MaTh: Math activity Thursday for 5th graders!

So, I wasn't sure if I would be able to make a post today--but here it is...

5th graders are awesome!  I know they can be creative and have so many neat ideas... How about this activity?

Have them budget out what it would cost to produce and make a thing they really want to make!

I'm not talking a simple, "If I bake cookies I can sell them for $0.50 each" kind of thing.  They need to take into consideration the production cost and everything.  My children's school has a fourth grade trade fair each year--I am thinking of something along these lines, but even bigger.  Those kids think of something they want to make and produce it and then sell it at the trade fair where the parents come and other classmates and kids in that grade level can buy the stuff.  I have seen a good variety of things...

• Frozen bananas
• Hair bands
• Friendship bracelets
• Decorated pencil tops
• Fridge magnets

Those things are nice, but what if you wanted to make something but you wanted to turn it into a reality on a bigger scale.  A few days ago I mentioned I am going to be running a Kickstarter campaign for the first book in my Kids Menu Books series.  To get the The Pancake Menu novelty book to lots of parents and teachers I need help with the funding to produce it.  These are some of the costs and budgets I need to research, get quotes for, and think about how much time I will be spending on everything to make sure I can fulfill all orders if it is successfully funded.

• Printing costs
• Cost for book formatter
• Cost of illustrator (if I end up hiring one--I might actually do this myself)
• Cost for help with video
• Cost of my own time
• Make a Kids Menu Books logo design and pay for that
• Revamp kidsmenubooks.com and associated costs
• Take into consideration 5% funding fee and 4% credit card transaction fees need to be worked into the total budget.
• There are probably numerous other things but you might not want to read them all.

I bet most of your students have a project or invention they would love to make.  I know my second grader has had an idea for a new kind of skateboard for a couple years.  But what does he need to do to turn that into a reality?  He would need to make prototypes, see how much the cost of the materials are, take into consideration how much people are willing to pay and how much time it takes to make the product.

So, it is most likely a 4-6 week math activity, but it's my idea for you... or maybe even a summer project for the kids at home...

What can your student(s) create and how much would it cost for them to get it produced?  How much funding would they need?  About how many people would they need to buy it?

Feel free to link up your 5th grade math activity with the linky (which will be open all month : )

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Thanks,

An InLinkz Link-up