Your class of 25 is going to the movies, and the excursion budget is $800. Can your students fit in tickets, transport and snacks, and still save for the end-of-year party?

In this real-life budgeting task, Years 5–6 students compare bus hire with public transport, use multiplication to cost tickets and snacks for 25 students, and keep at least $25 for the class piggy bank. They then graph what the money is spent on and solve a detective case file.

How it runs

• Lesson 1: the teacher slides set up the excursion and model a worked example
• Lessons 2–3: students plan and check their budget in the booklet, step by step
• A self-check checklist and a certificate finish the task

Maths covered

• Multiplying money amounts (e.g. 25 tickets × $14)
• Adding totals and working out what is left
• Making and reading a many-to-one column graph, and spotting a misleading graph
• NSW Mathematics K–10 syllabus: MA3-MR-01, MA3-AR-01, MA3-DATA-01

Good to know

• 2–3 lessons of 45–60 minutes
• Print the booklet in colour or in black and white
• Edit the slides in Google Slides or PowerPoint, and the booklet in PowerPoint or Keynote (fonts included)
• Australian money, spelling and prices