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Those Advertising Dollars!
All
Those Advertising Dollars!Introduction: After getting information from advertising statistics available on the Internet, students will calculate percent increases (or percent decreases) for the top 25 companies in terms of advertising dollars spent during a year.
Prior Knowledge: Basic understanding of percent increase and percent decrease. Reading and comprehending charts where figures are in thousands ($1=$1,000, $10=$10,000, etc.). Use of four-function calculators. Rounding to the nearest tenth of a percent.
Grade Level: 5-7
Task: Students will complete a worksheet by finding percent increases (or percent decreases) by using a calculator. Also see Extensions.
Resources:
- Advertising Age: 100 top national Advertisers
- Percent Increases in Advertising worksheet
- Calculators for students
Process:
- Access the above address on the Internet and use the information to fill out the two "Year" columns on the Percent Increases in Advertising worksheet.
- Calculate the Increase and Percent Increase by doing the subtracting and dividing on the calculator. Have students round to the nearest tenth of a percent.
- Enter the results on the worksheet.
- Discuss what the results mean.
Also see Extensions.
Learning Advice:
- A teacher may want to guide the students through the process by doing the first five companies or so before assigning the students to do the rest.
- Make sure everybody understands the figures from the chart are in thousands.
Evaluation:
- Students should know that they will be graded objectively on the computation part (basically the last two columns on the worksheet).
- More subjective grading might be used if a teacher chose to make a writing extension to this activity.
Extensions:
- Bar graphs
- Creating a spreadsheet to do this assignment
- Analyzing and writing about the percent increases and percent decreases
Conclusion: Students should have reviewed some percent concepts and computation skills. They also should have discovered the enormous amount of money spent on advertising by huge companies.
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California Mathematics Academic Standard:
Grade 4:
Statistics, Data Analysis and Probability
1.0 Students organize, represent, and interpret numerical and categorical data and clearly communicate their findings.1.1 formulate survey questions; systematically collect and represent data on a number line; and coordinate graphs, tables and chartsGrade 5:
Statistics, Data Analysis and Probability
1.0 Students display, analyze, compare, and interpret different data sets, including data sets of different size.1.2 organize and display single-variable data in appropriate graphs and representations (e.g., histogram, circle graphs) and explain which types of graphs are appropriate for various data setsGrade 6:
Statistics, Data Analysis and Probability
1.0 Students compute and analyze statistical measurement for data sets.1.1 compute the range, mean, median, and mode of data sets2.0 Students use data samples of a population and describe the characteristics and limitations of the samples
2.5 identify claims based on statistical data and, in simple cases, evaluate the validity of the claimsGrade 7:
Statistics, Data Analysis and Probability
1.0 Students collect, organize, and represent data sets that have one or more variables and identify relationships among variables within a data set by hand and through the use of an electronic spreadsheet software program.1.1 know various forms of display for data sets, including a stem-and-leaf plot or box-and-whisker plot; use the forms to display a single set of data or to compare two sets of data
1.3 understand the meaning of, and be able to compute, the minimum, the lower quartile, the median, the upper quartile, and the maximum of a data setMathematical Reasoning
1.0 Students make decisions about how to approach problems.1.1 analyze problems by identifying relationships, discriminating relevant from irrelevant information, identifying missing information, sequencing and prioritizing information, and observing patterns
NCTM 5-8:
STANDARD 1: MATHEMATICS AS PROBLEM SOLVING
STANDARD 3: MATHEMATICS AS REASONING
STANDARD 4: MATHEMATICAL CONNECTIONS
STANDARD 7: COMPUTATION AND ESTIMATION
STANDARD 10: STATISTICS
NCTM 9-12:
STANDARD 1: MATHEMATICS AS PROBLEM SOLVING
STANDARD 3: MATHEMATICS AS REASONING
STANDARD 4: MATHEMATICAL CONNECTIONS
STANDARD 10: STATISTICS