Skip ahead: Quarter 2, Quarter 3

Hello! The purpose of this course is to help you practice math that you may need to use in real-life situations. There should be some math for you to practice every day! Using a calculator is allowed in this course – after all, it’s pretty easy to find a calculator whenever you need one in real life.

Materials for Practical Math: a basic calculator (the one on your chromebook, computer, or tablet should work fine), pencil, lined paper.

A day with an asterisk (*) means there is something for you to print.

Day 1

1. Read the section labeled “Math Help.” (You may need to click on the + symbol to open it.) On a piece of paper work the math problem given in two different ways: 1) by multiplying first, and 2) by adding first. Compare the two answers. Are they the same? Can you see why it matters the order you use to solve the problem?

2. Read about the order of operations and look at the graph. An equal payment plan is something some electric companies use to allow customers to pay the same amount every month even if the amount of electricity they use changes. They estimate how much you should pay based on how much electricity you have used before. Then, after a year, they will adjust your payments based on how much electricity you used that year.

In the example shown on the graph, you paid $110 each month from June till April. If you used more than $110 of electricity each month (on average), you will owe extra in May. If you used less than $110 on average, you will owe less in May. Look at the solution to see how to figure out how much you owe for electricity in May.

3. On a piece of paper, figure out how much you would owe in May if you had paid $95 each month instead. (Add the 12 monthly usage amounts and subtract the 11 equal payments already made to find the amount you owe in May.) ($243.71)

Show someone your work. You’re done!

Day 2

1. Read example 2 and look at this recipe for mayonnaise. Calculating the calories in homemade foods can help you make good decisions about the food you eat! How many calories are in the mayonnaise recipe? Look at the solution to see how we can find out.

2. Of course you would not eat a whole batch of mayonnaise at once. A serving is a teaspoon. On a piece of paper, calculate how many teaspoons are in 1 recipe of mayonnaise. (88 tsp) Calculate how many calories are in a teaspoon. (35 calories)

3. Read the section labeled “Math Help” to learn more about calories and calculating them in recipes. Choose a recipe you like to eat. Calculate the calories in a whole batch, then the amount in one serving.

Show someone your work. You’re done!

Day 3*

1. Read about using formulas and look at Example 4. Read the solution carefully to see how they decided how much tile to buy.

2. On a piece of paper, do the checkpoint question. Find how many boxes of tile you would order and how much it would cost.

3. *Print the worksheet Using Formulas and complete the problems.

Turn in your work.

Day 4*

1. Read the formulas for calculating distance, rate, and time. Did you notice? If you have two of these values (no matter which ones) you can figure out the third one.

2. Read the example problem to see how it is solved, and then on a piece of paper work out the checkpoint problem. Assume that your weight is 155 lbs for this problem. (1310 calories, 1.16 hours of running)

3. *Print the worksheet Distance, Rate, and Time and complete the problems.

Turn in your work.

Day 5

1. Now it’s time to talk about earning money! Read the formulas for Earnings, Rate, and Time. Did you notice? They are almost the same as the ones we studied yesterday.

2. Look at Example 6, where they are comparing the pay and benefits of two job offers. A full-time job usually means working 40 hours a week (that breaks down to 8 hours a day, 5 days a week). A 401(k) is an employer-sponsored retirement savings account. The % matching means that your employer will match the amount you put into this savings account for retirement up to a specific percentage of your total annual pay. Look at the solution to see how they figured out which job offer is better.

3. On a piece of paper, compare the job offer at the checkpoint with the other two offers. Which job offer is the best? Which job offer is the worst?

4. Most jobs that people get starting out will not pay this well. On a piece of paper, figure out how much you will make per week, per month, and per year at jobs that pay the following:

A part time job (32 hours/week) that pays 11$/hr

A full time job that pays $7.25/hr

A job that pays $500/week

Show someone your work!

Day 6

1. Time to practice what we’ve learned! On a piece of paper, complete exercises 1-6.

(Find answers for odd problems and help with solutions on this page.)

Show someone your work. You’re done!

Day 7

1. Practice again today! On a piece of paper, complete exercises 13-18.

(Find answers for odd problems and help with solutions on this page.)

Show someone your work!

Day 8

1. Last day of review! On a piece of paper, complete exercises 19, 21-24.

(Find answers for odd problems and help with solutions on this page.)

Show your work to someone.

Day 9*

1. Today we’re going to talk about rounding numbers! Read about rounding numbers in a real-life context. Read example 1 and look at the solution to see how they solved the problem.

2. On a piece of paper, solve the checkpoint problem. (It’s hard to tell from the chart, but the UK spent $70 billion that year.)

3. *Print the worksheet Rounding Practice and complete the problems.

Turn in your work.

Day 10

1. Time to talk about fuel costs and gas mileage! If you plan to drive a car this is math you will need to know. Read Example 2 and see how the fuel cost for each vehicle is calculated.

2. On a piece of paper, figure out the miles per gallon that each car can travel.

3. Go to a website that lists used cars for sale near you. Choose 5 cars that you might like to buy and look up the miles per gallon that they can travel. Calculate your monthly fuel cost for each car if gas is $2.50/gallon and you travel 800 miles a month. Compare the prices of the car and the fuel costs. Assuming that the cars run well with no major repairs needed, which one would be the best value for you?

Show your solution to someone.

Day 11

1. Time to practice again! (Remember that we are working on rounding in this section.) On a piece of paper, complete exercises 1-8.

Show someone your work.

Day 12

1. Today practice estimating and rounding again. On a piece of paper, complete exercises 19-23.

Turn in your work.

Day 13*

1. We’re going to talk about using percentages. Percentages represent the number of parts per 100. Read the study tip and the examples.

2. On a piece of paper, complete the checkpoint problem.

3. *Print the worksheet Decimals and Percentages and practice converting from percentages to decimals and back again.

Show someone your work.

Day 14

1. We’re finding more percentages today! Read example 2.

2. On a piece of paper, complete the checkpoint problem.

3. Practice finding percentages.

You’re done!

Day 15*

1. Today we’re going to compare numbers using percentages. Look in the blue box at the top of the page. What percentage of the blocks are colored in?

2. Read Example 3 on the same page. What percentage of the Scrabble tiles are vowels?

3. On a piece of paper, complete the checkpoint problem.

4. *Print the worksheet Fractions and Percentages and complete the problems. (The instructions should read ‘find the percentage of each shape that is filled in.’)

Turn in your work.

Day 16

1. Time to compare more percentages! Read through example 4 and look at the solution.

2. On a piece of paper, complete the checkpoint problem.

Show someone your work.

Day 17*

1. Today we’re going to see how percentages can help up show the amount things have changed. Look at example 5. Do you understand how they calculated their result?

2. Look at the checkpoint problem. Instead of writing two paragraphs, study the graph. What do you notice about it? How has the life expectancy changed? Compare the new life expectancy to the old one. There’s one place on the graph that’s very different. Using your knowledge of history, what do you think might have caused that dip in life expectancy?

3. Print the worksheet Percentages of Change and answer the questions.

Turn in your work.

Day 18

1. We’re getting more practice today with using percentages to show increases. Read example 6!

2. On a piece of paper, complete the checkpoint problem.

3. Print and complete the worksheet More Fun with Percentages.

Show someone your work.

Day 19

1. Time to practice with percentages! On a piece of paper, complete exercises 1-6.

Turn in your work.

Day 20

1. More practice with percentages today. On a piece of paper, complete exercises 9-16.

Show someone your work.

Day 21

1. Today we’re going to talk about units. Go read this joke about why labeling with units is important!
2. Read about Unit Analysis, then read example 1 and its solution.
3. On a piece of paper, complete the checkpoint problem.

Show someone your work.

Day 22*

1. Time for more unit analysis! Read Example 2 and look over the solution.
2. On a piece of paper, complete the two checkpoint problems.
3. Print the worksheet Analyzing Units and complete the problems.

Turn in your work.

Day 23

1. Now we’re going to learn about converting between units. Read the unit conversions and Example 3. What steps do you need to take to convert days to seconds?
2. On a piece of paper, complete the checkpoint problem.

Show someone your work.

Day 24*

1. Time to practice conversions! Print and complete the worksheet, Converting Between Units.

Turn in your work.

Day 25*

1. Let’s practice unit conversion a little more. Print and complete the worksheet, More Unit Conversion.

Turn in your work.

Day 26*

1. Today we’re converting units of time. Print and complete the worksheet, Time for Unit Conversion, and turn in your work.

Day 27

1. Sometimes we have to convert units between different systems. Take a look at the Common Unit Conversions table on this page.

2. Read example 5 and look at the solutions.

3. On a piece of paper, complete the checkpoint problems.

Show someone your work.

Day 28

1. Now we’re going to convert temperature between Celsius and Fahrenheit. Look at Example 6 and read the solution.

2. On a piece of paper, complete the checkpoint problems.

Show someone your work.

Day 29

1. Time to practice! On a piece of paper, complete exercises 1-6.

Show someone your work.

Day 30

1. On a piece of paper, complete exercises 7-13.

Turn in your work.

Day 31

1. On a piece of paper, complete exercises 15-20.

Show someone your work.

Day 32

1. On a piece of paper, complete exercises 21-24.

Turn in your work.

Day 33

1. On a piece of paper, complete questions 1-8.

Show someone your work.

Day 34

1. On a piece of paper, complete exercises 2-6.

Turn in your work.

Day 35

1. On a piece of paper, complete exercises 7-12.

Show someone your work.

Day 36

1. On a piece of paper, complete exercises 13-17.

Turn in your work.

Day 37

1. On a piece of paper, complete exercises 21-26.

Day 38

1. Today we’re going to learn about unit prices. If you want to buy a box of cereal and one costs $2 and the other costs $3, which is a better deal? The answer: it depends. That is because boxes of cereal will have different amounts of cereal in them. You can learn to tell which is a better value by learning about unit price.

2. Read about unit prices and look at example 1.

3. On a piece of paper, complete the checkpoint problem.

Show someone your work.

Day 39

1. We are continuing to study unit prices today. Read example 2 and look at the solution.

2. On a piece of paper, complete the checkpoint problems.

Turn in your work.

Day 40

1. It’s time for more unit pricing! Read example 3 and look at the solution, then complete the checkpoint problem on a piece of paper.

Show someone your work.

Day 41

1. Okay, let’s compare pizza prices! Read example 4 and go over the solution.

2. On a piece of paper, complete the checkpoint problem.

Turn in your work.

Day 42

1. It might not seem like saving $.02 an ounce on laundry detergent makes much of a difference, but if you make it a habit you will save much more in the long run! Read Example 5 and the solution.
2. On a piece of paper, complete the checkpoint problem.

Show someone your work.

Day 43

1. Which is more economical, eating out or making your own food? Read example 6 and look at the solution.
2. On a piece of paper complete the checkpoint problem.

Turn in your work.

Day 44

1. Time to review! On a piece of paper, complete exercises 1-6.

Show someone your work.

Day 45

1. On a piece of paper, complete exercises 7-10.

You’ve completed the first quarter of math! Lessons continue in the second quarter. Link to 2nd Quarter lessons