Math 7 · Unit 2, Lesson 1
What Percent Means
Percent means out of 100.
I say it the way your test says it.
And I say it the way you would say it to a friend. Same idea, two ways.
Write it down. Do every step on paper, one line per step. Percent problems go wrong in your head, not on the page. If you changed something, it should be on the paper.
Go in order. Each tile has a short explanation, then a "Let me try a few" button.
When you have finished
At the end of each tile you will find a review form to give us feedback.
NC standards: NC.7.RP.3, NC.7.EE.3.
Words we use
| Word | Plain English | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Percent | Out of 100, per hundred. | Read 30% as 30 out of every 100. |
| The percent symbol, % | A short way to write out of 100. | Write 30 out of 100 as 30%. |
| Decimal form | The same amount as a decimal: 30% is 0.30. | Move the decimal point two places left. |
| Fraction form | The same amount over 100, simplified if you can: 25% is one fourth. | Write it over 100, then simplify. |
| Benchmark percent | An easy one to use for estimating, like 10, 25, or 50 percent. | Find 10 percent first, then build. |
The big idea
A proportional relationship always multiplies by the same number, the unit rate.
Percent means out of 100. A percent is a unit rate for 100 instead of for 1: 30 percent means 30 for every 100.
This lesson added the word. Cent means hundred, so percent means per hundred: 30 percent is 30 out of every 100. The same amount can be written as a percent, a fraction over 100, or a decimal, and you move between them by dividing or multiplying by 100. Four benchmarks, 50, 25, 10, and 1 percent, let you build or estimate almost any percent.
Exit ticket
On paper or an index card. Use the math word and the plain-English word.
- Write three fifths as a decimal and as a percent.
- What does cent mean, and what does percent mean?
- Find 10 percent of 90, then 30 percent of 90.
Check your exit ticket
- 0.6 and 60 percent.
- Cent means hundred. Percent means per hundred, out of 100.
- 9, then 27.
Printables
A one-page study guide with Elle and Finn, the two big-idea sentences, the three ways to write a percent, and the benchmarks. Plus a worksheet with an answer key and a lesson plan that walks a parent or tutor through the three tiles.
Where this goes next
NC Grade 7 standards in this lesson: NC.7.RP.3, NC.7.EE.3.