Day 160 Vacation Project Percentages

6th Grade Math Standards: 6.RP.3 Use ratio and rate reasoning to solve real-world and mathematical problems, e.g., by reasoning about tables of equivalent ratios, tape diagrams, double number line diagrams, or equations. a. Make tables of equivalent ratios relating quantities with whole-number measurements, find missing values in the tables, and plot the pairs of values on the coordinate plane. Use tables to compare ratios. b. Solve unit rate problems, including those involving unit pricing and constant speed. For example, if it took 7 hours to mow 4 lawns, then, at that rate, how many lawns could be mowed in 35 hours? At what rate were lawns being mowed? c. Find a percent of a quantity as a rate per 100 (e.g., 30% of a quantity means 30/100 times the quantity); solve problems involving finding the whole, given a part and the percent. d. Use ratio reasoning to convert measurement units; manipulate and transform units appropriately when multiplying or dividing quantities. MA.3.e. Solve problems that relate the mass of an object to its volume.

The Objective: Set up a proportion given a template to find the percent given the part and the whole.

Agenda:

1. Collect weekly quizzes
2. Finish gas calculations
3. Calculate the percent of the vacation budget each purchase makes up
4. Review the graphic organizer with the class about how to write the story
5. Write the story 

The Assessment: Even though every student got answers that were unique to them since they paid different amounts for flights, hotels, etc. they all paid the same amount for food. They all paid $250 of their $3,000 for food, so I put this question first on the percentage sheet to help me quickly recognize if they could accomplish the objective. Overall the results were very positive. Students actually had far greater difficulty rounding to the nearest tenth of a percent than they did getting the percent.

Glass Half-Full Take: One of the greatest challenges in this project is that groups are on several different phases of it. I'm used to teaching everyone the same idea at the same time, but the reality is that every kid is in a different place with their understanding of the material. This project enables students to work at a faster pace if they finish their work and sufficiently meet the objectives. Typically in class I don't always do this that well.

One Regret: We came up with the graphic organizer on the fly. I have found in six years of teaching that the best ideas typically do happen this same way. Consequently communication among all of the teachers is sometimes lacking, but it is not intentional. This graphic organizer was done with the help of the learning needs teacher. We managed to incorporate topics such as inequalities, the median, and averages into the story.

Link of the Day: Reward programs for good attendance were actually shown to have negative effects on attendance at a school for third graders in India.