Unit D
Activity 3

To the Teacher:

This activity consists of profiles of people whose GST credits the students will determine, using tables of numbers.

We have created eight profiles of single people (two pages), and eight profiles of married people (two pages). The other two pages in this activity each contain a table that shows GST credit amounts, based on how many children in a family and the family's net income. One table is for single people and the other is for married or common-law people. (Note: The numbers in this activity come from CCRA's web site, so they are probably accurate, but we can't guarantee them. Only the people at CCRA can say for sure how much a GST credit will be.)

We have in mind that the students will work in pairs, one acting as the person asking about their GST credit amount (this student has the pages of profiles), and the other acting as the CCRA staff person (this student has the table of numbers). The CCRA staff person asks the other student for the three pieces of information necessary to determine a GST credit (Are you married? How many children do you have? What is your family's net income?), and looks up the corresponding GST credit in the table. It is up to you which role, the CCRA staff person or the other person, is responsible for calculating the amount of each of the four payments. (Learners might rightly ask if CCRA divides relatively small GST credits into four equal payments. The answer is that they do not. If a total annual GST credit is less than $100, it will be given as one payment.)

Here is a modification that makes this more of a listening and speaking activity, and is more challenging for the learner who takes the role of CCRA staff person. Divide your class into two groups: citizens and CCRA staff. Give each CCRA staff person the two tables of Total Annual GST Credit. For the citizens, photocopy the four pages of profiles, and cut them up so that there is one character per slip of paper. Shuffle the slips to mix single people with married people. Give each citizen a slip, and ask them to speak with a CCRA staff member to find out if the person on their slip qualifies to receive the GST credit, and, if so, how much the credit will be. When a taxpayer has his answer, he should check with you to see if it's correct, and, if it is, get another character. It is up to you whether each citizen must find the information for each character, or if the citizens as a group must find all the answers. It depends on the size of your class.

We would actually do this activity in the pairs format and in the whole group format, on two different days, because we don't think it's possible to remember the answers for each profile, and because it is worth repeating to practice the skills involved. Students can move from fumbling slowly to find an answer, to feeling comfortable and confident as they efficiently and with their own style, interact.

When the activity is finished, you might discuss:

• Do people with more kids get more or less GST credit?

• Do people with more family net income get more or less GST credit?

• Notice the intervals in income, particularly that at first they are irregular (some large, some small), then they become regular. Among the irregular ones at the beginning, $6000 is an unusual one, and so is $26,000 (this is a point where tax bracket changes).

• What are the patterns in amount of GST credit?

• What is the smallest GST credit a person can get? What is the largest? At what net income does one become ineligible for the GST credit?

To extend the activity:

• The students might make up their own characters. For example, all of the married characters that we've created have children; you could make some who don't have children.

• Learners can find out if they qualify for the GST credit, and how much it would be. They would have to remind themselves of their net income, and, for some, determine their marital status for tax purposes. This should be done privately. They needn't tell anyone in the class. Their right to keep this information private, and the advisability of doing so, could be a discussion topic. If students want to find their own GST credit, they might need to know that children must be under age 19 on Dec 31.

• You might graph the figures, either from the given tables or using a computer spreadsheet.