Trip to Costa Rica
A WebQuery for 11th Grade Spanish
Designed by:
Isaac Meza: [email protected]
Megan Griffin: [email protected]
Designed by:
Isaac Meza: [email protected]
Megan Griffin: [email protected]
Introduction
Guess where you are going?!?!?
Summer vacation is just around the corner and you are a few weeks away from finishing your third year of Spanish with Mr. Meza/Ms. Griffin. You have been working hard with a part-time job and finally saved up enough money for a trip to Costa Rica!
Ever since you started taking Spanish with Mr. Meza/Ms. Griffin, it has been a dream of yours to visit a Latin American country like Costa Rica. You will finally get to experience all the great things you have been learning about in class such as Costa Rican food, culture, language, architecture, history, and landscapes.
You will be traveling with your best friend. However, your friend is in a different Spanish class and hasn't learned much about Costa Rica. Therefore, you will be doing all of the planning and preparation and play the part of a travel agent for your friend.
So get ready, it is time to put your Spanish skills to the test!
Summer vacation is just around the corner and you are a few weeks away from finishing your third year of Spanish with Mr. Meza/Ms. Griffin. You have been working hard with a part-time job and finally saved up enough money for a trip to Costa Rica!
Ever since you started taking Spanish with Mr. Meza/Ms. Griffin, it has been a dream of yours to visit a Latin American country like Costa Rica. You will finally get to experience all the great things you have been learning about in class such as Costa Rican food, culture, language, architecture, history, and landscapes.
You will be traveling with your best friend. However, your friend is in a different Spanish class and hasn't learned much about Costa Rica. Therefore, you will be doing all of the planning and preparation and play the part of a travel agent for your friend.
So get ready, it is time to put your Spanish skills to the test!
Task
Your task is to plan your two week trip to Costa Rica. You need to put together an expenses sheet and a schedule of your trip that includes the activities you plan on doing, the cities you will go to, where you will sleep, and your method of transportation through cities. The only part of the trip that you have taken care of is your round-trip flight to San Jose from the U.S.
The task will be divided into three sections:
Your Final Product: Will be a 10 minute presentation you will do that will explain to your friend all the details of the trip. This will be a PowerPoint presentation that will:
1) Be 10 minutes long
2) Contains information from the schedules and expenses sheets that you completed during the first two sections of the task.
3) Is presented in Spanish
4) Uses AND CITES information used from at least three of the resources provided on this page
5) Contains 4 topic-related pictures and/or videos (There are plenty of good ones on the websites listed on this page)
Expenses Sheet Template
Mr. Meza and Ms. Griffin recommend using an online application to create your expenses sheet.
Here is a worksheet you can download:
The task will be divided into three sections:
- First, you will need to decide on which cities you want to visit. You will need to decide how long you plan to stay in each city and and at least two activities that you want to do in each of those cities. Since you will only be in Costa Rica for two weeks, you have decided that you will visit four cities. Put all of this information on a schedule/itinerary.
- Second, you will need to create an expenses sheet so you can get an estimated cost for your trip. Remember to keep currency exchange rates in mind. (See template below)
- Third, you will need to put together a presentation using the information from the previous tasks so that you can present it to your best friend who you will be traveling with. Your goal is to get her excited for the trip and let her know how much it is going to cost.
Your Final Product: Will be a 10 minute presentation you will do that will explain to your friend all the details of the trip. This will be a PowerPoint presentation that will:
1) Be 10 minutes long
2) Contains information from the schedules and expenses sheets that you completed during the first two sections of the task.
3) Is presented in Spanish
4) Uses AND CITES information used from at least three of the resources provided on this page
5) Contains 4 topic-related pictures and/or videos (There are plenty of good ones on the websites listed on this page)
Expenses Sheet Template
Mr. Meza and Ms. Griffin recommend using an online application to create your expenses sheet.
Here is a worksheet you can download:
travel_budget_template.xlsx | |
File Size: | 33 kb |
File Type: | xlsx |
Process
Mr. Meza and Ms. Griffin have planned many trips to many different countries. Here are some questions that they recommend you address while completing the task:
Have you picked the four cities that you will be visiting?
Have you specified how long you will spend in each city?
Have you decided on your method of transportation between each city? (e.g. bus, high-speed train, air plane)
Have you chosen where you will be staying in each city? (e.g. hotel, youth hostel)
Have you investigated and planned at least two activities in each city?
Have you put together an expenses sheet?
Have you included how much you plan to spend on food, hotel, souvenirs, tourist activities, transportation between cities?
For your expenses sheet, did you take in consideration the conversion of US. dollars to the Costa Rican colón?
For your presentation
Did you include facts or interesting characteristics of each city?
Did you some reasons for why you chose those cities?
Did you include 4 photos or videos?
Did you use at least three of the resources provided?
Did you include a schedule of the trip?
Did you include the total cost of the trip?
Did you practice presenting it to see if it was 10 mins long?
Did you cite your sources?
Have you picked the four cities that you will be visiting?
Have you specified how long you will spend in each city?
Have you decided on your method of transportation between each city? (e.g. bus, high-speed train, air plane)
Have you chosen where you will be staying in each city? (e.g. hotel, youth hostel)
Have you investigated and planned at least two activities in each city?
Have you put together an expenses sheet?
Have you included how much you plan to spend on food, hotel, souvenirs, tourist activities, transportation between cities?
For your expenses sheet, did you take in consideration the conversion of US. dollars to the Costa Rican colón?
For your presentation
Did you include facts or interesting characteristics of each city?
Did you some reasons for why you chose those cities?
Did you include 4 photos or videos?
Did you use at least three of the resources provided?
Did you include a schedule of the trip?
Did you include the total cost of the trip?
Did you practice presenting it to see if it was 10 mins long?
Did you cite your sources?
Resources
Mr. Meza has provided you with many helpful websites that will help you complete the tasks. The links are in the titles.
Anywhere Costa Rica
This website has a variety of great information about planning a trip to Costa Rica. It has useful information about cities, activities, guides, accommodations, transportation, and food. It provides descriptions about the many different cities in Costa Rica. This website also has a lot of quality pictures of the cities you can visit and the activities you can do.
Beaches
There are many great beaches in Costa Rica and it can be difficult to choose which ones you want to go to. This website offers a list of the top ten beaches in Costa Rica, according to an experienced traveler who has visited them all. He does of great job of explaining the characteristics of each beach and he also provides information on accommodations near each beach.
Hostel Word
This website is where you can get all the information you need about the hostels in Costa Rica. You can explore the many different hostels within each city in Costa Rica. It's a great way to estimate a budget for your accommodations.
Gastronomy
If you are curious to know what people eat in Costa Rica, this website will provide you the just that. It has great descriptions about popular foods in Costa Rica and explains cultural meaning behind them.
Transportation
On this website you will find Costa Rica's tourist transportation network. You can find information about the routes, rates, and schedules.
Currency Exchange Rate
This is a great resource to help you covert currency between the US dollar and the Costa Rican Colon. The information on this website is always up to date so you know if your getting a fair exchange rate.
Anywhere Costa Rica
This website has a variety of great information about planning a trip to Costa Rica. It has useful information about cities, activities, guides, accommodations, transportation, and food. It provides descriptions about the many different cities in Costa Rica. This website also has a lot of quality pictures of the cities you can visit and the activities you can do.
Beaches
There are many great beaches in Costa Rica and it can be difficult to choose which ones you want to go to. This website offers a list of the top ten beaches in Costa Rica, according to an experienced traveler who has visited them all. He does of great job of explaining the characteristics of each beach and he also provides information on accommodations near each beach.
Hostel Word
This website is where you can get all the information you need about the hostels in Costa Rica. You can explore the many different hostels within each city in Costa Rica. It's a great way to estimate a budget for your accommodations.
Gastronomy
If you are curious to know what people eat in Costa Rica, this website will provide you the just that. It has great descriptions about popular foods in Costa Rica and explains cultural meaning behind them.
Transportation
On this website you will find Costa Rica's tourist transportation network. You can find information about the routes, rates, and schedules.
Currency Exchange Rate
This is a great resource to help you covert currency between the US dollar and the Costa Rican Colon. The information on this website is always up to date so you know if your getting a fair exchange rate.
Evaluation
Your work will be evaluated with these two rubrics:
Conclusion
Congratulations! By completing this assignment, you have learned how to effectively plan a vacation trip to a different country and how to use the internet to find the information you need. Whatever you decide to do in the future, these skills are invaluable and you will need to use them!
Now onto Costa Rica!
Now onto Costa Rica!