Description
How do I get a job? How much money am I worth and how do I calculate my pay. What do I do with my paycheck after I get it? During the first semester of Consumer Math students learn how applied math answers to these basic questions.
How many employees do I need? What are my profits? How do I do my taxes? During the second semester of Consumer Math students learns to use math in various businesses to answer the basic questions that a small business owner needs to know.
Our Consumer Math curriculum helps you teach the math behind financial success. The first semester focuses on Personal Finance and the second semester will focus on Business Finance. Consumer Math fulfills a general math requirement as you show how math is applied in the real world.
You will receive
Up to 1 year access to all of the course material need to teach the course. Material includes:
- Pacing Guides (PDF and web based)
- Lesson Presentations (PowerPoint format)
- Narrated slides presentations (Videos)
- Printable worksheets, quizzes, tests, projects, forms, (PDF files)
- Online assessments (fully automated and graded coming soon)
Topics
There may be more material than can generally be completed in one year, or you may wish to use this course as supplemental material for another class. Generally the topics do not build on each other so they can be taught in any order or independently. The only exception may be the first two courses where the instructor is establishing the course and grading procedures.
Personal Finance (Semester 1)
This course teaches math by showing students how math is applied in the real world. Students learn skills such as getting jobs, balancing checks, and saving money. Teaching math as it applies to the real world of personal finance!
Week 1: Introduction – Getting a Job
This lesson will introduce students to the course material. They will learn what is expected from them and how to be successful in this course. They will learn how to get a job, and how to fill out their time cards. They will also review adding and subtracting decimals.
Week 2: Calculating Payments
This lesson teaches students how to calculate and estimate weekly payments for specific bills. These bills are paid weekly by the students. Students will be find different bills, calculate payments, and prepare to pay these bills on a weekly basis. Students will also continue looking for and interviewing for jobs.
Week 3: Checks
This lesson is focused on writing checks and teaching students how to keep track of money with a check register. Even if check writing is now very limited, it is important to know how to. More important is the ability to keep track of you money using the check register. Even DEBIT card expenses should be recorded.
Week 4-6: Calculating Wages and Income
Students will learn different ways to earn money including salary, tips, and commission.
Week 7-8: Meal Planning & Saving Money
Students will learn how to save money and eat healthy as they plan weekly food expenses.
Week 9: Calculating a Budget
This lesson prepares you to make a budget by introducing the concept of using a pie chart. Most good household budgets have categories with similar percentages, such as a home loan payment is about 33% of total income. You will explore these different budgets, and learn how to improve your budget.
Week 10-11: Medical Insurance
Students will research and acquire necessary medical insurance to understand how insurance can help to achieve relative financial and medical safety in the real world.
Week 12: Auto Insurance
Students will research car insurance to understand how insurance can help to achieve relative financial, liability and vehicle safety in the real world.
Week 13: Interest
Students will learn how to describe, and be able to calculate, simple and compound interest for an investment or a payment. They will begin to understand the cost of borrowing money on interest.
Week 14: Investing – The Stock Market
Students will learn about stocks and their role in the Stock Market. They will learn how to calculate the changing value of stock as demand rises and falls.
Week 14-15: Buying a Car
During this lesson students will be introduced to purchasing a car. They will learn about dealerships pricing, some negotiation strategies, and where to research book values of cars.
Week 16: Buying a House
During this lesson students will be introduced to various aspects of purchasing a home either as a primary residence or as an investment. They will be taught where to find home listings and how to compare different homes.
Week 17-18: Home Improvements
During this lesson students will be introduced to various aspects of purchasing a home either as a primary residence or as an investment. They will be taught where to find home listings and how to compare different homes.
Week 19: Home Party Planning
This lesson is designed to expose students to the complexities and costs of hosting a party or gathering. Students will learn unit costs, estimate attendances, and project needs for items such as chairs, table settings, and food.
Week 20: Final Review and Final
This lesson is designed to expose students to the complexities and costs of hosting a party or gathering. Students will learn unit costs, estimate attendances, and project needs for items such as chairs, table settings, and food.
Business Finance (Semester 2)
Students learn how math is used in the real world as they learn to answer questions a small business owner needs to know as they create businesses and sell products to the other students. We recommend larger class sizes for this course.
Week 1: Choose a Company
This course will focus on introducing the course material and getting started. You will teach students how to take personality surveys and fill out job applications.
Week 2-3: Create and Sell Product
This course teaches students how to calculate and estimate weekly payments for specific products their companies are selling. These products are sold to other students and will be billed for and paid weekly by the students.
Week 4: Advertise
This course teaches students how to calculate area, balance spatial design, and consider the effects of color on their design. Students will calculate the material and costs of a billboard by calculating areas of different parts of their billboard.
Week 5-6: Where is Tax Money Spent
Students will learn the importance the government places on taxes, learn about very large numbers, and will learn where tax money is spent.
Week 7: Federal Taxes
Students will learn about reading very large numbers. They will understand progressive and flat taxes and will calculate taxes from the tax brackets.
Week 8: Tax Returns
Students will complete a simple personal tax return form for Federal Taxes using form 1040EZ.
Week 9: Calculating Staffing Requirements
This course teaches how to calculate costs and staffing requirements in a company.
Week 10: Calculating Selling Price
This course expands the concepts of unit sales and percents by teaching students how to create a pricing model for a popcorn company.
Week 11: Product Design and Sales
This course expands the concepts of unit sales and percents by teaching students how to design and sell a Marshmallow Shooter.
Week 12-13: Travel Agent – Design a Trip
This course teaches students how to plan for a road trip. they will calculate travel costs, hotel costs, and time zones.
Week 14: Restaurant Owner – Menu Design
Students will use fractions, unit conversion, markup, and unit sales as they create a menu and associated recipes for a restaurant. They will calculate cost of cooking, sales prices, and basic costs of running a Restaurant.
Week 15: Shipping
This course will teach students the basics of calculating shipping costs.
Week 16: Experimental Probability
This course teaches students about probability, both calculated and experimental.
Week 17-18: Projecting Profits
This course teaches how to graph company profits, and create equations for projecting profits based on future sales.
Week 19-20: Business Finance Final Review
During this course , you will review some of the most fundamental topics that are needed to survive in life. These items will be on the final exam.