Plan a School Trip

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1 Getting Started
2 Watch and Notice
3 Try It Together
4 Write the Costs in Your Copy
5 Class Challenge
Pupil practice

1 - Getting Started ~4 mins

Illustration for Getting Started Here is our end-of-module challenge. We are planning a day-trip to Glendalough for the whole class. We have €800 to spend, there are 28 of us, and the day runs from 9 am to 4 pm.

Before we work anything out: what would we need to figure out to know if this trip actually fits?

Teacher Notes

Take three hands-up answers, not open call-outs. Steer toward the two things the lesson tests: does it fit the €800? and does it fit the 9-to-4 day?

This is the module assessment — flag that pupils will plan their own trip later, so today's shared plan is the worked model they copy the method from.

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

+5 XP

2 - Watch and Notice ~9 mins

We are planning a trip to Glendalough — first the timing, then the money. The interactive builds up the budget one cost at a time against an €800 cap: bus, then tour, then lunch. Watch how tall the bar gets each time, and how much of the cap is still free at the end.

Teacher Notes

Time line first, before the money: bus leaves 9, 1 hour each way, so 2 hours travelling, on-site 10 to 3 — that's 5 hours there. This is the model for the schedule half of their own plan, so make it explicit.

Work the per-pupil arithmetic live as each picture appears, don't just read totals.

Picture 1 — bus only €280, bar low, plenty of cap free.

Picture 2 — add guided tour €196 (€196 ÷ 28 = €7 each). Bar taller, clear gap remains.

Picture 3 — add lunch €5 × 28 = €140. Total settles at €616, €184 still free, bar amber not full.

Pause on that €184 gap — ask what could that €184 do? before moving on.

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

+10 XP

3 - Try It Together ~11 mins

We have €184 left after the bus, tour and lunch. Today we decide together how to spend the rest: some for extras (a snack stop or a souvenir), some kept back as a contingency, and maybe an optional guided walk. A contingency is money kept aside in case a cost goes up or something goes wrong.

We will add each one to the board in turn. First we add €60 for extras. Next we add €50 kept back as contingency. Then we add €40 for the optional walk. Before each new line, we stop and check the remaining amount. The bar climbs but stops well short of €800 — we keep some back on purpose.

Spend the remaining €184

Teacher Notes

Talk this one through together — pupils take turns at the board and the class agrees or corrects out loud.

Before each new line, ask the class to predict the new remaining amount, then let a pupil set the stepper and check. Keep the running total visible: after €60 extras we are at €676, after €50 contingency at €726, after €40 walk at €766 — so €34 stays free.

Watch for pupils who want to spend all €184 down to zero — draw out why a contingency line is sensible (a broken-down bus, a rise in the tour price). Circulate and prompt.

+15 XP

4 - Write the Costs in Your Copy ~2 mins

COPYBOOK MOMENT

In your maths copy, write each cost on its own line — bus, tour, lunch — with the per-pupil amount beside it. Total the three at the bottom and check your total against the €800 budget cap.

Teacher Notes

Walk the room and glance for one line per cost with the per-pupil figure written beside it — no marking, this is whole-class copybook practice, not assessment. Nudge anyone who has only written the totals to add the per-pupil column.

+10 XP

5 - Class Challenge ~8 mins

Now the harder version: for each plan, spread the budget across every line so the total lands exactly on the cap, with no line left at zero. That forces a real trade-off — spend more on one thing and you must spend less on another.

We work through four plans in order: first the €800 Glendalough trip across bus, tour, lunch and extras; then the tighter €600 Newgrange trip; then a €500 Dublin Zoo trip; and finally the stretch — the same €800 Glendalough trip but for a class of 50, where the fixed bus cost is shared much wider.

Look hard at that last plan. The bus still costs €280 whether 28 or 50 pupils go. Share it out: €280 ÷ 28 = €10 each for a class of 28, but €280 ÷ 50 = €5.60 each for a class of 50. The same bus becomes cheaper per head the more pupils go.

Make the trip plan fit exactly

Teacher Notes

This is the practice round — pupils take turns at the board, check each answer, and the class confirms before moving on. Keep the board work brisk rather than over-explaining.

The exact split does not matter — any non-zero split that hits the cap passes. What matters is the reasoning aloud: if we put more into extras, what has to give?

On the fourth challenge (class of 50, same €800), do the two divisions on the board where pupils can see them: €280 ÷ 28 = €10 each beside €280 ÷ 50 = €5.60 each. The interactive only tracks the total against the cap, so this comparison must be written up by hand — that falling per-head figure is what the wrap depends on.

+15 XP

Pupil practice

Module 5 · Time and Money Measures

Lesson 70 · Plan a School Trip

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This lesson is copyright of Coding Ireland 2017 - 2025. Unauthorised use, copying or distribution is not allowed.

Teacher Class Feed

1 - Getting Started ~4 mins

2 - Watch and Notice ~9 mins

3 - Try It Together ~11 mins

Spend the remaining €184

4 - Write the Costs in Your Copy ~2 mins

5 - Class Challenge ~8 mins

Make the trip plan fit exactly

Unlock the full learning experience

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