Illustrative Mathematics
Sharing Prize Money
When three classrooms are to split up prize money, your mathematicians must find the percentage that each class deserves and calculate the total amount. There is an option to use a calculator and practice rounding.
Illustrative Mathematics
Gifts from Grandma, Variation 3
There are three money word problems in this activity, each one is set in the same context. The first asks what was the total amount grandma spent, the second how many grandchildren grandma has, and the third asks how much grandma spent...
Curated OER
7.RP Music Companies, Variation 2
Real-world multiple-step proportion problems are sometimes hard to find for your math class. Here is one designed specifically to meet that need. Learners use proportional relationships to determine price per share in the acquisition of...
Curated OER
Compounding with 100% Interest Rates
Your young economists will be amazed at the effect of compounding interest more frequently in this collaborative task about making sound financial choices. Learners are walked through the calculations of a couple of examples and then...
Illustrative Mathematics
Discounted Books
Adolescents love to shop, especially when an item is discounted. Here, shoppers only have a set amount of money to spend. Will they be able to make a purchase with the discount and tax added in? Percent discounts can be calculated...
Illustrative Mathematics
Jayden’s Snacks
A quick activity to test the knowledge of your learners on adding and subtracting with decimals. They must calculate how much Jayden spent at the store and how much money he has remaining.
Illustrative Mathematics
Buying Gas
A quick problem to test your middle schoolers' knowledge of dividing with decimals. Also a good practice of unit rates, they must compute the cost of one gallon of gas when given the total amount for a fill up. Can be used as a preface...
Illustrative Mathematics
Who Has the Best Job?
Making money is important to teenagers. It is up to your apprentices to determine how much two wage earners make with their after school jobs. Participants work with a table, an equation, and a graph and compare the two workers to see...
Curated OER
Sounds Really Good! (sort of...)
Your friend Phil wants to know if he should play the lottery. Have your class use the given data to compute the expected value and explain to Phil what he should do and why. This handout is ideal for a quick assessment of skill and...
Curated OER
Stock Swaps, Variation 3
More on the fictitious takeover of the Apple Corporation by Microsoft. In this scenario, Microsoft has $28.00 per share to spare, so how many do they need to offer to make an even trade? This is an engaging problem to solve when...
Curated OER
Area of the Lawn Project
Students calculate simple area calculations in real-life situations. They determine simple wage computations. They use critical thinking skills. They demonstrate their ability to use writing in order to express mathematical thoughts and...
Curated OER
7.RP Music Companies, Variation 1
We've got the beat! And your musically-minded mathematicians will tap their toes as they determine which music company would be getting a better deal based on their offers to buy out TunesTown. The topic is extended in an additional...
Illustrative Mathematics
Setting Goals
Setting financial goals is a common occurrence in middle school that your learners can practice using this activity. They will be able to solve for how many hours Seth needs to work to save up for a skateboard, helmet, and trip. The...
Curated OER
I.O.U.
Students explore adding and subtracting positive and negative numbers in the context of money. In this computation lesson, students use play money and IOU's to model various mathematical algorithms.
Curated OER
Stock Swaps, Variation 2
If Microsoft wanted to take over Apple, how many shares would they need to break even? This is an ideal task for seventh graders who are studying proportional relationships and applying them to real-world scenarios. Use it as an...
NASA
Benford's Law
In this Benford's Law learning exercise, high schoolers read about the first digit frequency of numbers. Students solve 3 problems about sunspot numbers, solar wind magnetism and the depth of the latest earthquakes by using on line sites...
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Nctm: Figure This: How Can You Use Old Stamps?
Test your number sense and problem-solving aptitude with this math challenge using postage stamps with different values. This one-page activity from the NCTM Math Challenge for Families series focuses developing skills that can be used...