At ISW, we love hands-on math projects because they provide an obvious answer to the question, “When are we ever going to use this?” Recently, Michelle Warner, one of ISW’s Upper Elementary math teachers, brought in ads from a local grocery store and gave her students $100 (fictional) money to spend. The results were fascinating and often hilarious:
- The Future Father: One student spent his money quickly and when Michelle asked him where $36 went, he replied, “I bought two boxes of diapers. I’m trying to plan ahead for the future when I have kids, because diapers are expensive!”
- The Master Chef-in-the-Making: Another student created a gourmet meal and would only purchase fresh foods, which required him to calculate the cost by weight.
- The Frugal Gals: Two young women combined their funds so that they could shop together. Their goal was to buy enough food to last an entire week.
- The Entrepreneur: A young man bought just a few basic essential items that were on sale. When asked what else he was going to purchase since he had so much extra money, he said, “Nothing. I am going to save it and use it to start my own business!”
- The (Self-Declared) Cheapskate: This young man carefully shopped to maximize his spending abilities. He eventually stopped and said he would finish his shopping at a dollar store.
- The True Team Players: Two other students put their money together and shopped as a team. They spent about $60.00 at the grocery store, noting that they were going to buy deodorant because, “We play sports after school and don’t want to stink.” They allocated their remaining money to video games and Harry Potter books. When they got down to $42.00 one suggested they save it, but the other responded, “Naaah, let’s spend it!”
- Old-Fashioned Kids: And then there was the group that spent almost all their money on goldfish snacks and candy…
Great work, Ms. Michelle and your fabulous band of third and fourth graders!
