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 solve consumer problems, using arithmetic operations.

It is expected that students will:

• solve consumer problems, including:
  • wages earned in various situations
  • property taxation
  • exchange rates
  • unit prices
• reconcile financial statements including:
  • cheque books with bank statements
  • cash register tallies with daily receipts
• solve budget problems, using graphs and tables to communicate solutions
• solve investment and credit problems involving simple and compound interest

SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

A working knowledge of the skills involved in money management is of advantage to all students throughout their lifetimes. An understanding of procedures and applications of mathematics can help students make rational economic decisions.

• Explain various deductions from earnings, then have students determine the effects of these deductions on gross pay. Students who have jobs could use their pay slips as examples.
• Have students use tables, calculators, and computer spreadsheets to compare the effects of various rates of compounding interest on personal investments and loans.
• Invite a guest speaker (e.g., accountant, banker, financial planner) to talk about credit and loans. Have students prepare questions that focus on the underlying mathematics involved.
• Ask students to use information collected from advertising (e.g., print, television, on-line) to compare the cost of paying cash for an item to the cost of buying on a variety of credit plans.
• Have students use spreadsheet software to:
  • record and track expenditures
  • build mortgage and other repayment schedules
• Have each student use spreadsheet software to prepare a budget, given:
  • an income (e.g., salary, wages, commissions, investments, pension)
  • fixed expenses (e.g., utilities, rent, insurance, deductions, savings, investment)
  • variable expenses (e.g., clothes, entertainment)
• Ask students questions that require interpretation of the budget (e.g., How long would it take to save enough money to make a major purchase?).

SUGGESTED ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES

Consumer problems play an important role in the daily lives of students. To assess students’ thinking and the strategies they are using, note their abilities to estimate, predict, calculate (using appropriate formulae and technology), make financial decisions, and verify the reasonableness of their conclusions. As they check their solutions and justify their mathematical thinking, look for evidence of developing abilities to communicate mathematically.

Observe

• As students work on problems involving money management, observe their abilities to:
  • accurately create and modify various tables.
  • explain the advantages and disadvantages of using credit cards, installment plans, and bank loans
• While students solve consumer problems, note the extent to which they:
  • estimate and verify their results using appropriate technology
  • apply a variety of strategies
  • generalize from their solutions
  • assess the usefulness of different Suggested Instructional Strategies
  • observe soundness of reasoning for financial decisions

Question

• Have each student interview someone who works in the financial field, and write a report summarizing the research. 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
  • identify personal attributes and required skills for workers in the field
  • general a list of educational requirements

Collect

• Have students create budgets of income and expenses for their personal situations using spreadsheet and graphics programs.

RECOMMENDED LEARNING RESOURCES

Print Materials

• Mathematics 11, Western Canadian Edition
  Ch. 1 (Sections 1.1 - 1.8)
• MATHPOWER 11, Western Edition
  Ch. 9 (Sections 9.1 - 9.7)

Software

• Secondary Math Lab Toolkit

© 2000 Copyright. All Rights Reserved. Curriculum Branch.
Maintained by: Mathematics Coordinator
Revised: November 15, 2000

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