Students create charts comparing the cost of a gallon of gasoline to gallons of other liquids -- mouthwash, house paint, fruit juice, and white-out, for example.
Objectives
Students will
research the cost of a gallon of gasoline.
calculate the costs of gallons of a variety of liquids.
create charts showing the data they collect.
discuss the data.
use software or a free online tool to create graphs comparing the costs of a gallon of gasoline with that of five other liquids.
ads from food, drug, auto parts, and/or home building supply stores
graph creation software or access to the online Create a Graph tool
Lesson Plan
Set Up the Activity:
Have your students considered that gasoline might be a bargain when compared with the price of other liquids they consume? Take bottled water, for example. A 16-ounce bottle of water costing $1.09 works out to $8.72 a gallon. That makes gasoline look like a real bargain!
Of course, buying a gallon of water is usually cheaper than buying eight 16-ounce bottles of water; but for the purpose of illustration, the bottled water example puts the cost of gasoline in perspective.
The Heart of the Lesson:
Students can do this activity individually or in small groups, in class or for homework. For an in-class activity, you might
Provide students with newspaper ads from food, drug, auto parts and/or home supply stores so they can price a gallon of a variety of liquids, such as fruit drinks, house paint, mouthwash, auto engine oil, perfume, white-out, and so on.
Have students create charts with four columns: Liquid Product, Cost of Item, Size (Volume) of Item, Price per Gallon.
In the first row of the charts, students record the cost of a gallon of gasoline. In the remaining rows, students enter the information gleaned from the ads for a variety of other liquids.
Next have students use the cost of each of the other products on the chart to calculate the cost for a gallon of the product. (With younger students, these calculations could be done as a whole-class activity.)
When they complete the activity, students should share the information they collected and discuss the cost of a gallon of gasoline relative to the cost of some other things they might purchase.
Extension Activity:
Students can use the data they collect to create bar graphs providing a visual representation of the data. They can use art supplies, available software programs, or the free online Create a Graph tool to create the graph.
Assessment
Grade students' chart calculations on mathematical accuracy.
Lesson Plan Source
Education World
Submitted By
Gary Hopkins
National Standards
MATHEMATICS: Number and Operations GRADES 3-5 NM-NUM.3-5.1 Understand Numbers, Ways of Representing Numbers, Relationships Among Numbers, and Number Systems NM-NUM.3-5.2 Understand Meanings of Operations and How They Relate to One Another NM-NUM.3-5.3 Compute Fluently and Make Reasonable Estimates GRADES 6 - 8 NM-NUM.6-8.1 Understand Numbers, Ways of Representing Numbers, Relationships Among Numbers, and Number Systems NM-NUM.6-8.2 Understand Meanings of Operations and How They Relate to One Another NM-NUM.6-8.3 Compute Fluently and Make Reasonable Estimates GRADES 9 - 12 NM-NUM.9-12.1 Understand Numbers, Ways of Representing Numbers, Relationships Among Numbers, and Number Systems NM-NUM.9-12.2 Understand Meanings of Operations and How They Relate to One Another NM-NUM.9-12.3 Compute Fluently and Make Reasonable Estimates
MATHEMATICS: Algebra GRADES 3 - 5 NM-ALG.3-5.1 Understand Patterns, Relations, and Functions NM-ALG.3-5.3 Use Mathematical Models to Represent and Understand Quantitative Relationships GRADES 6 - 8 NM-ALG.6-8.1 Understand Patterns, Relations, and Functions NM-ALG.6-8.3 Use Mathematical Models to Represent and Understand Quantitative Relationships GRADES 9 - 12 NM-ALG.9-12.1 Understand Patterns, Relations, and Functions NM-ALG.9-12.3 Use Mathematical Models to Represent and Understand Quantitative Relationships
MATHEMATICS: Measurement GRADES 3 - 5 NM-MEA.3-5.2 Apply Appropriate Techniques, Tools, and Formulas to Determine Measurements GRADES 6 - 8 NM-MEA.6-8.2 Apply Appropriate Techniques, Tools, and Formulas to Determine Measurements GRADES 9 - 12 NM-MEA.9-12.2 Apply Appropriate Techniques, Tools, and Formulas to Determine Measurements
MATHEMATICS: Data Analysis and Probability GRADES 3 - 5 NM-DATA.3-5.2 Select and Use Appropriate Statistical Methods to Analyze Data GRADES 6 - 8 NM-DATA.6-8.2 Select and Use Appropriate Statistical Methods to Analyze Data GRADES 9 - 12 NM-DATA.9-12.2 Select and Use Appropriate Statistical Methods to Analyze Data
MATHEMATICS: Problem Solving GRADES Pre-K - 12 NM-PROB.PK-12.3 Apply and Adapt a Variety of Appropriate Strategies to Solve Problems
MATHEMATICS: Communications GRADES Pre-K - 12 NM-COMM.PK-12.2 Communicate Their Mathematical Thinking Coherently and Clearly to Peers, Teachers, and Others
MATHEMATICS: Connections GRADES Pre-K - 12 NM-CONN.PK-12.3 Recognize and Apply Mathematics in Contexts Outside of Mathematics
MATHEMATICS: Representation GRADES Pre-K - 12 NM-REP.PK-12.1 Create and Use Representations to Organize, Record, and Communicate Mathematical Ideas NM-REP.PK-12.3 Use Representations to Model and Interpret Physical, Social, and Mathematical Phenomena
