General Math Tips
Click here to go to Consumer Math Projects- Extra Credit Math Assignments: I gave extra credit to
any student who would pick a section out of the book, and
write a real life application for it...They had to be specific,
for example they had to name the person and the occupation, or
the store, etc... --KR
- Notecards For Problem Solving:
"These notecards are designed to help students through the problem-solving
process by giving them a consistent step-by-step process to follow.
Give each student 5 notecards.
Have them fill them out like this:
- Front: WHAT DO YOU NEED TO FIND?
Back: *What is the question? *What are they wanting you to produce? *Usually the last sentence of the problem. - Front: WHAT IS THE IMPORTANT INFORMATION?
Back: *What data is given? *What does the data mean? *Beware of extra information. - Front: WHAT IS YOUR PLAN?
Back: *How are you going to solve it? *Will there be one step or several? *Will you use a table, diagram, etc.? - Front: CARRY OUT YOUR PLAN
Back: *Do the work. *Keep looking back at your plan to make sure you answer everything. - Front: LOOK BACK!
Back: *Did you answer the problem completely? *Reread the problem. Does your answer make sense? *Write your answer. Label.
- Front: WHAT DO YOU NEED TO FIND?
Consumer Math Projects
I taught consumer math my first year. More than any other type of student, THESE need practical application projects. I did alot of searching, but they were very hard to come by. These are what I came up with, and I would especially love to get other teachers to submit tips here!- Shopping for a car--Each student was given a car (a pic of
one on a piece of paper) They were given a teacher-created blue book
that listed the prices for each car and it's features. They had to
come up with a reasonable price to sell their car at. They then wandered
around the room and "bought" cars from the other students...equipped with
the same blue book, so they could bargain. When it was over, each student
had bought and sold a car, and prizes were given to the largest and smallest
markups.(Click here
to see an example of this project!) --KR
- stock market project--students were given an imaginary $2000 to invest
in the stock market any way they saw fit. Twice a week, the papers were
checked, and at the end of 6 weeks, we found out who made money, who lost money
and what they learned. --KR
- taxes--Teacher-created W-2's were given to all students. I got real 1040 forms,
and we worked through the entire tax return process by reading the government's
instruction booklet. --KR
- trip to grocery store--students brought recipes from home to make an
entire meal. We then went to the grocery store, and they had to price each
item on their list. To use unit pricing skills, they had to find two of each
item, one expensive and one cheap. They then had to figure out how much their
dinner would cost twice: using the cheaper ingredients and the more expensive
ingredients. It was tough because if their meal called for 1 tsp. of salt, they
had to figure out how much 1 tsp. cost, not the whole container... --KR
- budgeting--I created an entire 2 page sheet on an imaginary life...
the students got to choose a job, how big of a house, types of entertainment,
transportation, etc...They then got the PRICES associated with that, and they had
to create a budget on a budget sheet. If their taste in lifestyle
exceeded their income, they had to change it! They also had a writing assignment
that asked them why they picked that particular job, if they had to change
their budget, and what they chose to change... --KR
- checkbook balancing--Wells Fargo Bank actually provided us with
a great checkbook packet. Students were required to follow through a story,
record everything in a register, fill out checks, and reconcile a statement
for 6 month's of this person's life... --KR
If you'd like to hear more about any of the above projects or would like samples, please e-mail me for more details...
Do you have a math tip you'd like to share? Please, submit it here!