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Utah Education Network: Solving Percent Problems With Proportions

Details

Activity Description

 

In this activity, students use ratio and rate reasoning to solve real-world and mathematical problems. There are several segments in this activity, which can be spread over days as needed
 
Solving Percent Problems With Proportions
Source: Solving Percent Problems with Proportions (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])
 
In this activity, students use ratio and rate reasoning to solve real-world and mathematical problems. There are several segments in this activity, which can be spread over days as needed.

Preparation

  1. Review lesson plan and decide the amount of time you want to devote to each segment.
  2. Prepare the materials and print the pdf files of your choice found at the Example Web Site link (above). Document titles include: Percent Estimator; If the World Were A Village; The Bargain Store; Just Put It On My Credit Card; Visualizing Percents in Our World; Percent Concentration; and Payday Loans.

How-To

There are detailed lesson plans for each segment on the Web site.

  1. Discuss the topics included in the "Background for Teachers" section in order to get your students ready for this lesson.
  2. Begin Lesson Segment 1: Why is a percent ratio based on 100?.
  3. Lesson Segment 2: How can proportions be used to solve percent problems?
  4. Lesson Segment 3: How can proportions be used to solve tax and interest problems?
  5. Lesson Segment 4: Practice Game.

Teacher Tips

  • This lesson was not created for adult students, so you may want to skip some of the class activities. Still, the lesson material is well done and the knowledge is necessary for the High School Equivalency math test or success in High School math.
  • The "The Bargain Store" worksheet can be used as a role model. Students often mistakenly think taking additional percent off can eventually result in paying nothing. This worksheet investigates the idea of accumulated percent decrease.

More Ways

  • The Utah Education Network has numerous well-developed lesson plans on topics such as educational technology, fine arts, financial literacy, health education, language arts, math, science, social studies, workplace soft skills, keyboarding, family & consumer sciences, and other subjects. Browse to find what you need for other lessons and activities.

Program Areas

  • ASE: High School Equivalency Preparation
  • ABE: Adult Basic Education

Levels

  • Intermediate
  • High

Lesson Plan

Warm-up

There are detailed lesson plansExternal Link Icon opens in new window or tab  for each segment on the Web site.

  1. Discuss the topics included in the "Background for Teachers" section in order to get your students ready for this lesson.
Introduction
  1. Have students order the values listed in the Starter Have the students work in pairs.
  2. Begin  Lesson Segment 1: Why is a percent ratio based on 100? How can a proportion be used to solve a problem involving percent? 
Presentation
Engagement
  1. Lesson Segment 2: How can proportions be used to solve percent problems? This segment is based on the book If the World Were a Village. The book is needed to complete the worksheet; however, data can be used from other sources. Create a data sheet and then have students work in pairs to complete the worksheet.
Practice
Engagement Extension
  1. Lesson Segment 3: How can proportions be used to solve tax and interest problems? In this activity students complete a worksheet titled "Bargain Store". Have students work in pairs and then share with the class.
  2. Lesson Segment 4: Practice Game. This is a percent concentration game where students need to match the question with the answer.
Evaluation

1. Students can be evaluated by their completed worksheets or a teacher-made assessment.

Application
Extension
  1. Have students look for ads that give a percent off and then have them calculate the final cost.

Subjects

  • Math
    • Consumer Math
    • Percentages
  • Mathematics
    • Numbers and Operations on Numbers

Standards

  • The Number System
    • 6.RP.3-3d - Understand ratio concepts and use ratio reasoning to solve problems.
    • 7.RP.1-3 - Analyze proportional relationships and use them to solve real-world and mathematical problems.
  • Number and Operations: Fractions
    • 4.NF.6-7 - Understand decimal notation for fractions, and compare decimal fractions.
  • Ratios and Proportional Relationships
    • 6.RP.1-2 - Understand ratio concepts and use ratio reasoning to solve problems.

Tags

math, fine arts, health, keyboarding, language arts, lesson plan, lesson plans, percent, proportion, rate, ratio, science, social studies, soft skills, Utah Education Network, workplace, consumer sciences, educational technology, equation, family, financial literacy

Creative Commons License

CC BY-NC-ND
CC BY-NC-ND:This license allows reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator.

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OTAN activities are funded by contract CN240137 from the Adult Education Office, in the Career & College Transition Division, California Department of Education, with funds provided through Federal P.L., 105-220, Section 223. However, OTAN content does not necessarily reflect the position of that department or the U.S. Department of Education.