Ratios is one of the most applicable topics that is part of the curriculum of upper elementary. Along with this unit, fifth-grade students were able to explore the importance of maintaining proportions to plan a trip to different places around the world. How was this done? Students chose different locations around the world with some specifications (they cannot have the same currency, for example). After choosing the destinations, they are given a budget of 20,000,000 COP to plan the vacation. The purpose of this exercise was to calculate the price of each expense (tickets, hotel, food, touristic activities) in Colombian pesos (COP) and the equivalent in the corresponding currency, according to the country or place they chose. The students that chose the Mastery Level (3 locations around the world) also had to explain how the third location fulfilled their basic needs and why it is part of their quality world.Â
The results of the projects were outstanding. In this case, three cases will be discussed. The first one is the project of Luna Muñoz. She chose Costa Rica, Mexico, and the USA. The biggest achievement in this project was the fact that she, without being asked, used numbers to do the budgeting. This inspired other students to learn how to use this tool to make their lives easier and satisfied her need for freedom and power. It was quite an accomplishment.Â
The second case was the project of Esteban Castro. He was able to fulfill his basic need of survival by using strategy to budget 4 different places (Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, and Paraguay) around South America. He showed outstanding Math skills and was able to discover some mastery conclusions like the fact that the Paraguayan GuaranÃ
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