From putting away toys to counting money, even children as young as in third grade can start to learn about how math plays into running a business. This article features two activities to help teach ways that mathematics can apply to the real world.
Activity 1: Inventing Toys
This project shows the relationship between mathematics and running a business. Multiplication is used to determine how many items a business owner needs to purchase in order to fully stock a store.
Materials needed: activity sheet or blank paper, writing utensil, Important Facts below
Key learning objectives:
- Model a business with mathematics.
- Represent and solve problems involving multiplication.
Use the Important Facts below to complete the lesson.
- Each Abuelita doll comes in a box that is 8 inches wide.
- There are 4 boxes in 1 carton.
- Abuelita Rosa sings 6 songs.
- Abuelito Pancho sings 4 songs.
- Javier sings 5 songs.
- Baby Andrea and Baby Tita each sing 5 songs.
- Baby Mimi plays music but does not sing.
Download the following activity sheets.
The student sheets can be printed and completed by the student, or the student can write their answers on a blank sheet of paper.
Extend the lesson
The toys in this activity play music, and there is plenty of math in music, too. Play music and clap along to the beat. How could you figure out how many beats are in the verse, chorus, or entire song without having to count each beat one by one? (Usually, you can feel sections of 3 or 4 beats. Count how many times a section of that length occurs, then multiply by 3 or 4.)
Activity 2: Coins in the U.S.
This project applies the concept of fractions to the Unites States monetary system. Fractions allow the dollar to be divided into fourths, tenths, twentieths, and hundredths using quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies, respectively.
Materials needed: activity sheet or blank paper, writing utensil, Important Facts below
Key learning objectives:
- Develop understanding of fractions with denominators through 10.
- Investigate details of U.S. coins.
Use the Important Facts below to complete the lesson.
- The U.S. government minted state quarters every year from 1999 to 2008 in the order that the states became part of the United States.
- 1999: Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut
- 2000: Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia
- 2001: New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, Kentucky
- 2002: Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana, Mississippi
- 2003: Illinois, Alabama, Maine, Missouri, Arkansas
- 2004: Michigan, Florida, Texas, Iowa, Wisconsin
- 2005: California, Minnesota, Oregon, Kansas, West Virginia
- 2006: Nevada, Nebraska, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota
- 2007: Montana, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah
- 2008: Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska, Hawaii
Download the following activity sheets.
The student sheets can be printed and completed by the student, or the student can write their answers on a blank sheet of paper.
Extend the lesson
The front of a coin is called the obverse, and the back is called the reverse. Many quarters have a U.S. state on their reverse. Look for some quarters minted between 1999 and 2008. List the state shown on each quarter. For each state, what fraction represents its portion of the total quarters you looked at?
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This blog post, first published in 2020, has been updated for 2025.
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