Mathematics In The News
What’s for dinner tonight? Decide what you want to eat for dinner and make a list of
ingredients you will need to make your meal. Look at various grocery flyers inside the
newspaper and compare prices of each ingredient at different grocery stores.
Item
Grocery
store No. 1
$
Grocery
Store No. 2
$
Total
$
$
Mathematics In The News
Look for classified ads in The StarPhoenix that lists both the price and
square footage of three houses for sale. Compute the price per square foot
for each.
Price:
$____________
Square footage:
$____________
Cost per square foot:
$____________
Price:
$____________
Square footage:
$____________
Cost per square foot:
$____________
Price:
$____________
Square footage:
$____________
Cost per square foot:
$____________
Mathematics In The News
Count the number of news stories and the number of ads in the A section of today’s
StarPhoenix and then do the same for section B. Based on your findings, estimate the
percentage of space that is used for news and for advertising in the whole paper.
Section
Number of news Number of ads
articles
% of ads
% of news
articles
Number of news Number of ads
articles
% of ads
% of news
articles
A
Section
B
Estimated percentage of space
used for advertisements in the
whole paper:
%
Estimated percentage of space
used for news stories in the whole
paper:
%
Mathematics In The News
Cut words from the newspaper that relate to quantity. For example: all,
none, many, few, fewer, more, less, most, etc. Make a collage of words
relating to quantity on the space below:
Mathematics In The News
Cut out two advertisements from the newspaper and paste on the space
provided. Write a word problem that uses your chosen advertisements as
its basis. Let a classmate try to solve the equation.
Word Problem:
Word Problem:
Mathematics In The News
Plan a trip! Pretend that you have $3,000 to go anywhere you want. Skim through The
StarPhoenix for travel and airline advertisements. Make a list of your possible expenses
and budget your money for the trip.
Destination: ______________________________________________________
No. of Days: ___________________ No. of People: ______________________
Item
Cost per person
$
Total Cost
$
Total Expenses
$
Mathematics In The News
Using the weather page, select five cities in Canada and then write down
the high and low temperatures forecast for each city today. Using red and
blue markers create a graph of the high and low temperatures.
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e
Cities
City
High
Temperature
Low
Temperature
Mathematics In The News
Cut out a help wanted ad that shows the salary for the position advertised and then find
out how much money you would make if you get to work full time (40 hours per week)
or Part-time (20 hours per week) in that job. Using advertisements for apartments and
grocery flyers inside the newspaper, create a monthly budget for your living expenses.
After all your expenses will you have any money left for clothing and entertainment?
Will you need to take a part-time job?
Paste job and apartment ads here
Income
Less CPP/EI/Income Tax (approximately 15% of gross)
Net Income
Less Expenses
Rent
Utilities
Groceries
Car Expenses (gas, insurance, and maintenance)
Other
$
($
$
Total Expenses
$
$
$
$
$
$
($
Left over/Short
$
)
)
Mathematics In The News
Other activities:
1. Choose a newspaper page in today’s StarPhoenix and then circle the
largest and smallest numbers on that page. Subtract the two
numbers you have found. Add the two numbers.
2. Look at the movie ads. Assuming a 15-minute break between shows,
determine the duration of three movies.
3. Choose any three-digit and any two-digit number from the
newspaper. Do the following:
• Find the product of the two numbers;
• Find the sum of the two numbers;
• Find the difference between the two numbers;
• Find the quotient of the two numbers to the nearest hundredth;
• Now, find the sum of all the answers above.
4. Read a page in the newspaper and underline words and phrases that
refer to time such as: annual, bicentennial, 90-day warranty, next
week, etc.
5. Refer to the entertainment section and choose the kind of
entertainment that you would enjoy most and the place you would
most like to eat. Determine the total cost of your outing for one
person, for two people, and for your entire family.