Online Shopping Project
A WebQuest for 6th Grade Math
Designed by Mrs. Fetner
Introduction | Task | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion | Credits
Buying items online is something that people do frequently. This project will give you the chance to show what you have learned about operations with decimals, fractions and percents as you dream about the things you would love to order from your favorite online stores. How can you use your knowldge of fractions, decimals, and percents to help you calculate the sales prices, taxes, and which place has the best price?
You will use the provided list of links to online retailers to complete your shopping activities. You will need to create a poster in MicroSoft Publisher (or another similar program) which will display your purchased items, their categories, and their prices. You will also create a table of the money you have spent, taxes paid, and shipping paid in MicroSoft Excel.
Part I
For this portion of the project, you may order from up to three (3) different websites: clothing, electronics/games, and books.
The following are suggested websites you may want to visit as you browse online. You should get your parents’ approval before visiting any website.
Clothing & Accessories Electronics & Music BooksApple Store
Step 1: Find three different items you would like to order. Each item must cost at least $10 but no more than $100 (pre-tax price). Copy a picture of each item to be purchased; paste into MicroSoft Publisher or Word. (Make sure it’s a reasonable sized-picture; resize if necessary.) Create a textbox and place it above the picture of your item. Type the category of the item into the textbox. Create another textbox and place it beside your item. Type the cost of your item into the textbox. Do this for each picture.
- Be sure to correctly compute taxes and figure shipping costs for your items. Make sure all calculations are clearly labeled. This is not scratch work.
- Information for shipping costs will be on the website.
- Sales tax for Fulton County is 7%. On a separate sheet of paper, record all of the work you do to calculate the amounts for shipping and tax. In other words, record the equations needed to calculate tax and shipping for each item. Make sure all calculations are clearly labeled. This is not scratch work. Each equation should be completed as follows:
- Step 3: For each of the items you ordered, use the MicroSoft Excel table to help you calculate answers for the questions 1 & 2:
- What would the item cost if it were on sale for 25% off?
- What would the item cost if it were on sale for 1/3 off?
- Step 4: Use this MicroSoft Excel table to help you calculate answers for the following question.
- After you place your order, you are browsing online.Suppose that for each of the items you ordered, you found the same items on two other websites.On one of the websites, each of the items is listed at a price that is $8.00 less than the price you paid. On the other website, each of the items is marked down 20% from the price you paid. Add these options to your Excel table. Assume shipping charges and sales tax are the same for both websites - 7% tax and $5.00 shipping.)
- Step 5: Use MicroSoft Word (or another word processing program) to write a paragraph or two explaining which website would be the better deal for each item and why. Be sure to include current math vocabulary and correct terminology in your explanation.
Don't know how to use MicroSoft Excel? Read these detailed instructions for creating formulas.
- Step 6: Print your MicroSoft Publisher/Word document and your table from MicroSoft Excel. Neatly attach them to a poster board.
Part II
You will use only one website for this portion of the project. You will order new items from any of the above categories – you do not have to have an item from each of the categories, but you must order different items. You can order all items from one category or mix it up; it’s up to you! You must order a minimum of three items for this part of the assignment.Suppose you received $125 for your birthday, and you are going to order items from your favorite online store. Assume the state has a tax of 6.5%. Assume that the shipping costs are 9% of the cost before tax. (This means you should not calculate shipping using the information given on the website.)
- Step 1: Determine the most money that you can spend, before tax and shipping, so that you have enough money to order the items. Show your work and explain your reasoning. Your final total, including sales tax and shipping must be as close as possible to $125, but you cannot go over $125. (For example, $124.93 is acceptable; $125.03 is not acceptable.)
- Step 2: Using only one store’s website, find items online that use as much of your birthday money as possible. You may order as many items as you want, but each item should cost at least $10.00. (These items should be different than the items used in Part I.) Remember the sales tax and shipping. Copy a picture of each item to be purchased and paste it into MicroSoft Publisher. (Make sure it’s a reasonable sized-picture.) Create a textbox and place it above the picture of each item. Type the category of the item into the textbox. Create another textbox and place it beside your item. Type the cost of your item into the textbox. Do this for each picture.
- Step 3: Fill out the provided order form for the items you have chosen to order. Be sure to correctly compute taxes and figure shipping costs for your items. Remember: sales tax for this part of the project is 6.5%, and shipping for this part of the project is 9% of the before tax total. (On a separate sheet of paper, record all of the work you do to calculate the amounts for shipping and tax. In other words, record the equations needed to calculate tax and shipping for each item. Make sure all calculations are clearly labeled. This is not scratch work.)
- Step 4: Print your MicroSoft Publisher document and your completed order forms. Neatly attach them to a poster board. Also, neatly attach all of your calculations.
| Exemplary 4 | Accomplished 3 | Developed 2 | Beginning 1 | Score |
Mathematical Concepts | Explanation shows complete understanding of the mathematical concepts used to solve the problem(s). | Explanation shows substantial understanding of the mathematical concepts used to solve the problem(s). | Explanation shows some understanding of the mathematical concepts needed to solve the problem(s). | Explanation shows very limited understanding of the underlying concepts needed to solve the problem(s) OR is not written. |
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Mathematical Errors | 90-100% of the steps and solutions have no mathematical errors. | Almost all (85-89%) of the steps and solutions have no mathematical errors. | Most (75-84%) of the steps and solutions have no mathematical errors. | More than 75% of the steps and solutions have mathematical errors. |
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Completion | All problems are completed. | All but 1-2 of the problems are completed. | All but 3-4 of the problems are completed. | More than 4 of the problems are not completed. |
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Writing/ Explanation | Explanation is thorough; you clearly stated which website is a better deal for all three items purchased; you have used your mathematical knowledge to explain why each website is the better deal; Correct paragraph formation; correct spelling; correct sentence structure; correct punctuation | Explanation is provided; you stated which website is a better deal for all three items purchased; you have demonstrated some mathematical knowledge to explain why each website is the better deal; 2-3 grammatical errors | . Explanation is attempted but unclear; you have which website is the better deal for some items purchased, but not all three items; you have attempted to use your mathematical knowledge to explain why each website is the better deal; 4-5 grammatical errors | Explanation is attempted but unclear; you have not stated which website is the better deal for all three items; you have not demonstrated mathematical knowledge to explain why each website is the better deal; more than 5 grammatical errors |
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Use of MicroSoft Excel | All data is entered correctly; no fields are left blank; all formulas are entered correctly | Most data is entered correctly; no fields are left blank; all formulas are entered correctly OR All data is entered correctly; no fields are left blank; most formulas are entered correctly | Most data is entered correctly; no fields are left blank; most formulas are entered correctly | Most data is entered correctly; some fields are left blank; some formulas are entered correctly. |
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Presentation | Two poster boards are used. Part I is set up on one board, and Part I is separate up on another board. All work is neatly attached; you have put a lot of thought into making your project visually appealing | Two poster boards are used. Part I is set up on one board, and Part I is separate up on another board. All work is attached; you have put some of thought into making your project visually appealing | Two poster boards are used. Part I is set up on one board, and Part I is separate up on another board. Most work is attached; you have put some of thought into making your project visually appealing | One poster board is used for both parts of project; some work is attached; little thought has gone into making your project visually appealing |
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Conclusion
Stores often offer sales in the form of fractions or in the form of percents. When you look through a sales paper, how will you know which store is offering the best prices? Shopping requires a real-life knowledge of using fractions, percents, and decimals.
Credits & References
- The project is modified from Prentice Hall's Connected Math Project Bits & Pieces III textbook.
- The rubric was generated using RubiStar.
- Clip art was found using MicroSoft Office.
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Mrs. Fetner's Math Blog
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