Lesson Plans
PAGES 1–2
PERCENT OF A NUMBER
Americans for Darth Vader!
STANDARDS
COMMON CORE STATE StandardS FOR MATH: Ratios & Proportional Relationships,
The Number System
Objective
To calculate the percent of a number to see which petitions made the necessary
signatures for a response from the White House.
before Reading
•Ask students: If you could talk to the President about anything, what would you say?
Lesson
1
2
3
Project the color PDF of “Americans for Darth Vader!” on a whiteboard and/or print
out copies of the article (attached) for students to read individually or as a class.
Review using proportions to solve percent problems.
part
percent
=
whole
100
Have students work in pairs to answer the questions. Review answers as a class,
discussing common errors made in calculations.
Common Core CRITICAL THINKING
•Should the number of petitions be proportional to the population of the United States?
•What are some issues that you would petition for?
Skills Sheets
Print the attached differentiated reproducibles for this article—an easier activity
converting decimals to percents and a more difficult percents-over-100 activity.
Resources
•Visit the “We the People” site at https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/
to see which
petitions are popular right now.
To order Scholastic math,
call 1-800-scholastic
PERCENT OF A NUMBER
“We the People”
home page
Americans
for Darth
Vader!
You can petition the White House
to do just about anything, including
build a Star Wars Death Star!
D
o you have something to
collect 25,000 signatures in 30
have reached the 100,000 mark,
say to the President? All
days to receive an official response
including one asking that people
you need is Internet
from the White House. But on
have more control over the
access! Anyone age 13 or older can
January 15, 2013, that number was
software they can load on their
submit a petition—a formal written
bumped up to 100,000 in 30 days.
cell phones. But White House
request made to a person or
Why the change? It’s due in
spokesman Macon Phillips says
organization—to the White House
part to the success of wacky
the most important petitions are
through its “We the People” program
petitions, like the one for a Death
the ones in which people voice
at petitions.whitehouse.gov.
Star. The White House turned
their opinions on how they think
down building the space station
the government should handle
2010, We the People has grown
in its official response, citing the
the issues our country faces.
wildly popular. More than 233,000
hefty $850 quadrillion price tag.
“And that’s really important in a
petitions have received nearly
But it also encouraged people
democracy,” says Phillips.
14 million signatures. One asked
not to give up on their futuristic
the government to build a Death
ideas, suggesting that they help
Star space station like the one in
turn them into reality by pursuing
Star Wars. Another called for the
careers in science, technology,
Monday after the Super Bowl to be
engineering, or math-related fields.
Read “Percent of a Number.”
declared a national holiday.
“If you do . . . the Force will be
Then use that information to
Since its creation in September
When the website was
launched, petitions needed to
1
with us!”, The White House said.
Since January, several petitions
Scholastic math • W W W.SCHOLASTIC.COM/Math
—Jennifer Marino Walters
WHAT TO DO
answer the questions.
Will Darth
Vader’s Death
Star from Star
Wars become
a reality?
1
A January 23 petition asking
that the Monday after the
Super Bowl be made a national
holiday collected 9.819% of the
100,000 signatures it needed by
January 30. How many signatures
had it received?
2
A total of 27,334 people
signed a March 2012 petition
calling for 1 penny of every dollar
spent by the U.S. government to
go toward increasing the budget of
NASA. If the petition had been
created today and received the
same number of signatures, what
percent of the needed signatures
would it have received?
PERCENT OF A NUMBER
http://www.whitehouse.gov (webpage); ©Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved. (center)
A total of 34,435 people
signed a November 2012
petition asking for a Death Star. At
that time, We the People petitions
needed 25,000 signatures to receive
a response from the White House.
How many more signatures
than the 25,000 signatures
required did the petition receive?
A
B What percent more than the
required 25,000 signatures did the
petition receive?
4
A January petition asked that
the government establish the
Lunar New Year, celebrated by
many Asian Americans, as a
national holiday. It was created
when only 25,000 signatures were
required for a response. It received
59.12% more signatures needed.
What is 59.12% of 25,000?
A
To find a percent of a number:
•First, drop the % sign and divide the percent by 100
(this is the same as moving the decimal point two places to the left).
•Multiply the number you want to find the percent of by this
decimal number.
3
B Add your answer from 4a to
25,000 to see how many signatures
the petition received in total.
Example:
If a petition received 15% of the 100,000 signatures
it needed, how many signatures did it receive?
15% = 0.15
0.15 5 100,000 = 15,000 signatures
You can also use a percent equation to find
the missing part, percent, or whole.
Part
÷ Whole = Percent Expressed as a Decimal
Example:
A petition received 10,000 signatures. What percent
of the needed 100,000 signatures did it receive?
10,000
10,000
÷ 100,000 = Percent Expressed as a Decimal
÷ 100,000 = 0.10 or 10% of the needed signatures.
5
Two petitions were created in
September 2011 asking the
government to acknowledge the
existence of aliens. One received
12,078 signatures, and the other
received 5,387. The White House
combined these petitions into one.
Combined, what percent of the
25,000 signatures required for a
response did it receive?
To order SCHOLASTIC Math, call 1-800-scholastic
2
ACTIVITY #1
Name:
Converting Decimals to Percents
To write a decimal as a percent, multiply by 100, or move the decimal point two places to the right, and add a percent sign.
Example: What is 0.5 as a percent?
0.5 5 100 = 50
0.5 as a percent is 50%
To write a percent as a decimal, drop the % sign and divide the percent by 100 or move the decimal point two places
to the left.
Example: What is 30% as a decimal?
30 ÷ 100 = 0.3
30% as a decimal is 0.3
1
A petition asking the government to take control of
Twinkie production after Hostess—the company that
made the dessert—went out of business received 0.15992
of the 25,000 signatures it needed at the time for a
response. What percent of the signatures did it receive?
[Note: Twinkies are back in production, but not because of
help from the government.]
2
A petition asking that the U.S. withdraw from the
United Nations did not get a response because it
received only 3.422% of the 100,000 signatures it needed.
Write that percent as a decimal.
4
A petition asking for a reality show featuring Vice
President Joe Biden received 0.0652 of the 25,000
signatures it needed. What percent of signatures did it
receive?
5
An April petition asking that President Obama attend
a Major League Ultimate Frisbee game had only
0.466% of the 100,000 signatures needed by the end of its
30-day period. Write that percent as a decimal.
3
As of July 10, 2013, a petition asking to make “Party
in the U.S.A.” our national anthem still needed
0.99218 of the required 100,000 signatures. What percent
of signatures did it still need?
To order Scholastic math, call 1-800-scholastic
Scholastic Inc. grants teacher-subscribers of MATH Magazine permission to reproduce this page for use in their classrooms. ©2013 by Scholastic Inc. All Rights Reserved.
For use with “Americans for Darth Vader!”, from Scholastic MATH magazine.
ACTIVITY #2
Name:
PERCENTS GREATER THAN 100
Read the article on page 1 and then read about finding the percent of a number on page 2. Sometimes, percents are greater
than 100. To find percents greater than 100, follow the same steps.
Example: What is 110% of 80?
First drop the % sign and divide the percent by 100 (or move the decimal point two places to the left). 110% ➞ 1.1
Multiply the number you want to find the percent of by this number.
80 5 1.1 = 88
88 is 110% of 80.
Check if your answer makes sense: 100% of 80 is 80, so since 110% is a little more than 100%, the answer should be a little
more than 80.
1
4
A January petition asking that the government establish
the Lunar New Year as a national holiday received
159.12% of the required 25,000 signatures. How many
signatures did it receive?
A total of 31,956 people signed a September 2011
petition calling for the closure of the Transportation
Security Administration. It received a response. What
percent of the required 25,000 signatures did it receive?
2
5
The November 2012 petition asking for a Death Star
got 34,435 signatures. What percent of the required
25,000 signatures did it receive?
An April 2012 petition asking for mandatory labeling
of genetically engineered foods received 84,253
signatures. What percent of the required 25,000 signatures
did it receive?
3
An October 2011 petition asking the White House to
“actually take these petitions seriously” received
148.668% of the 25,000 signatures it needed for a
response. How many signatures did it receive?
To order Scholastic math, call 1-800-scholastic
Scholastic Inc. grants teacher-subscribers of MATH Magazine permission to reproduce this page for use in their classrooms. ©2013 by Scholastic Inc. All Rights Reserved.
For use with “Americans for Darth Vader!”, from Scholastic MATH magazine.