1-Pager
All grades  Project 4 weeks

Party on a Budget Blueprint

Eduardo R
Updated
CCSS.Math.Content.HSA-CED.A.1
CCSS.Math.Content.HSF-IF.B.4
CCSS.Math.Content.HSF-IF.B.4
CCSS.Math.Content.HSA-CED.A.2
CCSS.Math.Content.HSA-CED.A.3
+ 11 more
1-pager

Purpose

Students take on the role of an event-planning team to design a prom proposal that reflects their interests, identities, and community while meeting real constraints like budget, guest count, and venue capacity. After a kickoff with a community center events coordinator, teams build a shared proposal folder with individual cost calculations, inequalities, graphs, and a final mathematically justified plan for the upcoming graduating class. Over four weeks, they test choices, revise plans based on feedback, and prepare to present their solution to families and the coordinator at Pitch Night.

Learning goals

Students will take on the role of an event-planning team to create and solve linear equations, inequalities, and simple systems that guide decisions about budget, guest count, and venue capacity for a party proposal. They will interpret tables, graphs, and feasible solution regions to justify choices, compare costs, and produce a mathematically sound plan that reflects their interests and community. Students will use mathematical models to revise their proposal based on feedback from a community center events coordinator, while contributing individual calculations, graphs, and reflections to a shared team pitch for the graduating class.

Standards
  • [Common Core] CCSS.Math.Content.HSA-CED.A.1 - Create equations and inequalities in one variable and use them to solve problems. Include equations arising from linear and quadratic functions, and simple rational and exponential functions.
  • [Common Core] CCSS.Math.Content.HSF-IF.B.4 - For a function that models a relationship between two quantities, interpret key features of graphs and tables in terms of the quantities, and sketch graphs showing key features given a verbal description of the relationship.
  • [Common Core] CCSS.Math.Content.HSF-IF.B.4 - For a function that models a relationship between two quantities, interpret key features of graphs and tables in terms of the quantities, and sketch graphs showing key features given a verbal description of the relationship.
  • [Common Core] CCSS.Math.Content.HSA-CED.A.2 - Create equations in two or more variables to represent relationships between quantities; graph equations on coordinate axes with labels and scales.
  • [Common Core] CCSS.Math.Content.HSA-CED.A.3 - Represent constraints by equations or inequalities, and by systems of equations and/or inequalities, and interpret solutions as viable or nonviable options in a modeling context.
  • [Common Core] CCSS.Math.Practice.MP2 - Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
  • [Common Core] CCSS.Math.Practice.MP4 - Model with mathematics.
  • [Common Core] CCSS.Math.Content.HSA-REI.A.1 - Explain each step in solving a simple equation as following from the equality of numbers asserted at the previous step, starting from the assumption that the original equation has a solution. Construct a viable argument to justify a solution method.
  • [Common Core] CCSS.Math.Content.HSA-REI.B.3 - Solve linear equations and inequalities in one variable, including equations with coefficients represented by letters.
  • [Common Core] CCSS.Math.Content.HSA-REI.C.6 - Solve systems of linear equations exactly and approximately (e.g., with graphs), focusing on pairs of linear equations in two variables.
  • [Common Core] CCSS.Math.Content.HSA-REI.D.12 - Graph the solutions to a linear inequality in two variables as a half-plane (excluding the boundary in the case of a strict inequality), and graph the solution set to a system of linear inequalities in two variables as the intersection of the corresponding half-planes.
Competencies
  • Problem Solving - Proposing improvements (OT.PS.2.e)
  • Mathematical Modeling - Modeling (FL.MST.2.a)
  • Mathematical Modeling - Using models (FL.MST.2.d)
  • Pursuing Goals - Planning for postsecondary (LL.SM.2.d)
  • Problem Solving - Managing constraints (OT.PS.2.b)

Products

Students will create individual planning artifacts throughout the project, including researched price lists, unit-cost tables, linear inequalities, graphs, and brief math checkpoints tied to their assigned role on the event-planning team. In teams, they will build a shared party proposal folder that includes the event theme, budget plan, guest and capacity constraints, system models, layout sketches, and evidence of revisions based on feedback from the community center events coordinator. By the end, each group will produce a mathematically justified party proposal for the graduating class and a presentation deck for Pitch Night that explains how their design reflects their interests, identities, and community while staying within budget and space limits.

Launch

Open with a Pitch Night Kickoff where a community center events coordinator presents a real event-planning scenario for the graduating class, including room capacity, decoration choices, and a fixed budget. In teams, students step into the role of an event-planning company, react to sample party options, estimate costs, and discuss how to design an event that reflects their interests and community while staying realistic. Follow with a quick debrief comparing team assumptions to the coordinator’s feedback, especially around space, guest count, and spending limits. End by launching the challenge: produce a mathematically justified party proposal using inequalities, graphs, and cost calculations to show the plan works.

Exhibition

Host a Prom Night Pitch Night where student event-planning teams present their mathematically justified party proposal for the graduating class to families, peers, and the community center events coordinator. Each group should showcase how its event theme reflects student interests and community identity through budget tables, inequalities, graphs, capacity decisions, and a final recommended plan, with every student explaining their assigned math contribution. Invite the audience to pose realistic planning changes such as budget cuts, guest increases, or venue limits so teams must defend revisions using mathematical evidence. End with coordinator and family feedback on which proposals are most realistic, meaningful, creative, and mathematically sound.