Adjusting time frames in a project plan

Name:

Date:

Class:

Quick Questions

Shade in the A or B circle for each question.

1. A task planned for 3 days takes 5 days. What is the correct adjustment to the plan?

A Extend the task's duration to 5 days

B Leave the plan as it is and hope to catch up

2. Task B cannot start until Task A finishes. Task A is extended by 2 days. What happens to Task B?

A Task B's start date moves 2 days later

B Task B keeps its original start date

3. Which task needs its dates changed when an earlier task is extended?

A A task that has already been completed

B A dependent task that starts after it

4. Testing finishes 2 days earlier than planned, and the next task depends on it. What can be done in the plan?

A Shorten the duration and start the next task earlier

B Keep the original dates and leave the team idle

5. A task on the critical path is extended by 3 days. What is the likely effect on the project?

A The final deadline stays the same with no changes

B The final deadline moves later unless time is made up

Match the Pairs

Draw a line connecting each item on the left to its match on the right.

Left column		Right column
1Task B: duration 3 days → 5 days		AMoving a dependent task's start date because the task before it finished later
2Task C start: 10 Mar → 14 Mar		BThe duration was changed to the number of days late instead of the new total. If Testing was planned for 4 days, it should now be 6 days.
3When a task finishes earlier than planned, its duration is shortened and later tasks can start sooner		CFinal report due: 28 Mar → 2 Apr
4When a delay pushes work past a deadline, a new deadline is set for the final task		DTesting: duration 5 days → 3 days; Evaluation start 20 Mar → 18 Mar
5Design: duration 4 days → 6 days (Coding start date left at 12 Mar)		EExtending a duration because the work is taking longer than planned
6Testing finished 2 days late, so Testing duration changed to 2 days		FThe dependent task was not moved. Coding depends on Design, so its start date must move later to match the longer duration.

Definitions

Adjusting time frames

Fill in the Blanks

Complete each line of code by filling in the missing parts.

duration = 5 duration = duration _ 2

end = start + ________ print(end)

delay = 3 testStart __ delay

delay = actualDays _ plannedDays newDeadline = deadline + delay

__ actualDays > plannedDays: deadline += delay

Spot the Error

Shade in the letter of the line that contains an error.

Question 1

A duration = '5'

B extra = 2

C duration = duration + extra

D print(duration)

Question 2

A start = 10

B duration = 4

C end = start - duration

D print(end)

Question 3

A design_days = 6

B test_start = 7

C design_days = design_days + 3

D test_start = test_start - 3

Question 4

A planned = 8

B delay = planned - 11

C new_end = 20 + delay

D print(new_end)

Question 5

A starts = [3, 8, 12]

B shift = 2

C for i in range(1, 3):

D starts[i] = shift

E print(starts)

Answer Key

Adjusting time frames in a project plan

Section A: Quick Questions

A — Extend the task's duration to 5 days

A — Task B's start date moves 2 days later

B — A dependent task that starts after it

A — Shorten the duration and start the next task earlier

B — The final deadline moves later unless time is made up

Section B: Match the Pairs

Task B: duration 3 days → 5 days → Extending a duration because the work is taking longer than planned

Task C start: 10 Mar → 14 Mar → Moving a dependent task's start date because the task before it finished later

When a task finishes earlier than planned, its duration is shortened and later tasks can start sooner → Testing: duration 5 days → 3 days; Evaluation start 20 Mar → 18 Mar

When a delay pushes work past a deadline, a new deadline is set for the final task → Final report due: 28 Mar → 2 Apr

Design: duration 4 days → 6 days (Coding start date left at 12 Mar) → The dependent task was not moved. Coding depends on Design, so its start date must move later to match the longer duration.

Testing finished 2 days late, so Testing duration changed to 2 days → The duration was changed to the number of days late instead of the new total. If Testing was planned for 4 days, it should now be 6 days.

Section C: Definitions

Adjusting time frames — Changing a task's start date or duration when work takes longer or shorter than planned, then moving any dependent tasks and deadlines to match.

Section D: Fill in the Blanks

duration = 5
duration = duration + 2

end = start + duration
print(end)

delay = 3
testStart += delay

delay = actualDays - plannedDays
newDeadline = deadline + delay

if actualDays > plannedDays:
    deadline += delay

Section E: Spot the Error

A — The duration is stored as a string, so adding the integer extra on line 3 causes a TypeError. It should be duration = 5 so the task length can be extended.

C — A task's end date is its start date plus its duration. Subtracting gives a date before the task even begins. It should be end = start + duration.

D — Design was extended by 3 days, so the dependent testing task must start 3 days later, not earlier. It should be test_start = test_start + 3.

B — The delay is actual minus planned. Reversing it gives -3, which would move the end date earlier. It should be delay = 11 - planned.

D — This overwrites each dependent start date with 2 instead of moving it later. It should add the shift: starts[i] += shift.