Contextualization

Theoretical Introduction

Mathematics is an essential tool for understanding the world and for making decisions in our daily life. One of the ways in which mathematics is present in our lives is through money. Understanding the concept of money, knowing how to count, making conversions of values and calculating change are fundamental skills to navigate the world.

Money is a resource used for the acquisition of goods and services. It is divided into coins and bills of different values, and it is important to know how to identify each value and understand its equivalent in relation to the others. This skill is necessary both for conscious consumption and for carrying out simple tasks such as giving or receiving change.

Calculating change is an example of how mathematics applies to money. In Brazil, we use the Real as our official currency. If we buy something that costs R$7.00 and pay with a R$10.00 bill, we must receive R$3.00 in change. This operation involves subtraction, one of the fundamental operations of arithmetic.

Contextualization

The world is increasingly globalized, and it is increasingly common having to deal with different currencies. This implies the need to carry out conversions of values between different currencies. It is not enough to know that 1 dollar costs, for example, 5 reais. It is necessary to know how to carry out calculations with these values to know, for example, how much 2 dollars cost in reais.

In our daily life, we constantly deal with money. Paying for a bus ticket, buying a snack in the canteen, or even saving to buy an object of desire, all these activities require the use of mathematical skills related to money. Thus, understanding and mastering these skills is essential for our daily life.

Practical Activity

Activity Title: Mathematical Marketplace

Project Objective:

The "Mathematical Marketplace" activity has the basic objective of applying and exercising mathematical concepts related to the use of money. Students will have the opportunity to work with mathematical operations, change, values of coins and bills, and currency conversions.

Project Description:

Each group of 3 to 5 students will create a small market or fictitious store. Each marketplace will have a list of different products with their corresponding prices in reais. Students must create a price chart for the products, record fictitious customer transactions, determine the change, and convert the prices to another currency, such as the dollar. In addition, students must write, as a team, a detailed report on the activity.

Necessary Materials:

• Paper and pencil for notes
• Calculator
• Material to produce the price chart: cardboard, card stock, colored pens.
• Toy bills and coins (optional)
• Access to the current exchange rate (computer, tablet or smartphone)

Step by step to carry out:

1. Group formation: Students should be divided into groups of 3 to 5 members.
2. Market creation: each group must imagine and create their own market, deciding which products they will sell.
3. Price Chart: each group must list the products and establish a price in reais for each one, building a table that will be attached to the "Market".
4. Fictitious Transactions: each group must simulate purchase transactions in its "market", recording the value paid and determining how much change would be given.
5. Currency Conversion: Students should research the current exchange rate between the real and the dollar and convert the prices of the products to the US currency.
6. Writing the Report: based on the experience of the "Mathematical Marketplace", each group must write a detailed report (introduction, development, conclusions, bibliography) about the activity.

Project Deliverables:

Students must deliver:

1. The list of products and prices in reais and dollars.
2. The fictitious transactions recorded, with the calculation of the change.
3. The activity report.

The report must include the following steps:

1. Introduction: The student should contextualize the theme, its relevance and application in the real world, as well as the objective of this project.
2. Development: The student should make explicit the theory behind the central theme of the project, explain the activity in detail, indicate the methodology used and finally present and discuss the results obtained.
3. Conclusion: The student should conclude the work by taking up its main points, making explicit the lessons learned and the conclusions drawn about the project.
4. Bibliography: The student must indicate the sources on which they were based to work in the project as books, web pages, videos, etc.