LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Goal 1

Number and Operations - The learner will understand and compute with rational numbers.

Objective 1.02

Develop meaning for percents.

  • Connect the model, number word, and number using a variety of representations.
  • Make estimates in appropriate situations.

Resources aligned to this objective

ACC basketball
The students will use ACC basketball statistics to practice the process of converting fractions to decimals then to percents and will learn how to create and edit a spreadsheet. They will then use this spreadsheet to analyze their data. This unit is done during the basketball season.
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Computer Technology Skills and Mathematics)
By Susan Dougherty.
Life's Percents
Students will gather data from their own lives to use in calculating percents. They will measure parts of their bodies (head, leg, neck, etc.), complete a class survey that asks information about themselves, and use a pay stub to find percentages of deductions.
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–7 Mathematics)
By Karen Mcpherson.
Newspaper Basket
Students use measurement skills to create a basket and respond to questions involving fractions, decimals, and geometric measurements.
Format: lesson plan (grade 6 Mathematics)
By Susan Jennings.
Pizza Anyone?
Students survey their class and analyze data about favorite pizza toppings.

This activity is meant to be fun and engaging, with the class participating and making decisions as a whole.
Format: lesson plan (grade 6 Mathematics)
By Jack Hunter.
Popcorn Math
In this lesson students will use a consumable manipulative to understand percent, fraction and decimal conversions. They will also collect data on a teacher produced spreadsheet while using a computer generated spreadsheet to make conversions.
Format: lesson plan (grade 6 Computer Technology Skills and Mathematics)
By Henrietta Shepherd.
Sale! Sale! Sale!
Consumer math often requires shoppers to analyze and compare the same products at different stores. In addition to price variations, retailers offer incentives or discounts. This lesson requires students to be informed consumers who calculate three purchasing options and conclude which is the best deal. The activity enables students to apply mathematics to a real-life situation.
Format: lesson plan (grade 6 Mathematics)
By Leslie Hawes.
Sales careers: Working with percents
In this lesson for grade six, students will understand how to perform operations with percents by using commission rates for various sales careers to calculate salary.
Format: lesson plan (grade 6 Mathematics)
By Kim Abrams, Mike McDowell, and and Barbara Strange.
See How They Run! The 100 Meter Dash
Middle level students will collect times as they run the 100 meter dash. These times will be depicted through various graphic representations (bar, circle, histogram). Times will be compared to current world records for the 100 meters. Students will decide which Math class ran fastest and support that choice in short essay form. They will also try to determine the faster gender based on the data collected.

This lesson plan is a unit filled with related lesson plans. One or two parts of this project could be completed as a stand-alone lesson, or the entire set of activities and extensions could be completed for an involved, integrated unit.
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Mathematics)
By Holly Smith.
A Walk Through the Solar System
A practice in scientific notation, measurement, and scale distances, this lesson plan integrates mathematics into the science curriculum.
Format: lesson plan (grade 6 Mathematics and Science)
By RhondaS Dausman.

Lesson plans on the web

Classifying numbers
In this lesson, one of a multi-part unit from Illuminations, students use Venn diagrams to organize information about numbers. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Mathematics)
Provider: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Football finances
In this lesson, one of a multi-part unit from Illuminations, students analyze pictures of football stands to make estimates related to attendance at the Super Bowl, and then they make estimates about the television audience. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Mathematics)
Provider: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Grid and Percent It
Students solve various types of percent problems using a 10 x 10 grid, a common model for visualizing percents. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–7 Mathematics)
Provider: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Mathematics at the mall: Unit overview
Students participate in activities in which they develop number sense in and around the shopping mall. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 4–8 Mathematics)
Provider: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Q T Pi Fashions - Learning About Credit Card Use
Students learn the joys and dangers of using credit as they help Credita, the main character in this activity, solve her credit problems. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Mathematics)
Provider: National Council on Economic Education
Shops at the Mall
Students develop number sense in and around the shopping mall. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Mathematics)
Provider: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Sports Numbers
Students participate in activities in which they focus on the role of numbers and language in real-world situations. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6 Mathematics)
Provider: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics