Buying My First Car

Introduction: "You will soon be in the position of getting your driver's license and looking for a car. In all of the excitement, you are faced with a number of decisions which need to be made before you actually purchase your car. Through this unit you will research every aspect that a person goes through when purchasing a car. This will make you a wise shopper."

Prior Knowledge:

Spreadsheet/Graphing
Estimation
Word-processing
Percentages
Rate
Principal/Interest/Time
Ratio

Grade Levels: 5-8 and 9-12

Grouping: Students should be placed in groups of 2. This lesson may prove to be a bit overwhelming for one student to do by themselves.

Objectives: Students will be analyzing data, estimating, evaluating, comparing costs, and graphing information.

Teacher to Teacher Information

Teacher to Student Information

Conclusion: At the completion of this unit, the students will be able to see that purchasing a car does not mean that you just walk onto a car lot, pick out a car and drive home in it that same day. It will show the student that the math that they are learning in the classroom really does apply to their life and that they will indeed use it again in the future.

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California Academic Content Standards:

Grade 6:
Number Sense
1.0 Students compare and order positive and negative fractions, decimals, and mixed numbers. Students solve problems involving fractions, ratios, proportions, and percentages:
1.2 interpret and use ratios in different contexts (e.g., batting averages, miles per hour) to show the relative sizes of two quantities, using appropriate notations (a/b, a to b, a:b)
1.3 use proportions to solve problems (e.g., determine the value of N if 4/7 = N/21, find the length of a side of a polygon similar to a known polygon). Use cross-multiplication as a method for solving such problems, understanding it as multiplication of both sides of an equation by a multiplicative inverse.

Mathematical Reasoning
2.0 Students use strategies, skills and concepts in finding solutions

2.4 use a variety of methods, such as words, numbers, symbols, charts, graphs, tables, diagrams, and models, to explain mathematical reasoning
2.7 make precise calculations and check the validity of the results from the context of the problem

Grade 7:
Number Sense
1.0 Students know the properties of, and compute with, rational numbers expressed in a variety of forms.

1.2 add, subtract, multiply, and divide rational numbers (integers, fractions, and terminating decimals) and take positive rational numbers to whole-numbers powers
1.6 calculate percent of increases and decreases of a quantity

Algebra and Functions
1.0 Students express quantitative relationships using algebraic terminology, expressions, equations, inequalities and graphs.

1.5 represent quantitative relationships graphically and interpret the meaning of a specific part of a graph in terms of the situation represented by the graph

Mathematical Reasoning
2.0 Students use strategies, skills, and concepts in finding solutions.

2.5 use a variety of methods, such as words, numbers, symbols, charts, graphs, tables, diagrams, and models, to explain mathematical reasoning
2.6 express the solution clearly and logically by using appropriate mathematical notation and terms and clear language; support solutions with evidence in both verbal and symbolic work

NCTM 5-8:

STANDARD 1: MATHEMATICS AS PROBLEM SOLVING
STANDARD 2: MATHEMATICS AS COMMUNICATION
STANDARD 3: MATHEMATICS AS REASONING
STANDARD 4: MATHEMATICAL CONNECTIONS
STANDARD 5: NUMBER AND NUMBER RELATIONSHIPS
STANDARD 7: COMPUTATION AND ESTIMATION
STANDARD 10: STATISTICS