Goal:

It is the goal of this plan:

1. To apply information learned in the class in an environment that resembles actual life experience.

2. To motivate students to use higher level thinking skills like analysis synthesis and evaluation.

3. To encourage industry, responsibility and accountability.

Methodology:

Students will bid on work. The contract will be awarded to the bidder that will do the work in the shortest time and for the lowest price. Students will then use this Westminster cash to purchase their grades.

Freedoms and Responsibilities:

Students may work on any work they wish, with whom ever they choose, at the rate of speed they dictate. Students may get assistance from parents, teachers, or any staff. Students are permitted to do work at other locations before or after class. Students are permitted to use the classroom, library or any books or resources they can get their hands on.

Students must meet their contract deadlines and responsibilities. Students must pay all financial obligations to the class and other students. Students must submit to the discipline and authority of the school, the instructor in charge, the constitution of the class and the Student Handbook.

1. Life Style: Money may be used to buy grades by applying it to your life style. In real life, life style represents the type of house, car and status a person can maintain. There is a strong correlation between life style and competence in the work place. In the economic system, this principle is applied to an A, B, C grading scale. A student that can consistently earn a high amount of money will deserve a high grade. Because life style represents mostly fixed expenses (mortgages and payments) it is difficult to reduce your life style once it is established. This principle is applied to the Economic System to encourage continued effort on the part of students and to discourage speculative spending on grades. Students are permitted to increase life style spending without restriction, but are restricted to a 10% cut in lifestyle and are only permitted to reduce their lifestyle spending if they spend more than $100.

2. Services: Money can be used to buy the services of other people. Students are allowed to subcontract all or part of their work. When work is subcontracted to other students, the students doing the subcontracted work report only to the students who hired them. Upon acceptance of the work, subcontractors are entitled to payment regardless of future issues regarding the quality and completion of the work they did. Care should be taken to check all work submitted by hired workers. The students who made the original contract are still legally responsible for the timely completion of their work.

3. Paying off Creditors: Students may use earned money to pay off creditors. A creditor is another student or group of students (a company) that has purchased a bond from you or your company. (See bonds below.)

Earning Money:

1. Contracts: The primary way students make money is through government contracts. The instructor in charge of the class (the government) lists a series of assignments for students to bid on. Students bid on the work by filling out contract bid sheets and submitting them to the Inspector General (a student hired by the government). The Inspector will then award the contract to the lowest bidder.

2. Contest Winnings: Periodically the instructor will provide competitive academic contests and make cash awards dictated by student performance. At predetermined times and in specified circumstances students will be paid their winnings.

3. Investment: Students can make money by investing in bonds. (See Bonds listed below.) Bonds can also be a bad risk if the student selling the bond is not able to pay it off.

4. Debt: A last resort in raising money is to borrow it. This is done legally by filling out and selling Bonds. Bonds are forms requiring the legal name of the students going into debt (company name) and the date the Bond is redeemable. Bonds are usually worth $100 when redeemed. After filling out all the information on the bond, the students going into debt go around the class trying to sell the bond. The money they get from selling the bond can be used for all the purposes money can normally be used for. If a student is unable to find buyers for their bonds and are unable to pay their bills the go bankrupt. (See bankruptcy.)

Legal Considerations:

1. Companies: The government will do no business with individuals. All students wishing to submit contract bids must first form a company. To form a company students need to provide the Inspector General with the following information: the company name (six letters or less), the names of the students in the company (there may be from one to a maximum of eight), and the percentage each partner gets of the profits and debts. This information will be kept on file for reference by the Inspector General in order to settle any money disputes which may occur between the partners. The students forming the company will divide all money the company makes according to the percentages recorded by the Inspector General. In the event that the company incurs expenses, the expenses will be paid according to the percentages recorded by the Inspector General. Students may make informal arrangements regarding payments or income. These arrangements would have to be established by two or three witnesses if a lawsuit occurs. (See lawsuits.)

2. Fees: Any time the Inspector General creates or changes official records, the students or companies involved must pay a fee of $10. This fee reduces paper work and makes it less common that a student will badger government employees.

3. Bankruptcy: When a student or group of students (their company) can no longer pay the minimum life style charges or pay for any matured bonds submitted to them, they go bankrupt. When bankruptcy occurs, all the assets of the company are seized and distributed among the creditors in the following order: Employee wages are paid first. Government life style expenses are paid second. Bonds are paid third. If there are insufficient funds to pay any or all of these groups, they are paid off in the order listed above. Any fractional amount will be paid proportionally to the people owed money. Each bankrupt students is no longer liable for any debts outstanding and is to be given start-up funds amounting to five times the lowest positive grade on the lifestyle curve (usually the amount paid for a D). The bankrupt student will suffer a grade reduction. An F will travel backwards in the grade book replacing their highest grade.

4. Lawsuits: In any business situation disputes are bound to arise. In the Economic System, a Roman style legal system with council for the defense and prosecution is not practical, so an ancient Middle Eastern system is employed. The Bible says a matter is established by two or three witnesses. Students bring forth their witnesses before the instructor who acts as judge. Every witness, including the defendant and students bringing the complaints must pay $100 to the government to appear in court. This money represents the Middle Eastern tradition of bringing a gift to the governing official before appearing before him. This encourages students to solve problems before litigation and keeps the case load low. Lawsuits may be called for any reason at all as long as at least one person is willing to appear in court. Lawsuits may result in retributive payment or services, fines or jailing. Students sent to jail continue to pay their lifestyle expenses but must spend the class period in the library and do all their work during non-classroom hours.

5. Totalitarianism: There are many fine forms of government that will not work in a classroom situation. Because students are prone to sinful desires which lead to corruption, stealing, lying, cheating and many other things, the only workable government form is the dictatorship. With this form of government, greater freedom can be given to classes which show themselves to be responsible. Any time the instructor in charge becomes aware of wrong doing on the part of any student, that instructor may immediately take any action he or she deems appropriate without a trial. This policy provides the safest possible atmosphere for students to learn and work. It is rare this power is needed when it is well known that this power exists.

0.1 Belt: The length, L, of a belt around two wheels can be computed by:

L = 3.26 (R₁ + R₂) + 2 x D

Where R₁ and R₂ are the radii of the wheels and D is the distance between the centers of the wheels. Have the user supply R₁, R₂ and D, find L.

1.1 Fibonaci Sequence: A Fibonaci sequence is a modification of a counting sequence. Instead of adding one to each number to get the next number in the sequence you add the previous two numbers. The sequence should look like this:

0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, . . .

Create a table numbered one through 100 in column A, with the corresponding Fibonaci number listed in column B.

1.2 Loan: The value of a loan is calculated by the following formula:

V = P x (1 + I)^N

Make a table of loan values for P, I, and N, where P is the principal (supplied by the user), I is the interest rate (supplied by the user) and N is the number of months of the loan (from one to 360).

1.3 Pendulum: The period T (in seconds) of a simple pendulum of length L (in meters) is given by the formula:

= 3.14

g = 9.8 <-- (The gravity constant for planet Earth)

---- = 2.985 x 10^-25

D ³

1.5 Two Dice: Calculate the odds of rolling numbers using two six sided dice. Calculate the percentage of times a 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 or 12 could be rolled. Label your output.

1.6 % Tax: Calculate the percentage of their income that Americans pay to the IRS. Make a third column on the tax table that is a percentage of the first two.

1.7 Payment Tables: Enter the WCS payment schedules into Lotus 123. Include labels for all columns. Give all the teachers a 3% raise.

1.8 Trig Table: Using Lotus 123 Sine, Cosine and Tangent functions, make a table ranging from zero degrees to 360 degrees. Include all appropriate labeling.

1.9 Light Years: The speed of light is 186,000 miles per second. Create a spreadsheet that computes the number of miles for one to one hundred light years.

1.10 Energy: The amount of energy E (in Ergs) of a nuclear particle with a mass M (in grams) traveling at a speed V (in centimeters per second) is given by the formula:

E = ½MV².

I

N

1.13 Roll Playing Game Sheet: In a commonly played roll playing game, players roll three six sided dice for each of seven personality traits that make up their character. Players then add the dice for each trait and use the traits to calculate the personality's strengths and weaknesses. Use random numbers to generate these traits in a spreadsheet:

1. Strength

2. Intelligence

3. Wisdom

4. Constitution

5. Dexterity

6. Charisma

7. Money (multiply this one by 100)

1.14 Pascal's Triangle: Our French friend Blaise Pascal discovered a triangle that added the two numbers at the top-left and top-right of it. It looked like this:

1

1 1

1 2 1

1 3 3 1

1 4 6 4 1

Complete the triangle so that it covers 20 lines.

1.15 Temperature Conversion Chart: Convert temperatures from degrees Kelvin, to degrees Celsius, to degrees Fahrenheit. Look up the conversions in a book. Make sure that you go from 0 degrees Kelvin to 500 degrees Kelvin by an increment of 1.

1.16 Mickey Mouse Program: Create a spreadsheet to formulate entrance prices to Disney World. Have a control panel with a standard price indicated (typed in by the user), of $35. Make out of state adults pay 115% of standard price, out of state children 90%, Florida adults 95%, Florida children 75%, and out of state New York residents pay 125% of the standard price for adults, and 95% for their children. Be sure to print the prices with and without Florida's 6.5% sales tax.

1.17 Bode's Law of Planetary Distances: According to Bode's Law, the distances each of the nine planets can be calculated by an empirically derived formula:

4+3x2^n-2

-------------- astronomical units, where n is the planet number by distance from the sun.

10 For example, Earth is third from the sun, therefore for Earth n=3.

1.18 Rabbit Problem: Calculate how many rabbits there would be every month from month 1 to month 100 given the following:

1. You start with two rabbits, one male and one female, both newly born.

2. Rabbits mature in six moths and immediately reproduce.

3. It takes one month for a female rabbit to have a litter of six, three males and three females.

4. Female rabbits immediately become pregnant after giving birth.

5. Rabbits live exactly three years.

Human Surface Area: An average person's surface area in square meters can roughly be calculated with:

Area = 7.184^-3xWeight^.452xHeight^.725

Where the weight is given in kilograms and height is supplied in centimeters. Make a table of surface areas for all weights 10 to 300 pounds and heights 3 feet to 7 feet in increments of inches. Convert all values Metric and English as needed.

2.1 Factory Production Game: In a certain game, players are allowed to make factories (designated F) to produce armaments or consumer goods. An additional little wrinkle in the rules allows players to produce factories that make factories (designated F'1) or even factories that produce factories that in turn produce factories F'2 (and so on.) Calculate how many goods the player will produce at the end of each turn if he makes F factories, F'1 factories, F'2 factories, F'3 factories, F'4 factories or F'5 factories at a rate of one per turn.

2.2 Risk: In the game of Risk the offensive player is allowed to roll three dice and the defensive player is allowed to roll two dice. According to the rules of Risk, the highest roll of the offensive player is compared to the highest roll of the defensive player. The player with the lower roll loses an army. Then, the second highest roll of the offensive player is compared to the second highest roll of the defensive player. Again, the player with the lowest roll loses an army. In comparisons, the highest dice wins. If there is a tie, the defender wins. Calculate what percentage of the time the offense and defense should win by trying every possible case.

2.3 Grade Breakdown: Modify the Gradebook Assignment so it will calculate the number of students making an A, a B, a C, a D and the number of students that failed. Summarize this information in a report directly below the gradebook. Each time the grades change, the number of students in each grade category should change.

2.4 Letter Grades: Change the Gradebook so it calculates letter grades for each student. The letter grades should appear in the column next to the student names.

2.5 Ranking by Grades: Change the Gradebook so that students are printed in order by GPA for graduation.

2.6 Money Exchange: Make a control panel in the top of the Spreadsheet, with the following currencies listed with their exchange rates:

US Dollars

Pounds Sterling

Canadian Dollars

Japanese Yen

German Deutschmarks

French Francs

Australian Dollars

Greek Drachma

Russian Rubles

Israeli Shekels

Mexican Pesos

South African Rands

2.7 Interest Rate: Take a survey to find out how interesting spreadsheets are. Then, type the information into the computer including what percentage of people think spreadsheets are very boring, boring, moderate, interesting or very interesting. Make sure that you survey everyone in all three classes. Type the name of every person in the class into the computer. Beside each name include an index of how they feel about Lotus 123 spreadsheets on a scale of one through five. Off to the side of the screen, show the results of your study by listing each category and its percentage.

2.8 People Ratings: Survey Everyone in your class on everyone in the class. Ask people what they think about other people, and rate them on a scale of 1 to 10. Include face beauty, intelligence, wit, sense of humour, etc. Make it look like this:

Name Humor Intel Wit Face Average

Mr. Bouwsma	1.8	1.3	2.1	0.1	1.325
Mrs. Stevenson	8.3	9.5	7.6	7.0	8.1
Mr. Whiting	5.4	7.5	6.7	6.0	6.4
Mr. Schrader	8.5	8.0	5.5	6.0	7
Mrs. Warner	8.0	7.5	7.7	7.5	7.675
Mr. Adams	5.2	9.8	9.5	5.8	7.575

Hard Level 3 Problems $15,000 - $30,000

3.1 Yahtzee: Calculate the odds of rolling three of a kind, four of a kind and five of a kind using the rule of the game Yahtzee. According to Yahtzee, each player gets three chances to roll five dice. Players have the option not to reroll any or all of the dice after the first and second roll. After the third roll the dice are scored. Have the spreadsheet try every possibility and calculate the odds.

3.2 Short 1040: Program the 1040 short form into Lotus using the tax table. Label all entries clearly so the spreadsheet is easy to use. The spreadsheet program must perform all calculations and table lookups.

3.3 Tax Table: Type in this year's federal tax table. The table must include two columns of continuous numbers. In column A type the incomes. In column B type the tax.

3.4 Base Conversion: Write a spreadsheet program which will make a table of mathematical base conversions. At the top of the spreadsheet, have the user specify the base he wishes to use in the conversion program. Do a base ten count in column A. Count in the target base in column B. Example:

BASE = 3

1 1

2 2

3 10

4 11

5 12

6 20 Etc.

3.5 Chemistry: Make a table of the Element Name, Abbreviation, Number and Weight from the Periodic Table of Elements. Instruct users to enter element abbreviations in column A and molecular quantities in column B. Use this information to calculate the percentage of each element in the molecule by weight. List this information out using the full name of each element.

3.6 Big Math Add: Create a spreadsheet program to add numbers with 30 digits in them. Resize and format columns of the spreadsheet so the entered digits are as close as possible. Allow the user to enter two thirty-digit numbers. Have the spreadsheet add them. (Wouldn't Charles Babbage be pleased?)

523456789012345678901234567890

+ 555555555555555555555555555555

-----------------------------------

1079012344567901234456790123445

3.7 Big Math Subtract: Do the same thing done for Big Math Add, except perform subtraction.

3.8 Car Stopping Distance: Create a spreadsheet that has four columns, including the speed of the car (from 1-300 kmph), the thinking distance (in meters), the braking distance (in meters), and the total stopping distance. Consider that the average time it takes an American to apply pressure to the brake is 3/4 of a second. Find the rate of deceleration your self for at least five different types of cars.

Nasty Level 4 Problems $40,000 - $80,000

4.1 Raises - Inflation Adjusted: Create a report based on two tables, the WCS Payment Schedule and the Inflation Table used in the Inflation Lab. Create a control section (similar to the one used in the Inflation Lab.) Include in this section:

1. Education Category (BA, MA, PhD etc.)

2. Number of Years Experience (by current year)

3. Year to start study

4. Year to end study

Use this information to calculate information including the following:

1. Number of years the study covers.

2. Total pay increase (or decrease) over those years.

3. Value of this increase in initial year dollars.

4. Value of this increase in end year dollars.

5. Value of increase in current year dollars.

6. Percentage increase after inflation.

Use the Inflation Lab as a guide in design and a clue to solve this problem.

4.2 Curve: Create a test curving spreadsheet which will accept up to seven classes of students with up to 40 students each. Use the Standard Deviation and Mean functions to force the grades into a bell-shaped curve. Use the following grading scale:

A = 4 -> 1.5 Standard deviations above the mean

B = 3 -> .5 Standard deviations above the mean

C = 2 -> Between +.5 and -.5 standard deviations

D = 1 -> .5 Standard deviations below the mean

F = 0 -> 1.5 Standard deviations below the mean

Ask a WCS math teacher for help with the concept of standard deviation and mean. Consult the Lotus 123 manual about the use of statistical functions.

4.3 Ticket Fines: Westminster Christian School is hiring a police force to try to curb the speeding which occurs daily on the campus road system. Speeding ticket fines will be based on the number of miles per hour over the speed limit the offender was traveling. Use the following table to calculate fines:

MPH Over Fine

Speed Limit Paid

1-5 MPH $30

6-10 MPH $50

11-20 MPH $100

21-40 MPH $500

41-70 MPH $2,000

71-99 MPH $15,000

100+ MPH $500,000

Take into consideration that:

1. The campus speed limit is 5 MPH.

2. Teachers who break the law pay double the price but are allowed to go 5 MPH faster than the student speed limit.

3. Administrators pay only one tenth the price and never more than $6.

The spreadsheet user should only have to type in the speed the person was going and identify this person as a student, teacher or administrator to find out how much the fine is. (The school is thinking of changing the speed limit to 3 MPH and raising the fines. Make it easy to adjust the spreadsheet to fit new requirements.)

4.3 Employee Schedule: Make a scheduling table for the user to fill out. Have the time of day run down the left side of the sheet in time increments of 15 minutes. Across the top list the days of the week. Lines should separate days and times. Leave enough space in each day and time box for up to five different employee numbers.

In some other spot in the spreadsheet list all the employees. This list should include their ID number, Name and Rate of Pay. Use students in the class as test data in this section. (Pay them what you think they are worth.)

1. Calculate the total number of hours each employee has worked during the week. Add 15 minutes each time his code appears in the chart.

2. Calculate the number of hours each employee has worked on Saturday or Sunday.

3. Calculate the number of hours of overtime each employee has worked. (Overtime hours are the number of hours an employee works above and beyond the 40 hours that make up a normal work week.)

4. Calculate the amount each employee should be paid this week. (Employees get time and one half for overtime and double time for weekend work.)

5. Calculate the social security tax, FICA, withheld for the government. (Keep this at a simple 5.75%.)

6. Calculate each employee's federal tax withholding. (Keep this at 25%.)

7. Calculate the employee's take home pay.

8. Calculate the amount of money the company had to pay toward the employee pension fund. (10% of his after tax pay)

9. Calculate the total amount the company paid per employee. (His wage plus his pension fund.)

10. Calculate the total amount of employee operating cost for the week for all employees and all pension payments.

11. Project what the employee cost would be for the whole year if the cost of this week were typical. (There are 52 weeks in a year.)

4.4 Big Math Multiply: Do the same thing done for Big Math Add, except perform multiplication.

4.5 NFL Placing Table: Create a spreadsheet that includes 11 teams, placed in a vertical column to the left of the spreadsheet, and a score table to the right of the spreadsheet, where the scores of football games can be typed in, and looked up by the spreadsheet. Have the spreadsheet rank the teams from highest to lowest, and have columns include amount of wins, losses, ties, points scored, points scored against, and winning percentage. Make sure that each team plays ten games, and that each team plays each of the other teams once.

Make the table look something like this:

Team Pct W L T PF PA

-----------------------------------------------------

Miami 1.000 7 0 0 189 90

Detroit .875 7 1 0 213 105

And so on...

Make the results section look like this:

Miami 21 Washington 18

Detroit 42 Seattle 3

You've Gotta Be Kidding

Level 5 Problems

5.1 Big Math Divide: Division should show the entered numbers above and below a line indicating division. Calculate the answer above the division sign like Elementary School children do on a sheet of paper.

Westminster Contacts 1996-1997

Teacher Ext. Examples of work given

Mrs. Warner 377 Mastery

Mr. Warner 378 Tests, assignments

Mrs. Snowden 370 Mastery

Mrs. Horton 330 Letters, papers,assignments, tests

Mrs. Lindblom 217 Letters

Mr. Goodman 324 Assignments, handouts

Miss Blanknspore 309 Assignments

Mrs. Cuevas 316 Assignments

Mrs. Dielman 310 Foreign language tests & assignments

Miss De Riter 214 Athletic flyers

Mrs. Martin 338 Assignments

Mr. Mawhinney 385 Assignments

Mrs. Cameron 312 Assignments

Mr. Cameron 209 Letters

Mrs. Lunger 337 Assignments

Mr. Scott 332 Assignments

Mrs. Smile 366 Handouts

Contract Bid

Contract Name:

Name of Firm: Per:

Day Number of Completion: Bid: $

Owner's Name:

Government Reason

Signature: for Rejection:

Terms:

All contracts are subject to late fines of 20% per day. In the event that a contract becomes more than three days late the contracting firm becomes subject to a punitive damage fine and must pay 25% of the contracted amount to the government and will also loose all rights to payment. If the government fails to provide the material reaources the contracting company requires to perform the services contracted, the government must pay a 10% retainer's fee and this contract becomes void. If the contracting company refuses or is unable to perform the services it has contracted, the contract is dissolved and the company must pay 25% punitive damages.

Contract Bid

Contract Name:

Name of Firm: Per:

Day Number of Completion: Bid: $

Owner's Name:

Government Reason

Signature: for Rejection:

Terms:

All contracts are subject to late fines of 20% per day. In the event that a contract becomes more than three days late the contracting firm becomes subject to a punitive damage fine and must pay 25% of the contracted amount to the government and will also loose all rights to payment. If the government fails to provide the material reaources the contracting company requires to perform the services contracted, the government must pay a 10% retainer's fee and this contract becomes void. If the contracting company refuses or is unable to perform the services it has contracted, the contract is dissolved and the company must pay 25% punitive damages.

Outside Work Contract

When to use this form: This contract form is to be used for any work originating outside the computer classroom.

Instructions: Fill out the top page of the form when a work agreement is made. Fill out the back page of the form when the work is completed or the contract is broken.

1. Enter the name of the person providing the work. >

2. Enter a descriptive title for the work. >

(Like Spanish 1a Midterm or Acceptance letter.)

3. Enter the number of pages of work to be completed and compute the totals in the table below. Use fractions like ½ or ¾ where appropriate.

Type	Description	Number of Pages	Rate	Total
Simple Text	Includes margins, centering titles, bold, underline italic, font changes (AB CD)		$1500 / page
Accent marks Tables, Boxes	Requires accent marks, foreign lettering, (àü¿) graphic or text boxes, tables, shading, multiple columns, water marks, graphic images		$2500 / page
Foreign Alphabet, Images	Extensive use of Greek, Hebrew, Chineese etc. (, )		$6000 / page
Mathematics	Requires square roots, powers, (²) special symbols, tables graphs, etc.		$ 8000 / page

4. Enter the total for the contract by adding all the totals. >

5. Enter the date this work is to be completed. >

6. Signature of the person offering the work:__________

7. Name of student Co.:__________ Student signature: _______________

Instructions: The person receiving the finished work must fill out this side of the contract when the contracted work is completed or the company providing the services has broken the contract. After this contract is signed it becomes the property of the contracting company. The government will pay the contracting company when this sheet is submitted to the Inspector General for payment with a copy of the work.

Broken contracts: A contract is broken when any of the following conditions occur:

1. Four or more days have passed since the due date without contract satisfation.

2. The company that agreed to provide services refuses to provide the service.

3. The person offering the work was forced to withdraw their request for work.

Directions: Fill out the following boxes accurately so the student company can receive payment.

1. How many days late was this work? (Enter zero if it was on time.)

2. If the work was accepted sign here:

3. If the contract was broken, sign

Reason:

Legal mumbo jumbo:

All contracts are subject to late fines of 20% of the contracted price per day. In the event that a contract becomes more than three days late, the contracting firm becomes subject to a punitive damage fine and must pay 25% of the contracted amount to the government and will also loose all rights to payment. If the contractor fails to provide necessary material resources or must withdraw from the contract agreement, the government will pay a 10% retainer's fee to the contracting company and the contract becomes void. If the contracting company refuses or is unable to perform the services it has contracted, the contract is dissolved and the contracting company must pay 25% punitive damages.

$

Bond

Name of person issuing the bond:

Day Redeemable

Write out the amount

the bond is worth on this line:______________________________________________

Signature of issuer: ____________________________________

The Issuer hereby agrees to pay the bearer of this bond the full value appearing upon its face, on or any time subsequent to the redemption day noted above. In the event payment is withheld, the issuer is to be declared bankrupt and any funds received from the bankruptcy up to but not exceeding the face value of the bearer of this bond and others like it in proportion to the amounts listed as their face values. This document is to be destroyed upon redemption.

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