Percent: Who Doesn't Love a Sale? (Discounts!)

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

Every day you get bombarded with commercials telling you about the best deals, emails advertising online discounts, and fliers in the mailbox urging you to "Buy now and save!"

Even a fun trip to mall can turn into a mathematical nightmare when you see your favorite store sporting a "% off" sign.

• How do you figure out how much more you can buy with the amount you have in your pocket?
• Do you know how to do the math to figure out the discounted price?

This skill can make you the savvy shopper in your household!

The word "percent" actually means "per hundred." 

Let's get started.

Say you walk into the local department store and a jersey for your favorite team is 40% off. The original price was $39.99.

• Do you know how much the shirt costs now?

To find the total, you can solve this problem in one of two ways. Let's look at both techniques:

As you can see, both methods lead you to the same answer. You need to decide which method is easiest for you.

Method 1

• Multiply the percent off by the total price (Reminder: Change the decimal to percent by moving the decimal left 2 places!).
• Take that answer and subtract from the total price.
• The difference is the sale price.

Method 2

• Decide what percent you ARE paying by subtracting the discount from 100% (Example: If a discount is 40% off, then you are paying 60%. 100% - 40% = 60%).
• Take the percent you are paying times the total price.
• The quotient is the sale price.

Take a moment to notice what is the same and different about both methods.

The good news is they are both just two steps and will get you a correct answer. Since that is the case, you can pick your preferred method and use it moving forward.

Pick your favorite method to find discounts and get ready to use it in the Got It? section.