Lesson Two: Writing an Itinerary

By: Rose DiMaso

Time: 45-60 minutes

Grade: Fourth

Prerequisite Knowledge:

Students should be familiar with reading maps and finding distances on maps using the key given. Students should have been given some information about Spain.

Objectives:

Students will plan an itinerary for their “trip” to Spain in groups. They will use a map of Spain to find the distances that they will travel from city to city on their trip in both miles and kilometers. They will also compare the two distances and try to write an equation to convert miles into kilometers and kilometers into miles. They will also write brief descriptions of what they will do each day that they are in Spain. Students will take on an assigned role and work cooperatively with their groups.

NCTM Standards

- Students will express mathematical relationships using equations.

- Students will understand the need for measuring with standard units and become familiar with standard units in the customary and metric systems.

- Students will solve problems that arise in mathematics and in other contexts.

- Students will recognize and apply mathematics in contexts outside of mathematics.

Materials:

- Map of Spain from www.mapquest.com

- Ruler

- Pencils

- “Suggested Sights to See” sheet

- “Itinerary Planner” sheet

- Travel books about Spain

o Spain Fodor’s. (2001). Fodor’s Travel Publications. New York.

o Let’s Go Spain and Portugal. (1999). St. Martin’s Press. New York.

Procedure:

1. Explain to the students that they will be continuing their planning for their “trip” to Spain, and that today they are going to take on the role of travel agents and plan the itinerary for their trip.
2. Separate the students into three groups. Assign the groups roles. One group will be the travel experts, one will be the map experts, and one will be the writing specialists.
3. Meet with all of the travel experts and explain to them that they use the “Suggested Sights to See” sheet and the travel books about Spain to inform the group about what there is to do in the different places in Spain. Give them the resources that they need.
4. Meet with all of the map experts. Explain to them that they will be in charge of using the map key to calculate the distances between the cities that they plan to visit in both kilometers and miles. Give each of them a map of Spain that has a key to calculate distances in both kilometers and miles and a ruler.
5. Meet with all of the writing specialists. Give each of them a copy of the “Itinerary Planner” sheet. Show them a sample of how to fill out the sheet and explain to them that they will be responsible for filling out the sheet for their group.
6. Put all of the students into groups that include one travel expert, one map expert, and one writing specialist. Explain to the groups that they are responsible for their individual parts and will also be graded on how well they can work together and help each other.
7. Give the groups time to work on their project. During this time, the teacher should be observing and taking notes on how the students are working in their groups.
8. Have some of the groups share their itinerary with the rest of the class.

Closure:

Have the students meet in the meeting area of the classroom and discuss what they learned from doing this activity. Also explain to the students that tomorrow they will be doing another activity that will prepare them for their “trip” to Spain.

Extensions:

Have the students create an advertisement that advertises their itinerary. The advertisement should include some pictures of places that are in the itinerary, but students should be allowed to create it however they think would be most effective. Display their finished products on a bulletin board set aside for their work on Spain.

Assessment

Students will be graded on the final “Itinerary Planning” sheet that they turn in and based on the observations that were made on how well the groups were working together. They will be given grades based on the following rubric.

Rubric for Lesson 2 – Writing an Itinerary

	Excellent (2)	Satisfactory (1)	Unsatisfactory (0)
Itinerary Planning	The group completed all parts of the “Itinerary Planner” sheet.	The group did not complete all parts of the “Itinerary Planner” sheet, but did complete some of them.	The group did not complete any part of the “Itinerary Planner” sheet.”
Effort	The group planned an exciting trip that would allow them to see many interesting places in Spain and followed all of the directions given.	The group planned a trip to Spain that did not go into much detail about what they would be seeing and they failed to follow some of the directions.	The group did not plan a trip.
Group Work	The students fulfilled their assigned roles in the group and helped their group members with their roles.	The students fulfilled their assigned roles, but did not assist the other members of their group	The students did not work together or complete any of their assigned tasks.

Madrid

- Plaza Mayor is located in Madrid. It is an exciting place to visit. One can see brightly painted murals and street musicians here. There are also lots of cafes to visit. On Sundays there is a stamp and coin market.

- Teatro Real is located in Madrid. It is a wonderful place to see operas and ballets.

- Madrid also has a Teleferico. A teleferico is a cable car that takes you all around Madrid and makes stops near a zoo and an amusement park.

- Parque Del Retiro is another fun place to visit in Madrid. It is a park filled with clowns, musicians, fortune tellers, and jugglers.

- The Prado Museum is also located in Madrid. Here one can see many world famous art works.

Barcelona

- Las Ramblas is located in Barcelona. Las Ramblas is a tree-lined boulevard where you can see flamenco dancers and a famous statue of Christopher Columbus.

- An Olympic Stadium is located in Barcelona. You can go see where the 1992 Summer Olympics took place.

- Barcelona also has many beautiful beaches to visit.

- Sagrada Famillia is located in Barcelona. This is a very famous church that is only half completed. A famous artist named Gaudi started designing the church, but he died before he was finished.

Islas Baleares

- Islas Baleares consists of three islands Mallorca, Menorca, and Ibiza. You can visit these islands and see the many beaches and experience island life.

Granada

- The Alhambra is located in Granada. The Alhambra is an old palace that they started building in the 1240’s (Wow! That was a long time ago). There is a watchtower, gardens, and many other places to explore in the Alhambra.

Sevilla

- The Alcazar is located in Sevilla. This is the official Sevilla residence of the king and queen of Spain.

- Sevilla is the home to the third largest cathedral in the world.

- Barrio de Santa Cruz is located in Sevilla. Here you can shop and enjoy the various fountains and gardens.

Pamplona

- Pamplona is where the world famous running of the bulls takes place.

Bilbao

- The Guggenheim Museum is located in Bilbao. It is an amazing building that looks like a ship that is about to set sail. It houses many rotating exhibits.

The information on this sheet was compiled from Spain Fodor’s 2001 and Let’s Go Spain and Portugal.

Directions:

Use this planner to plan out each day of your trip. You do not have to travel to a new city everyday, but you should visit at least six cities. You can also visit the same city more than once. If you are not traveling to a new city on a certain day you can leave the kilometers traveled and miles traveled spaces blank. The first day and the last day are filled out for you.

Try to complete the Challenge at the end of the planner.

	City	Days Activities	Miles Traveled	Kilometers Traveled
Day 1	Madrid	Fly from Chicago, Illinois to Madrid, Spain. Took a long nap to recover from jet lag and walked around the city.	4193 miles	6748 km
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Day 11
Day 12
Day 13
Day 14	Madrid	Returned to Madrid to fly back home.	4193 miles	6748 km

Challenge:

Write an equation that shows how you can convert miles into kilometers and kilometers into miles.