Physical Percentages

Alaina Woodford

Purpose: To teach percentage problems to middle schoolers in an easy

and fun way. Easy, so that it will be simple to grasp, and so that we can
build upon the basic lesson with trickier percentage problems; fun, so
that the lesson is enjoyable and sticks with them.

Context: These four middle schoolers requested (or had their parents
request for them) extra help with learning percentages. While they are
good students, they have a history of difficulty in picking up new math
concepts. I believe this might be due to the setting in which theyre
normally taught: a classroom full of peers, with a teacher who has very
little time to dedicate to each of them individually. This lack of
individual work is a twofold problem: first, it means that the students
cannot be given extra help during the lesson, and second, it means
that the teacher cannot ensure that his or her students are adequately
understanding the material.

Materials Needed: Students!

Method: Freire emphasizes the importance of simultaneous action and

reflection. Action without reflection is merely activism; reflection
without action is merely verbalism. In order to teach percentage
problems to middle schoolers, the lesson must be simultaneous
reflection and action. This means it cannot be purely theoretical
imagine a group of four, and then we split that group in halfand,
similarly, cannot be purely physicalI have a hundred apples, and if
we move one of those apples Striking a balance between the two
will make the lesson both informative and interesting. My method is to
make the students into the physical example, so that theyre engaged
in their learning. Because there are only four of them, this means that I
will also be able to dedicate time to answering any questions they
have.

I know you guys already know division, so thats what were going to
start with. Theres four of you, so whats 100 divided by 4? 25. Right
now, you are 100% of the students. If I take one of you, and make you
stand over here, you alone are 25% of the students. Whats 100-25?
75. That makes you guys that I didnt move 75% of the students.
Together, you make 100%, because 75% + 25% is 100%. If I take
another one of you to stand over here, so youre split evenly, what
does that make you? 50%! Both groups are 50% of all the students.
Together, you make 100%. Now, Im going to add myself into the mix.
Together, the five of us are 100% of the people in this room. What
percentage of the people am I?
Results: