If you had made all the right decisions, how much would you
have ended up with?
3. http://www.econedlink.org/lessons/popup.php?lesson_number=335&fl
ash_name=main.swf
o Keep track of your progress. What were you able to do with
the $100 you started out with?
o If you had made all the right decisions, how much would you
have ended up with?
4. Complete the online quiz at New York Stock Exchange Made Easy by
EconEdLink and email your results to me at [email protected]
The link for the quiz is at:
http://www.econedlink.org/lessons/popup.php?lesson_number=292&flash_n
ame=em292_interactive.swf
o Days 6 – 10 Begin Virtual Investment
 Decide how much you would like to invest based on your budget.
 Research the companies you are investing in. What do they do? How
successful have they been in the past? What is important to know about the
company?
 Complete the decision making grid using at least 5 different companies.
 It is your choice which criteria you will choose to compare them on. For
example, you may compare price, but maybe you would rather compare the 52
week high. The criteria on which you judge the stocks is entirely up to you.
You may work with a partner to create a list of criteria for your decision
making grid.

Create an Excel document to track your stocks for at least the next several
days.
o Day 6-10 – Predict and Analyze Your Outcomes
o Now use your Excel document to calculate the following:
 How much money would you gain if you sold at the 52-week high price?
 How much money would you lose if you were forced to sell at the 52-week
low price?
 Now, figure how much interest you could have earned if you had placed the
money you spent on stocks in a savings account for one year?
 How much interest would you have earned if you had put the money in a
savings account for five years? Ten years? Twenty years? You might find
the compound interest calculator from EconEdLink helpful with this.
 Now, in a Word document, write an essay explaining if you feel investing in
the stocks would be worth the risk. Take into consideration the amount you
had decided to invest/save and the amount of money you have leftover at the
end of every month.
 Finally create a PowerPoint presentation outlining all of the decisions you
made during this project. Use the presentation to explain the reasoning behind
all of your decisions. The PowerPoint should include the following:
1. Your job
2. Your car – include a picture
3. Your housing – include a picture
4. Your budget
5. The stocks you looked at investing
6. Whether you decided to save or invest your money and why.
4. Evaluation – The following rubric will be used to score your work on this WebQuest.
(Rubric will be attached as an Excel document in the portfolio.
5. Conclusion – Thank you for completing Earn It, Save It, Invest It!
From this WebQuest, I hope that you have developed a better sense of your financial life
after graduation. I hope you now have a better understanding of the decisions you will have
to make in order to support yourself and maintain a balanced budget. Hopefully, when all is
said and done, you now have the tools to know how to save and invest your money wisely.
6. Credits –
 Created by Katy McDonald, Pearson Education Center, [email protected]
with help from the following:
 EconEdLink
 U.S. Department of
 New York Stock
Labor
Exchange Made
 Google Finance
Easy by

Edustock
 MSN Money
EconEdLink
 Qwoter
 Commoncraft.com
 Investor Guide
 Expert Village
 Big Charts
 Thinkfinity