Introduction
Percent is a part of our daily lives. Whether you are shopping, working, or interested in sports, you have used percentages. You have been selected to explore how percent is used in people's daily lives, and to give examples of how it is used in yours.
Task
You will explore some online resources for percent concepts and applications. You will then explore how percent is used in people's daily lives using the Internet and other media. Lastly, you will identify specific examples of how it is used in your daily life. These tasks will require a computer, access to the Internet and other media, paper and pencil.
Process
Process Part I: Exploring Basic Concepts
Go through our instructional unit on Understanding Percent.
Be sure to complete the interactive exercises at the end of each lesson.
Complete our Percent Worksheets.
Go through our answer keys for item 3..
Try our Percent Goodies Game.
Try our Percent Crossword Puzzles.
Process Part II: Exploring Applications
Go through our instructional unit on Percent Applications.
Be sure to complete the interactive exercises at the end of each lesson.
Go through our Percent Applications Worksheets.
Go through our answer keys for item 3.
Process Part III: Exploring Percent in Daily Life
Explore the sites below, then find more information using the Internet and other media (see other resources below).
Read about Percent Win-Loss.
Try our Loan Calculator.
Explore Credit Cards (external site)
Explore Personal Income Tax (external site)
Process Part IV: Identifying Specific Examples From Daily Life
List 20 ways people use percentages in their daily lives. Use your own words and be specific. For example, "People use percentages to compute their mortgage payments."
Think about how percent is used in your daily life. Think of specific examples of how it is used with the things that you do and like. For example, "When I go shopping, I use percentages to find the sale price and discount on clothing in the store."
Create a worksheet with ten specific problems involving percentages from your daily life. Include a section at the end for comments.
Create an answer key for your worksheet.
Exchange you worksheet with a classmate or family member.
Other Resources
Search engines such as Bing, Google, and Yahoo!
Other online sources of data, such as ESPN for sports statistics.
Other media such as magazines, newspapers and television.
Evaluation
- Make a list of all the sources from which you gathered information (e.g. sports section of the newspaper).
- Have a classmate or family member complete your worksheet, including the comments section.
- Identify and correct any errors you had on your worksheet and answer key.
- Identify the most and the least challenging uses of percent in your daily life.
Conclusion
Congratulations! You learned how percent is used in daily life. You were also given an opportunity to share specific examples of its use in your daily life.