I'm reflecting on my own comment in class today about making word problems more realistic. And then I was like... wait... maybe "realistic" isn't the right word, as I thought of this Math 8 project.
This blog post was originally written on April 15, 2018.
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"In the small town called Mathville, you, the new business owners, decide to have your grand openings together at the new Wildcats Shopping Mall on Tuesday, Mar. 13. On this day, you will promote your shop to the residents, and you will offer discounts on five items from your shop to attract customers."
It has been four years since I last gave a unit test on the percent unit in Math 8. I have been giving students the "Create Your Own Business" project as the summative assessment for the unit. I want to make math more relevant and, at the same time, to give students an opportunity to show their creativity. Students have to make advertisement posters, and on the "grand opening" day (i.e. presentation day), they have a chance to act as customers and shop owners. The presentation is done in a math fair/gallery walk format. Some students were really into it and even made coupons for their grand opening! During the presentation, I went around every shop and acted as a customer. I evaluate students' understanding of percent concepts: Do they apply the discounts and taxes correctly? Can they explain what percent means and how they do their calculations? We also had good discussions on things that weren't part of the textbook for this project. Is it better to apply a dollar-off coupon first or the percent discount first? What items are exempted from PST?
The students always amaze me with their creativity and imagination. My intention was to make math more practical, and what I envisioned in my mind were shops that sell sports goods, shoes, electronics, food, etc. However, not only do we have these shops, but we also have many imaginary shops. In the first year I did this project, some students asked me: Does it have to be real? Can we sell things that don't exist yet? And I didn't see why not.
So we ended up with a pet store with unicorns on sale for $150 each, and you can buy one and get a koala 25% off. We had a shop, Wizarding Wonderland, that sells the invisibility potion, magic wands, and flying broomsticks. We had a shop called "Planet N' Go" that sells different planets; their slogan is "the deal is out of this world!"
Year after year, students tell me that this is one of their most memorable Math 8 assignments. The room is always buzzing on the presentation day, with great enthusiasm. The most important part for me is that I got some kids struggling in math to engage; I have had students who don't normally hand in assignments participate because they can create a shop to sell something they like.
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