by Shermane King

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Description

The activity is a general worksheet that can be utilize in any secondary mathematics classroom.  At the beginning of the worksheet students are given a scenario that will be followed by 10 questions.  The questions range from developing equations to calculating real-world business situations, such as calculating revenue, cost, and profit.  The students are then ask to extent their knowledge of the business world by providing what other business cost affect profit.

Goals

The goal of this activity is to teach students skills or reinforce their skills in Algebra I, Algebra II, or Pre-Calculus.  Another goal is to strengthen students’ critical reasoning, and to have them learn mathematical concept with the use of real world examples.

  • In Algebra I the goal is to teach students to understand that a function represents a dependence of one quantity on another and can be described in variety of ways. (§111.32. (b). (1))
  • In Algebra II the goal is to have students formulate equations based on quadratic functions,  uses a variety of methods to solve them, and analyzes the solutions in terms of the situation. (§111.33 (b). (8)).
  • In Pre-Calculus the goal is for the students to be able to find the vertex of a quadratic equation without the use of a graph

 Target Student-Population

The activity is appropriate for any students in secondary mathematics.  The activity can be utilized in Algebra I, Algebra II, Pre-Calculus, and Calculus.

 Procedure

  1. Activity should take 1 to 2 days completion
  2. Activity can be given as a start of a new lesson or a continuation of previous lessons.
  3. Activity can be done in groups or individually
  4. At the start of this activity ask the students if they know what revenue means.
  5. If business terminology has not been discuss in class, continue with a lecture over revenue, cost, and profit.  Ask the students if any of them know the equation for revenue, cost, and profit.
    • If none of the students know the equations, provide them with the equations.
  6. After the lecture explain to the class that they will be working on a worksheet in groups or individually.  (If placed in groups you can have students create their own company name and change the initial numbers, so each group has different numbers to work with).
  7. Once you are through providing the instructions allow the students to work on their own and observe what they are doing and provide assistants if needed.

Tips for increasing learning

There are additional extensions of this activity that can increase students learning.  One extension can be a business project.  You can have students complete this activity and then explain to them that this activity will be a stepping stone for a business project.  You can have the students create a company and selling a product that already has a demand it the real-world.  You can have them research the demand for their product, and have them create a spread sheet illustrating the maximum revenue, cost, and profit.  Then have the students present their findings to the class.

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Joe Champion » Show Details.