Task 1
Values must match the live fixed simulation at $500. Students should label which order each number belongs to.
Teacher guide
Compare two debt payoff plans
Students hold three fictional debts constant, compare avalanche and snowball orders at two monthly budgets, and write a dated plan supported by payoff and interest evidence.
Time
45 minutes
National topic
V. Managing Credit
Selected outcome
Managing Credit 12-10c
Separate student view
Share or print the student handout
The student page contains the scenario, resource links, prompts, response space, and privacy boundary. It does not contain this teacher key.
Complete teacher packet
Download one printable file with preparation, the fictional scenario, checked resources, all tasks, the teacher key, evidence check, extension, and LMS post. Keep it teacher-only because it contains answers.
Download teacher packetReady-to-paste class post
The post includes the exact handout, time, goal, directions, and privacy boundary.
Objective and outcome
Use a fixed debt simulation to separate the effect of payment size from the effect of payoff order.
Managing Credit 12-10c: Create a repayment plan for a person who is having difficulty paying debt. This is an independent selective correlation. Use the standards crosswalk for the source and claim boundary.
Teacher preparation
- Open the debt payoff simulator and move the payment with both a pointer and arrow keys.
- Share or print the student handout.
- Emphasize that students must not enter or disclose personal debts.
Fictional scenario
The simulator supplies three fictional debts: a store card, a credit card, and a car loan. Students compare the same debts first at $500 per month and then at $900 per month.
Checked resources
- Debt payoff simulator
Students compare payment budgets and payoff orders.
- Snowball and avalanche comparison
Students distinguish interest cost from early milestones.
- Debt payoff decision plan
Students convert the comparison into dated checkpoints.
Student task sequence
- At $500 per month, record the payoff months, total interest, and first-debt month for both orders.
- Repeat at $900 per month. Keep the debts and rates unchanged.
- Separate the effect of raising the payment from the effect of changing the order.
- Choose one order for the fictional borrower and defend it with one cost measure and one behavior measure.
- Write a three-checkpoint plan with a start date, a monthly payment, and a review date.
Teacher key
Task 2
Values must match the live fixed simulation at $900 with every non-payment input unchanged.
Task 3
Raising the payment changes the total dollars sent each month. Changing the order changes where the surplus goes while the monthly total stays fixed.
Task 4
Avalanche prioritizes the highest rate and generally reduces interest. Snowball prioritizes the smallest balance and can produce an earlier visible milestone. Either choice earns credit when the evidence is accurate.
Task 5
The plan must name a date, one payment that is at least the displayed minimum floor, and a future date for checking progress.
Four-point evidence check
Award one point for each visible item.
- Both payment budgets are recorded for both payoff orders.
- Payment-size and ordering effects are separated.
- The recommendation uses cost and behavior evidence.
- The plan has dated checkpoints and no personal debt information.
Extension
Find the lowest displayed payment where the two orders finish in the same month and explain why interest can still differ.
Browse the other classroom lessons or build a focused set from the teacher toolkit.
This page is educational material, not financial advice. The figures come from the formula shown and assume the inputs you enter hold for the whole term. Your own rate, fees, taxes and timing will differ, so treat the output as arithmetic to check a decision against, not as a recommendation.