1. Credit Friend or Foe? webquest

2. Introduction "College Students who run up credit card bills each semester...graduate with as much as $7,000 of credit card debt!" (http://www.collegestudentcreditcard.co m/articles6.html )

3. TASK In this WebQuest you will take on the role of credit card user. Your task is to research credit cards and purchase items using the credit card. You will be assigned a personal profile and items to purchase. Your group will be responsible for creating a budget. Additionally, each member will be responsible for: purchasing two household items calculating the cost of using credit for the household items After your research is complete you will prepare a PowerPoint Presentation of your profile and the items purchased using credit. Your groups will present your findings in the form of a debate using your research material.

4. PROCESS Step 1: Your group will be assigned, by your teacher, a profile and items you need to purchase. Click here to read your profile and find out your purchases.Click here Step 2: With your group create a budget for your profile. Use the budget worksheet to determine how much money you have left to spend on your purchases. Keep in mind that you are not expected to have enough money to pay for the items up front. You are going to be purchasing your items using a credit card.worksheet Step 3: With your group research what type/types of credit cards you will use. Use the website www.creditcard.com to find the credit card that works best for you. Once you find the right card, complete the credit card worksheet to describe the cards features (you CAN NOT use Prepaid Cards).www.creditcard.com worksheet

5. Process Cont. Step 4: Determine which two items each member of your group will purchase. Write your group member names, profile number, and what each group member is purchasing on the purchases worksheet. Also indicate what credit card each member will use to make their purchases.worksheet Step 5: On your own use the Internet to visit on-line stores and make your purchases. Print a copy of each purchase (from the store you bought it at) and use the purchases worksheet that you started in Step 4 to record the final costs of your purchases. Remember to include tax for each purchase. worksheet Step 6: On your own determine what the minimum payment will be on your credit card using a 2.5% minimum payment calculation. Use the Bankrate website (http://www.bankrate.com/brm/calc/MinPayment.asp) to calculate how long it will take to pay off the credit card using the minimum payment. Also, determine how much interest you would pay at the end of that time. You should then determine how much more you can pay than the minimum payment (a fixed payment) each month. Consider how much money you had left after completing your budget. (http://www.bankrate.com/brm/calc/MinPayment.asp Next, you should determine how long it would take to pay off and how much interest you would pay using the fixed payment. Use the Minimum Payment Trap worksheet to record your findings.worksheet

6. Process Cont. Step 7: Meet with the other two members of your group and share your information. Make sure that you are able to make your credit card payments each month (you do not want to default on your cards). All group members should work together to create a PowerPoint Presentation sharing your profile and purchases. For more details on the PowerPoint presentation, click here. click here Step 8: Finally, the two groups that were assigned each profile will debate their findings and defend their choices to the class. Think of it as saying, "My purchases are better then your purchases." Although you are debating, this is not a competition of right or wrong. Just make sure you are able to defend your choices.

7. Student Resources General Resources www.investorwords.com www.mycreditfile.com.au www.practicalmoneyskills.com (Lesson 8) www.aarp.org www.investorwords.com www.mycreditfile.com.au www.practicalmoneyskills.com www.aarp.org Credit Card Search Resources www.creditcard.com www.creditcard.com Purchases Resources www.sears.com www.macys.com www.bestbuy.com www.pcrichard.com www.sportsauthority.com www.sears.com www.macys.com www.bestbuy.com www.pcrichard.com www.sportsauthority.com www.nextag.comwww.nextag.com (can only use if it takes to to a store on this list) www.4americanrecreation.com www.bedbathandbeyond.com www.walmart.com www.modells.com www.bloomingdales.com www.mybobs.com www.4americanrecreation.com www.bedbathandbeyond.com www.walmart.com www.modells.com www.bloomingdales.com www.mybobs.com www.Ashley Furniture.com www.ikea.com www.ikea.com Minimum Payment Trap http://www.bankrate.com/brm/calc/ MinPayment.asp http://www.bankrate.com/brm/calc/ MinPayment.asp

8. EVALUATION RESEARCH RUBRIC

9. CONCLUSION Congratulations! By completing this task you and your group have learned the importance of credit and the role it plays on your buying decisions. After completing this WebQuest you should ask yourself: "Is credit right for me?" "Will I do anything different now that I have this information?" "Can I help my friends make wise financial decisions when it comes to credit?"