The Bid

The lowest bid is not always the cheapest. Read the fine print.

The Bid hands your eighth graders a committee and a stack of competing bids to compare. Over ten days the headline price, the order the bids are read in, and a polished presentation all pull against the real cost. The committees who work the cost structure, not the first impression, recommend the bid that actually wins. It is real comparison math with a contract on the line.

See what your students get, and why it lands.

No mockups. Every page below is real, pulled straight from the files you download. Tap any one to see it full size.

A worksheet was never going to teach this.

Your eighth graders are not solving someone else's unit-rate problems. They are a committee comparing contractor bids, where the lowest sticker price hides costs in the fine print and a strong presentation makes a weak bid feel safe. The committees who build the full cost out, line by line, find the bid that is truly cheapest. That is cost analysis and proportional reasoning, with real money at stake.

Tap to read the fine print

They are graded on their reasoning, not on which bid they pick.

Here is what surprises teachers. A committee that picked the bid the designers intended is not graded higher than one that did not. There is no correct bid. Students are assessed on the quality of their reasoning, traced through their own daily journal. A sound comparison that landed differently scores higher than a lucky match with no work behind it. That is how an eighth grader learns that the reasoning matters more than the result.

Tap to read the grading note

Let the workbook handle the math.

No eighth grader should lose the lesson because the cost math got away from them. The Bid comes with a workbook that builds out the full cost of each bid as the committee enters the numbers. The totals calculate on their own. Their attention stays on the real question, which bid is actually cheapest, instead of on the arithmetic.

Tap to see the cost sheet

Every day is already scripted. You just run the room.

You do not need a procurement background to teach this. The guide scripts every day, names what students will likely say, and gives you exactly how to respond. The bids, the presentations, the new evidence, and the final recommendation are all written for you. You bring the facilitation. The simulation brings everything else.

Tap to read the teacher guide

The lesson plan is already written.

Every simulation comes with a fully editable, admin-ready lesson plan. Standards alignment, daily pacing, learning objectives, differentiation, and an assessment plan are already done, so you can hand it to an administrator or adapt it to your district template in minutes.

Tap to preview the lesson plan

Everything you need to run it.