Invest Wisely WebQuest

Introduction Task Process Evaluation Conclusion

Introduction:

Your grandmother has given you $10,000 to use for college. She tells you that for you to have access to the money, you must demonstrate how to invest money wisely. There exist many forms of investments, including savings accounts, CDs , money market accounts, mutual funds and stocks. Finding the best investment strategies has puzzled investors for years. In order to satisfy grandma, you must come up with the most profitable way to invest your money over a 12 week period.

Task:

Your group is responsible for creating an investment strategy to get the most out of the $10,000 that your grandmother has given you.

You must reach a consensus as a group on which stocks the $10,000 should be invested in. You will all take a role in investigating the stock market. You will each take a role of investigating an individual stock. The conservative person will investigate large, high yield, dividend stocks. The cautious investor will investigate large, well-known common stocks The moderate will investigate mid-range stocks, and stocks that may be out of favor, and the gambler will investigate hi-tech, bio-chemical, and other risky stocks.

Your group will be evaluated by the presentation you give for your grandmother. She will want to see the facts a variety of ways, i.e. graphs, charts, etc.

Process:

Step 1

Begin your explorations by visiting the Stock Market Web:
The Stock Market Expedition

Learn all that you can about the stock market and how it works. Answer the questions on the Stock Market Expedition Worksheet.

Step 2

Each group member should assume one role:

The Conservative: The Conservative: you are concerned with keeping your risk of losing money as low as possible.

The Cautious Investor: The Cautious Investor: You are willing to take a bit of risk with this form of investment to achieve a higher return.

The Moderate Investor: The Moderate Investor: you are interested in maximizing profits.

Gambler: Gambler: you are interested in maximizing profit at any risk.

1. Research the type of stock for your role. Submit an individual completed investor worksheet.

2. Reconvene with your group and explain your type of investment to the other group members, and make about three recommendations for particular investments in your area.

3. Decide as a group how much money to allocate to each investment. There must be at least one from each category. You must provide a justification.

4. Two people create a circle graph on percent and amount of money in each category.

5. Two people write a defense of your investment strategy.

Product:

You will create several products, both individually and as a group:

Each person in your group should have a completed Stock Market Expedition Worksheet.
(4 worksheets will be handed in.)
Each person in your group should have a completed investor worksheet.
(4 worksheets will be handed in.)
Each group will present to Grandma your ideas for investing the money, using a circle graph (with money and percent).
Each group should have a circle graph and written defense of why you invested as you did.
(One circle graph and one written defense will be handed in.)

Assessment:

You will be graded individually and as a group.

Your individual grades are:

Your stock market expedition worksheet.
Your investor worksheet.

Your group grades are:

The presentation.
The circle graph.
The written defense.

Conclusion:

This is only the beginning of your explorations! Remember that investing is a long term process with many highs and lows. We will continue to follow the progress of your investments to see if you can outperform even your grandmother's expectations.