7th Grade Language Arts

End of Year Tech Project Thursday, May 19 and Monday, May 23 (computer lab time)

Summer Vacation, Oh My!
- Your job:
Plan a vacation and write a travel "story" for this vacation complete with pictures, itineraries, prices, poems, reviews, meals, and mileage! Your trip must last ten days!


All work should be completed on Google Docs. You must name your document yourlastname.nameofdestination (example ruyle.cabosanlucas). Any of the topics listed in bold must be a topic on your Google Doc. You should keep it organized by using effective spacing, bold, italics, numbers and bullets. As soon as you name your document, share it with acollopy@mssd14.org.

Sources:
- any websites that you use must be cited on a list of websites that you utilized
- create a separate document to store the url's/web addresses as you copy and paste them

Budget- $10,000
* Woot! It seems like a lot of money, but remember, this has to include EVERYTHING and EVERYONE going.

1. Pick a destination (where you're going!)
- Day dream about this a little. Do a few Google searches. Then, write a 5-7 sentences paragraph describing your destination; where is it; why did you choose it; what makes it great?

2. Who is going with you?
- You may travel on your own, or with a whole bunch of folks. The more the merrier OR the more the more expensive? $10,000 is your magic number. You must be on your trip for 8-10 days.

3. Travel plans
- planes, trains, and automobiles!
- Plan a detailed itinerary complete with departure and arrival dates and airline information. Use the following websites to help you find the best deal. Don't forget to include airport parking in your expenses.

www.expedia.com
www.travelocity.com
www.kayak.com
www.priceline.com

- If you want to drive to your destination, that's fine too. However, you must have detailed mileage information; how much gas costs, thus how much gas you'll purchase (round trip); if you'll stay in hotels along the way; and food costs. You'll have to decide what type of car you'll drive and research how many miles it gets to the gallon. Get googling! Remember, the shorter your search criteria, the better (no complete sentences or question in the search bar).

4. Transportation when you're there
- Are you going to rent a car? How much will that cost?
- Are you going to walk? Exhausting.
- Are you going to take a bus? How much do buses, trains, etc. cost? Can you buy a pass?

www.expedia.com
or
Find some car rental companies websites (Hertz, Avis, Dollar, etc.)


5. Where are you going to stay?
- Find your specific hotel information and multiply it by the number of nights you want to stay. Remember to check availability on the websites for your dates.

www.hotels.com
www.expedia.com
www.priceline.com


6. Sightseeing
- What makes this place cool? Interesting? List where you'll go and do cool activities like museums, adventures, tours, etc.
- Google searches should help you with this.

7. Pictures, please!
- Include at least five images from your destination. Copy and paste them onto your document. Write a short one-sentence description under each picture. Don't forget to copy and paste each url/website onto your source list.

8. Meals
- You have to eat! Where? How much will it cost?
- In addition to general meal/budget planning, research at least one restaurant in your destination. Write a short description of that restaurant and why it's unique and you want to visit/eat there. Include a picture if you can find one. I bet you can find a menu too!

9. A Poem!
- Yes, a poem! Write a diamante poem about your destination. It's a poem of contrasts. Here's the format:
Line 1- A noun about your place/destination
Line 2- Two adjectives describing the noun from line 1
Line 3- Three "ing" words relating to line 1
Line 4- Two nouns relating to line 1; then two nouns relating to line 7 (this is your transition line)
Line 5- Three "ing" words relating to line 7
Line 6- Two adjectives describing the noun from line 7
Line 7- A contrasting noun about your place/destination

* We wrote diamanates before spring break (the same day we wrote Limericks).

10. Budget - List of all expenses and totals

Here's where you prove your great planning. List all expenses below. Make sure to include a total! If you know how to insert a chart or a spreadsheet, go for it. If not, a list with an accurate total will suffice.

Are you ready to travel? Get planning! All work for this travel plan is due at the end of class on Monday. We'll share these during our short class on Tuesday!