Clusters should not be sorted from Major to Supporting and then taught in that order. To do so would strip the coherence of the mathematical ideas and miss the opportunity to enhance the major work of the grade with the supporting clusters.
Related Standards
Related Access Points
Access Points
Related Resources
Educational Games
Educational Software / Tool
Formative Assessments
Lesson Plans
Original Student Tutorials
Perspectives Video: Expert
Perspectives Video: Professional/Enthusiasts
Problem-Solving Tasks
Teaching Ideas
Tutorials
Unit/Lesson Sequences
Virtual Manipulatives
Student Resources
Original Student Tutorials
Roll up your sleeves and learn how proportions can be used in everyday life, in this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Follow Hailey and Kenna as they estimate tips and sales tax at the mall, restaurants, and the hair salon in this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Let's calculate markups and markdowns at the mall and follow Paige and Miriam working in this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Calculate simple interest and estimate monthly payments alongside a loan officer named Jordan in this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore sales tax, fees, and commission by following a customer service representative named Julian in this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn to solve percent change problems involving percent increases and decreases in in this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Educational Games
In this activity, students play a game of connect four, but to place a piece on the board they have to correctly estimate an addition, multiplication, or percentage problem. Students can adjust the difficulty of the problems as well as how close the estimate has to be to the actual result. This activity allows students to practice estimating addition, multiplication, and percentages of large numbers (100s). This activity includes supplemental materials, including background information about the topics covered, a description of how to use the application, and exploration questions for use with the java applet.
Type: Educational Game
In this activity, students are quizzed on their ability to estimate sums, products, and percentages. The student can adjust the difficulty of the problems and how close they have to be to the actual answer. This activity allows students to practice estimating addition, multiplication, or percentages of large numbers. This activity includes supplemental materials, including background information about the topics covered, a description of how to use the application, and exploration questions for use with the java applet.
Type: Educational Game
Perspectives Video: Professional/Enthusiasts
An archaeologist describes how mathematics can help prove a theory about mysterious prehistoric structures called shell rings.
Type: Perspectives Video: Professional/Enthusiast
Ceramic glaze recipes are fluid and not set in stone, but can only be formulated consistently with a good understanding of math!
Type: Perspectives Video: Professional/Enthusiast
Problem-Solving Tasks
The purpose of this task is to give students an opportunity to solve a challenging multistep percentage problem that can be approached in several different ways. Students are asked to find the cost of a meal before tax and tip when given the total cost of the meal. The task can illustrate multiple standards depending on the prior knowledge of the students and the approach used to solve the problem.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
In this task, students are presented with a real-world problem involving the price of an item on sale. To answer the question, students must represent the problem by defining a variable and related quantities, and then write and solve an equation.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
Students are asked to determine how to distribute prize money among three classes based on the contribution of each class.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
The 7th graders at Sunview Middle School were helping to renovate a playground for the kindergartners at a nearby elementary school. City regulations require that the sand underneath the swings be at least 15 inches deep. The sand under both swing sets was only 12 inches deep when they started. The rectangular area under the small swing set measures 9 feet by 12 feet and required 40 bags of sand to increase the depth by 3 inches. How many bags of sand will the students need to cover the rectangular area under the large swing set if it is 1.5 times as long and 1.5 times as wide as the area under the small swing set?
Type: Problem-Solving Task
Students are asked to use ratios and proportional reasoning to compare paint mixtures numerically and graphically.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
This problem includes a percent increase in one part with a percent decrease in the remaining and asks students to find the overall percent change. The problem may be solved using proportions or by reasoning through the computations or writing a set of equations.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
Students are asked to make comparisons among the Egyptian, Gregorian, and Julian methods of measuring a year.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
Students are asked to use proportional reasoning to answer a series of questions in the context of a recipe.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
The purpose of this task is to give students an opportunity to solve a multi-step ratio problem that can be approached in many ways. This can be done by making a table, which helps illustrate the pattern of taxi rates for different distances traveled and with a little persistence leads to a solution which uses arithmetic. It is also possible to calculate a unit rate (dollars per mile) and use this to find the distance directly without making a table.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
5,000 people visited a book fair in the first week. The number of visitors increased by 10% in the second week. How many people visited the book fair in the second week?
Type: Problem-Solving Task
Using the information provided find out how fast Anya rode her bike.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
This task asks students to solve a problem in a context involving constant speed. This task provides a transition from working with ratios involving whole numbers to ratios involving fractions. This problem can be thought of in several ways; in particular, this problem also provides an opportunity for students to work with the "How many in one group?'' interpretation of division.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
Use the information provided to find out how long it will take Molly to run one mile.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
This problem requires a comparison of rates where one is given in terms of unit rates, and the other is not. See "Music Companies, Variation 2" for a task with a very similar setup but is much more involved and so illustrates .
Type: Problem-Solving Task
This problem has multiple steps. In order to solve the problem it is necessary to compute: the value of the TunesTown shares; the total value of the BeatStreet offer of 20 million shares at $25 per share; the difference between these two amounts; and the cost per share of each of the extra 2 million shares MusicMind offers to equal to the difference.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
Students should use information provided to answer the questions regarding robot races.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
Students are asked to determine which sale option results in the largest percent decrease in cost.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
The sales team at an electronics store sold 48 computers last month. The manager at the store wants to encourage the sales team to sell more computers and is going to give all the sales team members a bonus if the number of computers sold increases by 30% in the next month. How many computers must the sales team sell to receive the bonus? Explain your reasoning.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
Students are asked to decide if two given ratios are equivalent.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
Students are asked to solve a problem using proportional reasoning in a real world context to determine the number of shares needed to complete a stock purchase.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
Students are asked to solve a multistep ratio problem in a real-world context.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
After eating at your favorite restaurant, you know that the bill before tax is $52.60 and that the sales tax rate is 8%. You decide to leave a 20% tip for the waiter based on the pre-tax amount. How much should you leave for the waiter? How much will the total bill be, including tax and tip?
Type: Problem-Solving Task
The purpose of this task is for students to calculate the percent increase and relative cost in a real-world context. Inflation, one of the big ideas in economics, is the rise in price of goods and services over time. This is considered in relation to the amount of money you have.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
This activity asks the student to use unit rate and proportional reasoning to determine which of two runners is the fastest.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
The purpose of this task is to see how well students students understand and reason with ratios.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
Tutorials
This introductory video demonstrates the basic skill of how to write and solve a basic equation for a proportional relationship.
Type: Tutorial
This video shows how to recognize and understand graphs of proportional relationships to find the constant of proportionality.
Type: Tutorial
Here's an introductory video explaining the basic reasoning behind solving proportions and shows three different methods for solving proportions which you will use later on to solve more difficult problems.
Type: Tutorial
This introductory video shows some basic examples of writing two ratios and setting them equal to each other. This is just step 1 when solving word problems with proportions.
Type: Tutorial
This video demonstrates finding a unit rate from a rate containing fractions.
Type: Tutorial
Watch as we solve a rate problem finding speed in meters per second using distance (in meters) and time (in seconds).
Type: Tutorial
Learn how to find the full price when you know the discount price in this percent word problem.
Type: Tutorial
This video provides assistance with understanding direct and inverse variation.
Type: Tutorial
This site explicitly outlines the steps for using the proportion method to solve three different kinds of percent problems. It also includes sample problems for practice determining the part, the whole or the percent.
Type: Tutorial
In this lesson, students will be viewing a Khan Academy video that will show how to convert ratios using speed units.
Type: Tutorial
Virtual Manipulatives
In this online activity, students apply their understanding of proportional relationships by adding circles, either colored or not, to two different piles then combine the piles to produce a required percentage of colored circles. Students can play in four modes: exploration, unknown part, unknown whole, or unknown percent. This activity also includes supplemental materials in tabs above the applet, including background information about the topics covered, a description of how to use the application, and exploration questions for use with the Java applet.
Type: Virtual Manipulative
Allows students access to a Cartesian Coordinate System where linear equations can be graphed and details of the line and the slope can be observed.
Type: Virtual Manipulative
With a mouse, students will drag data points (with their error bars) and watch the best-fit polynomial curve form instantly. Students can choose the type of fit: linear, quadratic, cubic, or quartic. Best fit or adjustable fit can be displayed.
Type: Virtual Manipulative
Parent Resources
Perspectives Video: Professional/Enthusiasts
An archaeologist describes how mathematics can help prove a theory about mysterious prehistoric structures called shell rings.
Type: Perspectives Video: Professional/Enthusiast
Ceramic glaze recipes are fluid and not set in stone, but can only be formulated consistently with a good understanding of math!
Type: Perspectives Video: Professional/Enthusiast
Problem-Solving Tasks
The purpose of this task is to give students an opportunity to solve a challenging multistep percentage problem that can be approached in several different ways. Students are asked to find the cost of a meal before tax and tip when given the total cost of the meal. The task can illustrate multiple standards depending on the prior knowledge of the students and the approach used to solve the problem.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
In this task, students are presented with a real-world problem involving the price of an item on sale. To answer the question, students must represent the problem by defining a variable and related quantities, and then write and solve an equation.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
Students are asked to determine how to distribute prize money among three classes based on the contribution of each class.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
The 7th graders at Sunview Middle School were helping to renovate a playground for the kindergartners at a nearby elementary school. City regulations require that the sand underneath the swings be at least 15 inches deep. The sand under both swing sets was only 12 inches deep when they started. The rectangular area under the small swing set measures 9 feet by 12 feet and required 40 bags of sand to increase the depth by 3 inches. How many bags of sand will the students need to cover the rectangular area under the large swing set if it is 1.5 times as long and 1.5 times as wide as the area under the small swing set?
Type: Problem-Solving Task
Students must use the information to answer the multiple tasks provided.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
Students are asked to use ratios and proportional reasoning to compare paint mixtures numerically and graphically.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
Giving the amount of paint in "parts" instead of a specific standardized unit like cups might be confusing to students who do not understand what this means. Because this is standard language in ratio problems, students need to be exposed to it, but teachers might need to explain the meaning if their students are encountering it for the first time.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
Use the information provided to answer the questions regarding Carlos and his bananas
Type: Problem-Solving Task
This is a task where it would be appropriate for students to use technology such as a graphing calculator or GeoGebra, making it a good candidate for students to engage in Standard for Mathematical Practice 5 Use appropriate tools strategically. A variant of this problem is appropriate for 8th grade; see Coffee by the Pound.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
Tom wants to buy some protein bars and magazines for a trip. He has decided to buy three times as many protein bars as magazines. Each protein bar costs $0.70 and each magazine costs $2.50. The sales tax rate on both types of items is 6½%. How many of each item can he buy if he has $20.00 to spend?
Type: Problem-Solving Task
This problem includes a percent increase in one part with a percent decrease in the remaining and asks students to find the overall percent change. The problem may be solved using proportions or by reasoning through the computations or writing a set of equations.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
Students are asked to make comparisons among the Egyptian, Gregorian, and Julian methods of measuring a year.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
Students are asked to use proportional reasoning to answer a series of questions in the context of a recipe.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
The purpose of this task is to give students an opportunity to solve a multi-step ratio problem that can be approached in many ways. This can be done by making a table, which helps illustrate the pattern of taxi rates for different distances traveled and with a little persistence leads to a solution which uses arithmetic. It is also possible to calculate a unit rate (dollars per mile) and use this to find the distance directly without making a table.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
5,000 people visited a book fair in the first week. The number of visitors increased by 10% in the second week. How many people visited the book fair in the second week?
Type: Problem-Solving Task
Using the information provided find out how fast Anya rode her bike.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
This task asks students to solve a problem in a context involving constant speed. This task provides a transition from working with ratios involving whole numbers to ratios involving fractions. This problem can be thought of in several ways; in particular, this problem also provides an opportunity for students to work with the "How many in one group?'' interpretation of division.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
Use the information provided to find out how long it will take Molly to run one mile.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
This problem requires a comparison of rates where one is given in terms of unit rates, and the other is not. See "Music Companies, Variation 2" for a task with a very similar setup but is much more involved and so illustrates .
Type: Problem-Solving Task
This problem has multiple steps. In order to solve the problem it is necessary to compute: the value of the TunesTown shares; the total value of the BeatStreet offer of 20 million shares at $25 per share; the difference between these two amounts; and the cost per share of each of the extra 2 million shares MusicMind offers to equal to the difference.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
Students should use information provided to answer the questions regarding robot races.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
Students are asked to determine which sale option results in the largest percent decrease in cost.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
The sales team at an electronics store sold 48 computers last month. The manager at the store wants to encourage the sales team to sell more computers and is going to give all the sales team members a bonus if the number of computers sold increases by 30% in the next month. How many computers must the sales team sell to receive the bonus? Explain your reasoning.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
Students are asked to decide if two given ratios are equivalent.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
Students are asked to solve a problem using proportional reasoning in a real world context to determine the number of shares needed to complete a stock purchase.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
Students are asked to solve a multistep ratio problem in a real-world context.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
After eating at your favorite restaurant, you know that the bill before tax is $52.60 and that the sales tax rate is 8%. You decide to leave a 20% tip for the waiter based on the pre-tax amount. How much should you leave for the waiter? How much will the total bill be, including tax and tip?
Type: Problem-Solving Task
The purpose of this task is for students to calculate the percent increase and relative cost in a real-world context. Inflation, one of the big ideas in economics, is the rise in price of goods and services over time. This is considered in relation to the amount of money you have.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
This activity asks the student to use unit rate and proportional reasoning to determine which of two runners is the fastest.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
The purpose of this task is to see how well students students understand and reason with ratios.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
Teaching Idea
There are lots of ways to receive income, and lots of ways to spend it. In this EconomicsMinute teaching idea, students will develop two budgets, or plans, to help them decide how to allocate their income.
Type: Teaching Idea
Virtual Manipulative
Allows students access to a Cartesian Coordinate System where linear equations can be graphed and details of the line and the slope can be observed.
Type: Virtual Manipulative