Shopping spree game for applied Mathematics

APPLIED mathematics as a field of study in math is simply how to apply math learnings in everyday life. One of the best practices in applied mathematics that is very much useful in teaching students discounts and sales tax on chosen grocery items would be the shopping spree activity.

As a parent, you might be wondering when to best train or immerse your children to doing grocery, how to value discount that can bring you savings, or how to factor in the sales tax so you will not go over your budget, teachers can help you with practical lessons in class about shopping. With the shopping spree game, students will go on a pretend shopping spree where they compute discounts and sales tax on chosen items. In particular, students will figure discounts, sale price, sales tax, and final cost of items; write checks for items bought; and write an expository paragraph explaining how to figure discounts and sales tax. By the end of this practical lesson, students will get themselves familiar with the key and operational words in shopping such as sales, tax, checkbook, discounts, consumer and percentage.

The materials needed for the shopping spree activity are the following: (1) magazines that contain items and prices in four different categories: clothing, electronics, sporting goods, and shoes; (2) paper, pencils, calculator; (3) worksheet containing columns with the following headings: Item Name, Item Cost, Discount (percentage off), Sale Price, Sales Tax, and Final Cost; and (4) copies of blank checks (four per student).

How to execute the game? This is how I have seen most teachers online have structured the said game. First, set up four centers, or stores, within the classroom. Include a sporting goods store, a clothing store, a shoe store, and an electronics store. Second, advance the preparation. For high school students, simply display a circular from the Sunday newspaper that sells the appropriate category of items. Third, establish a schedule so students will rotate to the each of the four “stores” during a class period. At each store, place a large discount rate sign. For example, all items in the clothing store might be on sale for 30 percent off the price in the store advertisement. All items in the sporting goods store might be on sale for 25 percent off