Percents in Action Project - Robert Lindblom Math ...



7th Grade Math Name: _________________________

Percent Mini-Project Date: _____________________________

Period: ___________________________

PERCENTS PROJECT!

Over the past few weeks in this class we have emphasized percents and their importance in mathematics and beyond. By the end of this unit, you will easily and confidently recognize, calculate, and interpret percents in math and in real world situations.

Part 1 (Collage): As part of this focus on percents, you are being charged with creating a collage that focuses on percents. You are to make a collage on 8.5 x 11 construction paper in which you cut out and paste more than 15 real examples of the term ‘percent’ or the symbol ‘%’ being used in print. These ‘snippets’ could be graphs from a newspaper, captions from a magazine photo, coupons from a newspaper insert, text from a newspaper article or headline, etc. The only requirement is that the word ‘percent’ or the percent symbol “%”is being used.

*** As part of this project, you should use at least one source that discusses money or finance topics.

You may use other newspapers/ advertisements/ forms or print in addition to complete this assignment, but at least 5 of your snippets must discuss money or finance topics.

Part 2 (Paragraphs): You are then to pick 3 of your articles and write a brief explanatory paragraph on each of them. Tell me what is going on in the article and how is the author or speaker using percents to make a point? Is the percent change significant or not in your opinion? If they give actual numbers, perform the calculation and confirm the source has done the math correctly. If no numbers are given, then make up a related scenario with some numbers and perform a calculation that matches to the correct percent. Two paragraph examples are provided on the other side of these directions for your benefit.

Part 3 (Presentation): You will briefly present your collage to the class. You will then focus on one of your examples that you wrote about and discuss it in front of the class. Your presentation should be informative but concise, lasting between 60 and 120 seconds.

Note that the collage /write-ups/ presentation is worth 50 points!

Scoring Rubric:

• Part 1: 13 points for the collage: Neatness, creativity, and accuracy will be scored. Does it include at least 15 distinct articles/advertisements/snippets with percents in print? Is the collage robust? Has time been spent doing this assignment?

• Part 2: 24 points for the 3 write-ups: Are there three separate paragraphs? Are proper percent calculations included? Is there interpretative commentary surrounding the use of percents?

• Part 3: 13 points for your presentation. Is it informative? Has the presentation been practiced? Is the speaker confident? Does it last at least 60 seconds? Did it go over 120 seconds?

Paragraph Example #1.

My collage contains an advertisement for the store Bed Bath and Beyond. The coupon tries to encourage customers to come to the store by offering them 20% off any one item. If I went to this store and wanted to buy a picture frame that is normally priced at $16.00, then I would only pay $12.80 for the frame with the coupon. This is because 20% of $16.00 is $3.20. 20% off is the same as $3.20 off, and $16.00-$3.20 = $12.80. Note that these calculations don’t include sales tax. This coupon could be very valuable if you were thinking about buying something very expensive, because you get 20% off of any item, no matter how expensive the item is. This means the more expensive the item is, the more dollars you save—but keep in mind it is always 20% off!

Paragraph Example #2.

My collage contains a snippet from an article from the Wall Street Journal which discusses how home prices have dropped over the past year. The article mentions that the median home price in Las Vegas has dropped 22% over the past year. The article also states that the current median home price in Las Vegas is $192,00. Another way of saying, “Houses have lost 22% of their value,” is by saying “Houses are worth 78% of what they used to be worth.” This is because 100% — 22% = 78%. From math class I know that 78 is the PERCENT, and $192,000 represents the current value, or AMOUNT the house is worth now. This means that the median home price this time last year was $246,154. This amount is the BASE (old) price and I found this using the formula

BASE = AMOUNT / PERCENT

$246,154 = $192,000 / 0.78.

A 22% drop here is very significant because this means that people who own the median house have lost significant value in their homes—more than fifty thousand dollars!

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Suggested Timeline. Note that you have 2 weeks to complete this project. While it may be tempting to put off this project until the end, I would suggest doing a little bit each day so you do not have to stay up super late on November 14th scrambling to finish.

This week—Find all 15+ snippets that you are going to use. Create the collage. Glue sticks work wonders for this type of project. Select the 3 examples you are going to write about.

Over the weekend—Begin and Finish writing your paragraphs. Be sure to utilize your class notes to help you with the analysis and perform the calculations correctly. If you do not understand something about the project, then you should ask Mr. Anderson first thing on Monday morning.

Next week—Pick one snippet that you like the best or understand the best. Sketch an outline of a verbal presentation. What are the most important takeaways from the articles use of percent? Practice makes perfect. Remember to be concise but explanatory.

Reminder: Projects are due November 15/16

Projects are replacing POW for this week!

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