'Introduction to %' tutor notes

The 'Introduction to %' module is aimed at Level 1 of the Basic Skills Curriculum in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It can be used as a lead in to the subject.
This module covers material in N2/L1.8 by looking at what simple percentages are, how they are written, percentages total to 100%, ordering them, size of a percentage depends on what it is a percentage of and stating the relationship between simple percentages and equivalent fractions.

We'd love to hear your comments on the module; do you like the activity and the factsheets? What do you think of the worksheets? Send in your and your students' feedback to skillswise.feedback@bbc.co.uk.

How does this tie in with the new curriculums?

• England
  N2/L1.8 - Read, write, order and compare simple percentages, and understand simple percentage increase and decrease.
  
• Wales
  As England.
• Northern Ireland
  As England.
• Scotland
  See www.aloscotland.com for details of the Scottish curriculum.

In the Skillswise module you'll find:

Introduction to % activities
There are two related activities in this module that can be used for investigation by learners and demonstration by the tutor. In the first activity percentages are represented in four ways: by filling jugs with water, by shading figures in a group, by dividing up a pizza and by cutting up a bar of chocolate. In the second activity percentages are represented side by side with fractions, in exactly the same four ways, to make comparisons possible.

The learner can experiment freely by choosing from the numbers at side of the screen and dragging them onto the blackboard. The percentages and fractions are then represented in the graphics. Learners can experiment with changing the numbers and seeing the same percentage or fraction represented in each of the four different ways.

Both activities are open-ended and could be used to set investigations and tasks for learners. For example the second could be used as follows:

    - Can you find a fraction to match each percentage? (Note that it is impossible to match 5% with the given numbers. This can be used as a prompt to ask why this is and what fraction would be needed to match it. You could go on to discuss what 1% would correspond to.)
    - Keep the percentage the same and find many fractions to match it. Eg. How many ways can you match 50%, or 33 1/3%?
    - With two people, one can make a fraction and the other try to match it with a percentage. If a match is not possible discuss what would match. How close can you get with the given percentage options?

TOP TIP! To see the activity completely full screen, press the F11 key on the keyboard. This takes away the distraction of the top browser bar. To bring the browser bar back, just press F11 again!

To play the activity you will need to have Flash Version 5 plug-in for you browser. If you are not sure just give it a go. If it doesn't work then see the 'Technical help' section below on this page on how to get the Flash plug-in.

Introduction to % factsheets
You'll find curriculum references in the top right corner of the factsheets.
There are four factsheets for this module, each on 'print-out-and-keep' sheets:

• Factsheet 1 - What does % mean?
• Factsheet 2 - Percentages that add up to 100
• Factsheet 3 - Percentages and equivalent fractions.
• Factsheet 4 - Finding percentage parts of things.

Introduction to % worksheets
There are 4 worksheets. You'll find curriculum references in the top right hand corner of the worksheets. They are printable resources to carry on the work learners have done online.

• Worksheet 1 - Grid diagrams to show percentages.
• Worksheet 2 - Ordering and comparing percentages and percentage parts of quantities.
• Worksheet 3 - Percentages adding to 100.
• Worksheet 4 - Finding percentage parts of amounts.

Introduction to % quiz
The quiz has questions on recognising diagram and picture representations of percentages, knowing relations to simple fractions and understanding percentage increase (without calculating).

The learner can choose their level. Level A is the easiest, level C the hardest.
Students can print out a certificate if they score 50% or more in the quiz. This will appear as a link on the results page - click on the link and the certificate will appear in a new window. Students can write their name on the certificate once it's printed.

Technical help:

To get the most out of this topic area you need the following 'plug-ins':

• Flash
  The game in this topic section uses Flash. This is free to download and should only take a few minutes. You can follow the BBC WebWise instructions to download it to your machine.
  Find out more.

If you don't have Flash the same learning points are covered in the quiz and in the worksheets and factsheets.
If you are new to the web, why not try the BBC WebWise online course, Becoming WebWise? It's free, you can do it in your own time from any computer and it will take you through everything you need to know to use the web successfully in your teaching.
Get WebWise.

You can find out more about the technical requirements for Skillswise in our Help - Technical Information section.

Taking it further:

With Skillswise
When covering this topic your students might like to try some In the news quizzes which use percentages:

• Story from June 2002 about One in four Britons 'in debt'.
  This news story has a 10 question quiz which mixes questions on fractions, decimals and percentages.
  

Find more In the news archive stories for 'Number crunchers'.

Don't forget to visit Lesson plans and Teaching inspirations for more ideas for teaching percentages.

With the web
Here are some suggestions of other places on the web you might find useful for teaching percentages:

• University of Plymouth - Introduction to Percentages
  Interactive, clickable percentages diagrams and questions. Your answers are marked as you go with a score updated at the bottom of the page. The page is part of the University of Plymouth's innovation in teaching maths section and goes a little beyond the basic fractions in places, stretching up to Level 2 of the curriculum in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Please note that the BBC is not responsible for the content of other websites.

Do you know of any great online resources for percentages? Tell us about them!