Working Math

A Collection of Applied Mathematics Activities

Designed for Career and Technology Students
Thomas Boito
SAMPLER
To purchase the complete Working
Math ebook, click here.
Daily Mini Activities to Support Fundamental Math Skills
This book is a collection of 90 activities designed to support the retention of
basic mathematics skills by students in career and technology schools.
Each activity has been placed in a context that might be meaningful to CTC
students.
The activities are designed to be completed by a typical student in a short
period of time (approximately 10-15 minutes) with minimal teacher
intervention. They are meant to review and reinforce fundamental
mathematics to which the student has most likely been exposed previously.
A student might complete 2 or 3 activities each week. It is not necessary to
complete the activities in any particular order. There are, however,
occasional clusters of related activities that should be completed
sequentially. Nor, is it necessary that all your students do the same activity
at the same time. Activities can be re-used at various times throughout the
year as you see appropriate.
It is very important that simply providing numerical responses is not
accepted as adequate. Students should be encouraged to show all the
steps in the solution of each problem, even if a calculator or mental
arithmetic is being used. For example, if a calculator was used to divide 87
by 12, the task, 8712 should be shown in the work.
Possible Use:
Use a selected activity as an entrance ticket each Tuesday and Thursday. A student
picks up the task upon arrival in the shop, completes it, and turns it in to the instructor
before going about his usual shop activities.
The instructor reviews the work submitted and provides any necessary support to
struggling students Wednesday and Friday. This support could be 1-to-1, small group,
or whole class as the instructor deems appropriate. There should be feedback to every
student, even if nothing more than a Well Done! or Good job!.
Thomas Boito 2011-12
Find the VOLUME
of each truck.
8 ft
7 ft
Volume = Length x
Width x Height
22 x 7 x 8 = 1232
The volume is 1232
Example:
36 ft 8 ft
7 ft
16 ft
7.5 ft
7.5 ft
18.5 ft
6 ft
8.5 ft
20 ft 8 ft
7 ft
22 ft
Belle Vernon
Clairview
Gburg-Salem
Frazier
Hempfield
Jeannette
Mt Pleasant
Norwin
Penn-Trafford
Southmoreland
Yough
0 50 100 150 200
Boys Girls
Distribution of
Students at
CWCTC
Which school
sends the most
kids to
CWCTC?
Which schools
send between 50
and 100 kids to
CWCTC?
Which schools
send more girls
than boys to
CWCTC?
Which schools
send more than
100 kids?
Which schools
send fewer than
100 boys?
Which schools
send more than
100 boys?
On Friday, you did two
permanent waves, one
all-over foil, three
eyebrow waxings, and
one manicure.
On Saturday, you did
three cap highlights, one
combo waxing, one
permanent hair color, and
two childrens haircuts.
Item Price
All-over Foil $15
Cap Highlights $10
Permanent Wave $12
Permanent Color $12
Childrens Cut $1.50
Eyebrow Wax $2
Combo Wax $3.50
Manicure $3
On which day did you take in the most money?
How much more money
did you take in that day?
What is the average amount
of money you made each
day?
Working with Money
Adding and
Subtracting
Measurements
Example:
If 2 6 is cut from a section of
2x4 that is 6 4 long, how
much is left?
Subtract 2 6 from 6 4
6 ft 4 in = 5 ft 16 in
-2 ft 6 in = 2 ft 6 in
3 ft 10 in
Since you cant take 6
from 4, you have to borrow
a foot (12) from the 6.
Along with the 4 you had
to start with, is now 16.
If you connect 4 3 of tubing with 3
8 of tubing, whats the total length of
tubing you now have?
If 4 lb 5 oz of ground beef is mixed with 2 lb 8 oz of
ground pork, what would be the total weight of the
mixture?
A jug contains 3 gallons of orange juice. You pour
1 gallon 10 ounces from the jug. How much juice
is left in the jug?
If you worked 1 hour 25 minutes
sanding, then 45 minutes painting,
how much time did you put in on the
job?
1 yard is 3 feet long
1 foot is 12 inches long
1 yard is 36 inches long
Think:
Feet are smaller than yards, so you
would need more feet than yards to
cover the same distance.
If you need more, you multiply.
The number that relates yards and
feet is 3.
Example: Change 30 yards to feet.
'- ' - -
-, '- , - \--
Change 17 yards to feet.
Change 8 feet to inches.
Change 9 yards to inches.
How many inches is 5 feet? How many inches is 5 yards?
How many feet is 5 yards?
How many inches is 3 feet?
How many feet is 4 yards 2 feet?
How much to bill?
Job Hours
Replace one backup light bulb 0.4
Replace one brake light bulb 0.4
Replace one brake light switch 0.5
Replace one dimmer switch 0.4
Replace one fog/driving lamp 0.5
Replace one headlight
assembly
0.6
Align four headlamps 0.6
Replace one parking light bulb 0.3
Replace one taillight bulb 0.3
Replace one turn signal bulb 0.3
Labor Rate: $40/hour
Example:
How much should you
charge for labor to replace 1
taillight bulb and 1 turn signal
bulb?
Using the chart, the time to
replace the taillight bulb 0.3
hr and to replace the turn
signal bulb is also 0.3 hr.
-| --
-' - -' - -
The labor rate is $40 per
hour, so multiply that by the
total hours.
+- - - -+
-- -- -+
How much should you charge for labor to
replace 1 backup bulb and 1 brake light bulb?
How much should you
charge for labor to replace
1 headlight assembly and
align the headlights?
What should be the labor cost to replace 1 backup
light bulb, 1 brake light bulb, 1 taillight bulb, and 1
turn signal bulb?
What should be the labor cost to replace 1
brake light switch, 2 brake light bulbs, and 2
taillight bulbs?
R D E U F G N V H
4 5/8 5 3/16 5 15/16 - 5 7/8 - 5 1/2 5 3/8 - 5 3/4 4 3/4 - 5 3/16 - 4 3/4 - 5

Match the letter to the corresponding

measurement to spell out a message.
Ruler Measurement
Reading a Clock
Place the hands on each clock face to show the indicated time.
9:00 AM 4:00 AM 11:00 PM
9:50 AM 2:20 PM 5:30 AM
7:55 PM 3:45 PM 6:15 AM
Averages
Take Your Chances Used Cars sold
12 cars in January, 10 in February, 8
in March, 12 in April, 15 in May, and
17 in June. What were the average
monthly sales for the rst half of the
year?
They went on to sell 16 cars in July, 20 in
August, 14 in September, 11 in October, 9 in
November, and 11 in December. What were the
average sales for the second half of the year?
What were Take Your Chances Used
Cars average monthly sales for the
whole year?
What were Take Your Chances Used
Cars average weekly sales for the
whole year?
If two years ago Take Your Chances
Used Cars sold an average of 13 cars a
month, how many cars did they sell in
the whole year?
The average monthly sales for March through
May were 18 cars a month. If 14 cars were
sold in March and 22 in May, how many were
sold in April?
C
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F
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There are several ways to determine which of two fractions is larger or smaller than
the other.
One of the easiest and
most direct ways is to
change each fraction into
an equivalent decimal,
then use the decimals to
compare them.
Example:
Is larger or smaller than ?
-,- - ---|
- - ' - -+
-,- _ - ---|
| - ' - -''''
Think: 0.4 is more than
0.333, so
|,- _
Is larger or smaller than ? Is 5/8 larger or smaller than ?
Is 3/16 larger or smaller than ? Is 7/16 larger or smaller than 4/9 ?