7th-Grade Math Assignment

Seventh-grade students solve word problems about price markups and markdowns. This assignment is strong because it requires students to interpret real-world scenarios and solve them mathematically, while allowing students to practice grade-level operations with percents.

Focus
This assignment is well-aligned with seventh-grade standard 7.RP.A.3, which requires students to solve multi-step problems involving ratios and percents in real-world contexts. This assignment includes two word problems about percents related to price markups and markdowns (a real-world example named explicitly in the standard). Problem #1 also involves multiple steps (finding the value of a 25% markdown and a 30% markdown, and calculating how much more was saved at the greater discount).

Rigor
This assignment allows students to engage with two of the three aspects of rigor targeted by standard 7.RP.A.3: application and conceptual understanding. Solving multistep ratio and percent problems in real-world contexts—like calculating price markups and markdowns—builds students’ application skills. Asking whether it is possible to have a percent increase of more than 100%, as problem #2 does, allows students to draw on their conceptual understanding of proportional relationships.

Practice Standards 
This assignment allows students to engage with two mathematical practice standards. Interpreting what the word problems are asking students to do gives students the chance to engage with Mathematical Practice Standard #1 ("Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them"). Explaining whether it is possible to have a percent increase of more than 100% gives students the chance to engage with Mathematical Practice Standard #3 (“Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others”).