Building Background
Math and Business Suits
The purpose of this activity is to examine how an everyday object can be described in mathematical terms.
1. Bring in pictures from a clothes catalogue of a man's slacks, jacket, shirt, and tie.
2. Ask students to think about what percentage of the outfit's color is the slacks and jacket, what percentage of its color is the shirt, and what percentage is the color of the tie.
3. Students' answers should fall somewhere in the range of 60% for the suit and slacks, 30% for the shirt, and 10% for the tie. Involve the students in a discussion about why they think suits are often designed in this way.
Steps for Learning
The Percentage Challenge
The purpose of this activity is to provide students with an opportunity to use percentages to examine a real-world design problem.
1. Ask students if they think the same 60%-30%-10% formula used in designing business suits can be transferred to the decoration of a room.
2. Explain to students that they are going to use their knowledge of percent to design the following three rooms:
Room One:
-
60% of a dominant color
- 30% of a secondary color
- 10% of an accent color
Room Two:
- 75% of a dominant color
- 20% of a secondary color
- 5% of an accent color
Room Three:
- 45% of a dominant color
- 35% of a secondary color
- 20% of an accent color
3. Have students draw three empty rooms for this activity. Make three copies of each room the students draw. Provide access to the materials listed in the "Materials" section of this lesson. Have students paint/decorate the three rooms using the percentages listed above.
4. After students have finished decorating their rooms, have them show their rooms to the rest of the class. Ask the class members to choose which of the rooms they like the most.
5. Involve students in a discussion about which rooms students liked the most. Also discuss how they used percentages to investigate a design problem.