What Will I Pay?

Lesson Content

• Lesson Plan Template:

  General Lesson Plan

• Learning Objectives: What should students know and be able to do as a result of this lesson?

  
  
  1. Students will use the line of best fit to make predictions.
  2. Students will interpret slope and y intercept in context of the data.
  3. Students will make conclusions based on line of best fit.

• Prior Knowledge: What prior knowledge should students have for this lesson?

  
  

  Students will need to know how to calculate mean.

  Students will need to know how to draw/graph a scatter plot

  Students will need to know how to draw a line of best fit.

  Students will need to know how to find y-intercept and slope to find equation of line of best fit.

• Guiding Questions: What are the guiding questions for this lesson?

  
  

  Is there a correlation between credit scores and interest rates?

  How do interest rates change as credit scores change?

• Teaching Phase: How will the teacher present the concept or skill to students?

  
  
  1. The teacher will explain that the lesson involves students making predictions about credit scores and loan interest rates. The teacher can explain to the class how credit rates are derived. Teachers can let the students know that credit scores are calculated the following way: 30% amounts owed, 10% new credit accounts, 15% length of credit history, 10% type of credit in use, 35% payment history. They will also discuss interest rates, what interest is, and how it effects the consumer.
  2. Students will individually predict the effect they think that credit scores will have on interest rates. Teachers can have the students use that attached worksheet called "Predicting how credit scores effect interest rates."
  3. The teacher will divide the class into groups of 4 to 6 students, depending on the number of students in the class. There should be a total of 5 heterogeneous groups.
  4. Attached is a spreadsheet file that has 5 different sheets, one for each level of credit. Each group will be given one credit score level with rates from 5 different banks or credit unions. They will determine the means of these 5 interest rates to the hundredths decimal place as well as median credit score.
  5. Once the groups have their interest rates, they will come to the board and will write the mean interest rate for their credit score for the other groups to use. Answers for teachers are on an attached key.
     
     The table drawn on the board can look like this:
     
     

     Group	Median Credit Score	Mean Interest Rates
     Bad Credit
     Poor Credit
     Average Credit
     Good Credit
     Excellent Credit

     
     
     
  6. The groups will take the credit scores and interest rates for each of the 5 groups and create a scatter plots with credit scores on the x-axis and interest rates on the y-axis. Depending on time available, each group can create one scatter plot, or each student can produce their own.
  7. Based on their scatter plots, groups will find a line of best fit and will develop an equation for the line of best fit. Students will be "eyeing" the line and y intercept and calculating the slope by hand using the slope formula and 2 points their line goes through, as a result each group will have a different equation for their line.
  8. Students need to write interpretations of their slope and y-intercepts and make conclusions about credit scores and interest rates.
  9. The teacher will pass out the attached homework worksheet assignment.
  10. The teacher will pass out the exit slip for students to complete.

• Guided Practice: What activities or exercises will the students complete with teacher guidance?

  
  

  In the guided practice portion of the lesson, the teacher will guide the students through steps 2 – 8 mentioned in Teaching Phase of the activity by checking the group progress.

• Independent Practice: What activities or exercises will students complete to reinforce the concepts and skills developed in the lesson?

  
  

  Students will be given the attached homework assignment (#9 above) based the lesson. They will be given different credit scores than they worked on in class and come up with their own interest rates.

• Closure: How will the teacher assist students in organizing the knowledge gained in the lesson?

  
  

  Closure for the lesson will take place as the summative assessment exit tickets (step number 10 in the teaching phase) are completed and then discussed.

• Summative Assessment

  
  

  See the attached Exit Ticket:

  • Each student will write their own interpretation of the meaning of slope and y-intercept in context of credit scores and interest rates.
  • Each student will make a conclusion of what they have found the relationship to be between credit scores and interest rates.

• Formative Assessment

  
  

  The teacher will start the class with questions about predicting credit scores to assess what students know about credit.

  The teacher will constantly assess student understanding of review materials as they are used in classwork. This will include scatterplots, line of best fit, and interpreting slope and y intercepts. Questions will be asked and help given as needed.

  During the Discovery and Exploration Activity, teachers may need to guide students who are unsure of where to place their line of best fit. Students may also need to be reminded of the slope formula. Students may need to be reminded to label their graphs. Students may also need to be led by guided questions to help them to interpret the slope and y-intercept.

  Formative assessment will also occur during the teaching phase, guided practice, and independent practice as questions arise.

• Feedback to Students

  
  

  The teacher will walk around and see that students are correctly calculating the mean interest rates and give students feedback on this and their graphs.

  As students work, the teacher will circulate around the room to ensure that the students are creating their scatterplots correctly.

  From there, the teacher should see that students are realizing the relationship of interest rates and credit scores. If the teacher notices that the connection is not being made, begin asking those students what they notice about the relationships of credit score and interest rate. The teacher can guide these students but should not answer the question for them.