Real World Math!

Career, Budgets,

and Loans

By: Miss S’s Sixers

A fun math project for middle grades!

Thank you for downloading this project! If your students are like mine, they are

always saying, “When will I ever use math in real life?” This project will help them see

that math will always be in their lives. My students love getting on the iPads at

school and exploring their future careers. This project lets them discover what they might want to do in life, while practicing

math.

It can be used as enrichment for younger grades or a supplement to a lesson for

upper grades. I grade the students based on their completion of the project and if their answers are correct. Depending on

how long your class periods are, this project could take several days to

complete.

I hope your students have as much fun as mine have!

Choosing a Career

You are now ready to choose a career! You will be choosing a career based on questions

you answer online.

Go to this website: http://www.yourfreecareertest.com/index.html

After you are done with the test, you will be given many career choices to choose from

based on your responses.

Write down the top 3 careers you received and the percentage given:

Career Percentage

1.

2.

3.

Which career will you choose? Why? Explain in four complete sentences.

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

What are three strengths you possess that will make you good at this job?

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

What is a weakness? How would you improve this?

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

© Miss S’s Sixers

1.

Choosing an Apartment

You now have the career of your dreams. Next step, you need to rent an apartment. Find

out how much each square foot of the apartment is. Write each amount below the floor

plan. Then, circle which apartment you want.

A) 1 bed- 1 bath- 738 sq ft- $719 B)1 bed- 1 bath- 900 sq ft- $789

C) 1 bed- 1 bath- 769 sq ft- $750 D) 1 bed- 1 bath- 675 sq ft- $735

_____________ _____________

_____________ _____________

Lakes of Timberlake Cohen Complex

Tatum Towers Atwood Apartments

© Miss S’s Sixers

2.

Choosing an Apartment

Wait! You need to make sure you can afford the apartment you chose. Go to

www.google.com and search the starting salary for your new job.

My salary for a year:__________________________

For some jobs, you will be working all year round. Some jobs pay you monthly or bi-weekly.

Calculate how much you will make every two weeks when you get paid: *Hint you get paid

for 26 weeks: ________________________

How much will you make in one month?______________________

Will you be able to cover rent? If not, how will you earn more

money?______________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

Your rent is not the only expense when renting an apartment. Here is a table of the

utilities you will need to cover for this month:

How much will you spend on electricity and gas this month? ______________________

You have $1000 to cover your rent, electricity, gas, and cable/Internet. How much money

do you have left? ______________________

How much will you spend on cable/Internet for 6 months? ______________________

How much will you spend on cable and rent for 12 months? ______________________

How much will spend on all three utilities and rent this month?

______________________

Electricity Gas Cable/Internet

$73.90 $52.64 $59.99

© Miss S’s Sixers

3.

Paying Rent

It is time for you to pay your rent. You need to write a check to your apartment

complex.

How to write a check:

Step 1- write the date

Step 2- write who you are paying

Step 3- write the amount

Step 4- write the amount in words (put the cents as a fraction over 100)

Step 5- write what it is for

Step 6- sign your name

Your turn!

Stone Creek Apartments 729.50

5-12-14

Seven hundred and twenty-nine 50/100

Rent Hermione Granger

© Miss S’s Sixers

4.

Choosing a Car

Your car is no longer functioning, so you need to buy a new car. You need to go to

http://autos.yahoo.com to find a new or used car. Fill in the table with your car information.

My Car

When you buy a car, you need to take out a loan.. Define loan-

:___________________________________________________________________

When you take out a loan, an interest rate comes with the loan.. Define interest rate-

____________________________________________________________________

The interest rate for your loan for a new car is 3.33% and a used car is 3.08%.

You can calculate your monthly payment for your car by going to www.google.com and

search for auto loan calculator. Click on the second link from www.cars.com. Fill in the

table.

Here is an example:

Make Model Price

Ex: Chevrolet Cruze $18, 903

© Miss S’s Sixers

5.

Choosing a Car

How much is your monthly payment for your car?________________________

How much will you spend on your car payment and rent? ________________________

How much money do you have left after you have paid your car payment and rent for

one month? (You have been paid two times that month.) ________________________

It is time to buy gas! Your car can hold 13 gallons of gas. If the gas station’s price for gas is

$3.45 per gallon, how much money will you spend on gas? ________________________

You want to buy two new seat covers for your car. The seat covers cost $19.75 each. The

tax for your purchase is 7%. How much money will you have to spend? Round to the

nearest hundredth. ________________________

You give the cashier $60 for your purchase. How much money will you get back?

________________________

You travel the following miles in three days:

How many miles did you travel on Monday and Tuesday in all?

________________________

What is the difference between Tuesday and Wednesday’s mileage?

________________________

What is the difference between Monday and Wednesday’s mileage?

________________________

How many miles did you travel total in three days?

________________________

Mon 19.56 mi

Tues 22.915 mi

Wed 45.98 mi

© Miss S’s Sixers

6.

Time to Shop

You have an apartment and a car! Now it is time to shop so your apartment has furniture

and any other necessities!

You have $2500 to spend. Use local newspaper ads or Amazon.com to find all your

supplies. Your apartment has come already with a refrigerator, microwave, and stove.

Use the table to record all your purchases: Use additional paper if needed.

© Miss S’s Sixers

7.

Time to Shop

How much money did you spend in all?________________________

How much money did you have left? ________________________

Look at the table you filled out. Find the highest priced item and the lowest priced item.

What is their difference? ________________________

Round your answer to the nearest dollar.. ________________________

Which room will have the most expensive items in it? ________________________

If you received $500 more, what would you buy?_______________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

Pick one of your items. Round that item’s price to the nearest dollar.

________________________

Pick a product on your table. What if you had to buy 5 of those products. How much

money would you spend? ________________________

Write an addition with decimals question about your table. Then answer your question:

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

Answer:________________________

Write a subtraction with decimals question about your table. Then answer your question:

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

Answer:________________________

© Miss S’s Sixers

8.

Answers!

Here are the answers.

Some of the problems will

have answers that vary.

*Note some questions

were not answered.

Choosing a Career

You are now ready to choose a career! You will be choosing a career based on questions

you answer online.

Go to this website: http://www.yourfreecareertest.com/index.html

After you are done with the test, you will be given many career choices to choose from

based on your responses.

Write down the top 3. careers you received and the percentage given:

Career Percentage

1. Teacher 100%

2. HR Director 83%

3. Marine Biologist 70%

Which career will you choose? Why? Explain in four complete sentences.

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

What are three strengths you possess that will make you good at this job?

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

What is a weakness? How would you improve this?

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

ANSWER KEY

© Miss S’s Sixers

1.

Choosing an Apartment

You now have the career of your dreams. Next step, you need to rent an apartment. Find

out how much each square foot of the apartment is. Write each amount below the floor

plan. Round to the nearest hundredth. Then, circle which apartment you want.

A) 1 bed- 1 bath- 738 sq ft- $719 B)1 bed- 1 bath- 900 sq ft- $789

C) 1 bed- 1 bath- 769 sq ft- $760 D) 1 bed- 1 bath- 675 sq ft- $735

____$0.98_________ _____$0.88________

_____$0.99________ ______$1.09_______

Lakes of Timberlake Cohen Complex

Tatum Towers Atwood Apartments

© Miss S’s Sixers

2.

Choosing an Apartment

Wait! You need to make sure you can afford the apartment you chose. Go to

www.google.com and search the starting salary for your new job.

My salary for a year: $32, 893

For most jobs, you will be working all year round. Calculate how much you will make every

two weeks when you get paid: Round to the nearest dollar. $1265.

How much will you make in one month? $2,530

Will you be able to cover rent? If not, how will you earn more money? Yes, it will cover

rent.

Your rent is not the only expense when renting an apartment. Here is a table of the

utilities you will need to cover for this month:

How much will you spend on electricity and gas this month? $126.54

How much will you spend on cable/Internet for 6 months? $359.94

How much will you spend on cable and rent for 12 months? $10,187.88

How much will spend on all three utilities and rent this month? Rent- 789 + 73.90 + 52.64 +

59.99= $975.53

You have $1000 to cover your rent, electricity, gas, and cable/Internet. How much money

do you have left? $24.47

Electricity Gas Cable/Internet

$73.90 $52.64 $59.99

© Miss S’s Sixers

3.

Paying Rent

It is time for you to pay your rent. You need to write a check to your apartment

complex.

How to write a check:

Step 1- write the date

Step 2- write who you are paying

Step 3- write the amount

Step 4- write the amount in words (put the cents as a fraction over 100)

Step 5- write what it is for

Step 6- sign your name

Your turn!

Stone Creek Apartments 729.50

5-12-14

Seven hundred and twenty-nine 50/100

Rent Hermione Granger

© Miss S’s Sixers

4.

Choosing a Car

Your car is no longer functioning, so you need to buy a new car. You need to go to

http://autos.yahoo.com to find a new or used car. Fill in the table with your car information.

My Car

When you buy a car, you need to take out a loan.. Define loan- a thing that is borrowed

When you take out a loan, an interest rate comes with the loan.. Define interest rate-

The cost of borrowing money. It is often showed as a percentage.

The interest rate for your loan for a new car is 3.33% and a used car is 3.08%.

You can calculate your monthly payment for your car by going to www.google.com and

search for auto loan calculator. Click on the second link from www.cars.com. Fill in the

table.

Here is an example:

Make Model Price

Ex: Chevrolet Cruze $18, 903

© Miss S’s Sixers

5.

Choosing a Car

How much is your monthly payment for your car? $366.41

How much will you spend on your car payment and rent? $789 + $366.41= $1,155.41

How much money do you have left after you have paid your car payment and rent for

one month? (You have been paid two times that month.) $1,374.59

It is time to buy gas! Your car can hold 13 gallons of gas. If the gas station’s price for gas is

$3.45 per gallon, how much money will you spend on gas? $44.85

You want to buy two new seat covers for your car. The seat covers cost $19.75 each. The

tax for your purchase is 7%. How much money will you have to spend? Round to the

nearest hundredth. $42.27

You give the cashier $60 for your purchase. How much money will you get back?

$17.73

You travel the following miles in three days:

How many miles did you travel on Monday and Tuesday in all? 42.475 miles

What is the difference between Tuesday and Wednesday’s mileage?

23.065 miles

What is the difference between Monday and Wednesday’s mileage?

26.42 miles

How many miles did you travel total in three days? 88.455 miles

Mon 19.56 mi

Tues 22.915 mi

Wed 45.98 mi

© Miss S’s Sixers

6.

Time to Shop!

You have an apartment and a car! Now it is time to shop so your apartment has furniture

and any other necessities!

You have $2500 to spend. Use local newspaper ads or Amazon.com to find all your

supplies. Your apartment has come already with a refrigerator, microwave, and stove.

Use the table to record all your purchases: Use additional paper if needed.

Bed $277.99

Couch $526.85

TV $899.99

Dresser $205..50

Kitchen table $462.99

Coffee table $75.99

© Miss S’s Sixers

7.

Time to Shop!

How much money did you spend in all? $2,449.31

How much money did you have left? $50.69

Look at the table you filled out. Find the highest priced item and the lowest priced item.

What is their difference? $824.00

Round your answer to the nearest dollar. $824

Which room will have the most expensive items in it? Family room

If you received $500 more, what would you buy? I would buy an Xbox.

Pick one of your items. Round that item’s price to the nearest dollar. $206

Pick a product on your table. What if you had to buy 5 of those products. How much

money would you spend? Coffee table- $379.95

Write an addition with decimals question about your table. Then answer your question:

How much is the bed and dresser added together?

Answer $483.49

Write a subtraction with decimals question about your table. Then answer your question:

What is the difference between the TV’s price and couch?

Answer: $373.14

© Miss S’s Sixers

8.

Credits:

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