Cover lesson · Maths · Year 8 · Beginner

Digital budgeting for a trip

DCF: Data and computational thinking → Data and information literacy

Name: Class: Date:

Cover teacher — you need no subject knowledge

Print: this sheet, one per pupil. Pupils also need the cost list welsh-trip-costs.csv — either open it in Excel or Google Sheets from the shared area, or print it and have pupils type the eleven rows in. The whole eleven-row list is also reprinted on this sheet, so the lesson still works if the computers are down: pupils then use the paper table and a calculator.

Run: 5 min read the brief · 10 min enter the data · 15 min write the four formulae and fill the line totals · 10 min answer the five budget questions · 10 min write the recommendation to the head of year. You do not need to check the maths live — the answers are on the worked example sheet.

Collect: this sheet. If pupils used a computer, they save the file as trip-budget-INITIALS in the class folder — nothing is shared outside school.

What you are doing

Year 8 has been offered a day trip to Techniquest in Cardiff Bay. The head of year has agreed a budget of £900.00 for 30 pupils and 3 members of staff. You have the costs. Build a spreadsheet that works out the line totals, the grand total, how much is left, and what each pupil should be asked to pay — then write a short recommendation saying whether the trip fits the budget.

Step by step

  1. 5 min — Read the cost list below. Note which items are charged per pupil and which are charged once.
  2. 10 min — Set up the spreadsheet with the headings in row 1 and the eleven items in rows 2 to 12. Column A = Item, B = Unit cost, C = Quantity, D = Line total.
  3. 15 min — Write the four formulae in the formula box, then fill in every line total in column D and the grand total in D13.
  4. 10 min — Answer the five budget questions.
  5. 10 min — Write your recommendation to the head of year in the lines at the end.

The cost list

Row numbers here match the spreadsheet rows. Fill in column D yourself.

Row A — Item B — Unit cost C — Qty D — Line total
2Coach hire, 49-seat, school to Cardiff Bay and return£395.001
3Techniquest pupil admission£8.5030
4Techniquest adult admission (free at 1 adult to 10 pupils)£0.003
5Science Theatre show supplement, per pupil£2.0030
6Packed lunch from the school kitchen£2.8512
7Coach parking, Cardiff Bay£8.001
8Hi-vis tabards, pack of 10£11.993
9Workshop: Forces and Motion (whole class)£45.001
10First aid kit refill£6.401
11Photocopying permission slips and risk assessment£0.0666
12Contingency fund£20.001
13GRAND TOTAL

Formula box

Write the formula you would type into each cell. Start every one with an equals sign.

CellWhat it must work outYour formula
D2The line total for row 2 (unit cost times quantity)
D13The grand total of all eleven line totals
G3Money left: the £900.00 budget in G2 minus the grand total
G4Cost per pupil, to the nearest penny, for 30 pupils

Five budget questions

QuestionYour answer
1. What is the grand total cost of the trip?
2. Does it fit inside the £900.00 budget? By how much?
3. Which single item is the biggest share of the cost?
4. What does the trip cost per pupil, to the nearest penny?
5. If four pupils drop out and the coach still costs £395.00, what happens to the cost per pupil? Explain in one sentence.

Your recommendation to the head of year

Three or four sentences. Say whether the trip fits, quote your total, and name one thing you would change.

Success criteria

If you finish early