Saturday, October 20, 2012

Quick Tips for Teachers: Thanksgiving Math Activity

Ah, fall - it is in full swing in some places, with Halloween and Thanksgiving just around the corner. Thanksgiving is a great time to give your students some lessons on being good consumers. Try this fun comparison shopping activity.

Prepare for this activity by gathering Thanksgiving advertisement pages from various food stores in your area.  Discuss with students items which might be included on a typical Thanksgiving dinner menu. Agree, as a class, on a set of basic dinner elements that each group will be "shopping" for.

Give each group of students the advertisement flyers from 3 or 4 different stores. Have students work with their groups to calculate the cost of the basic Thanksgiving dinner items using the prices advertised by each store.

Next, have students create charts to display their data.  Groups should report their findings to the class.  After all data has been presented, determine which store offered the best values.

As a variation on this activity, allow students to include advertised coupon savings in their calculations, and compare how these affect the final costs.

This activity works great for any holiday meal - or a lesson on family finances and meal planning, as well.

Copyright 2012 Irene Taylor.All rights reserved.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Please leave a comment...