Essentials of Mathematics 11 -
Income and Debt

This sub-organizer contains the following sections:
Prescribed Learning Outcomes
Suggested Instructional Strategies
Suggested Assessment Strategies
Recommended Learning Resources

PRESCRIBED LEARNING OUTCOMES

It is expected that students will demonstrate an awareness of selected forms of personal income and debt

It is expected that students will:

• solve problems involving performance-based income, including commission sales, piece work, and salary plus commission
• use simple and compound interest calculations to solve problems
• solve consumer problems involving:
  • credit cards
  • exchange rates
  • personal loans

SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

The ability to use skills involved in money management is needed throughout a person’s lifetime. An understanding of procedures and applications of mathematics can help students make reasonable economic decisions.

• Invite a guest speaker (e.g., accountant, banker, financial planner) to address topics related to credit and borrowing. Students should prepare questions to focus on the underlying mathematics involved.
• Have students research and compare credit cards for interest rates charged and beneficial features (e.g., frequent-flyer miles or points, dividends, low interest rates, purchase insurance).
• Have students use examples of credit card statements to calculate interest owed and balance forward for a variety of scenarios, including partial payment and late payment of amount owing.
• Provide students with descriptions of various employment situations (e.g., pension plans, benefit plans, salaries and/or wages, taxes) and have them determine the effects of deductions on gross pay.
• Provide students with descriptions of various financial situations (e.g., inheritance in trust, retirement plans, appreciating assets, a first vehicle purchase). Have students use tables, calculators, and computer spreadsheets to compare the effects of various rates of compounding interest on personal investments or loans for each situation.
• Ask students to use information collected from advertisements to compare the cost of paying cash for an item to the cost of buying on a variety of credit plans.

SUGGESTED ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES

Earning, spending, and saving money are important life skills. To assess students’ thinking and the strategies they are using, note their abilities to estimate, predict, calculate, make financial decisions, and verify the reasonableness of their conclusions.

Observe

• As students work on problems involving income and debt, observe their abilities to:
  • compare various pay scenarios using graphs and explain the advantages and disadvantages of straight wages, commission, salary, or graduated commissions
  • explain the advantages and disadvantages of using credit cards, installment plans, and bank loans (e.g., monthly payments, interest payments, principal)
• Observe how students perform basic calculations manually, and how effectively they use available technology to solve problems involving simple and compound interest. Use these observations to determine what types of learning experiences would benefit them (e.g. review sheets, re-teaching, peer teaching).

Question

• Ask each student to write a report summarizing the visit of a bank or financial institution employee. Review each report, looking for evidence that the student is able to:
  • identify all facets of the job
  • give information about the use of technology in the industry
  • generate a list of educational requirements
  • identify personal attributes and required skills for workers in the field

Collect

• Review written work for evidence of students’ ability to explain the relative advantages of wage-earning options and incentives offered by the employer for each wage earning option.
• Have students complete loan applications.
• Review written work for evidence of students’ abilities to explain the advantages and disadvantages of using credit cards and debit cards.

RECOMMENDED LEARNING RESOURCES

Comprehensive learning resources for this course are currently under development. As an interim measure, schools are encouraged to use the teacher-developed learning resources distributed to schools (student and teacher resources). Please note that the student materials require photocopying for student use.

Print Materials

• Math Projects: Organization, Implementation, and Assessment

Video

• The ABC’s of Personal Finance

© 2000 Copyright. All Rights Reserved. Curriculum Branch.
Maintained by: Mathematics Coordinator
Revised: November 22, 2000

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