Understanding by Design

Unit Plan:
Using Proportional
Reasoning
Alana Linde

UbD Stage 1: Desired Results

Unit Title:
Grade Level:
Length of Unit:

Proportional Reasoning
High School, Algebra I
3 weeks

Topic/Concept, Theme: Using Proportional Reasoning

Ratios, Proportions, Percentages, Probability
Enduring Understanding
Proportional reasoning is a tool for modeling and solving problems in everyday
situations.
Essential Questions
Why are ratios, percentages, and probabilities used in data analysis?
How can proportional reasoning be used in everyday life?
Why is having knowledge in proportional reasoning useful to prove if something is fair?
Knowledge and Skills
Students will know
Vocabulary/Concepts:
o bias, compound events, conversion, dependent, discounts, event, experimental
probability, fair, independent, odds, percent, percent of change, percent of
decrease, odds, percent of increase, probability, proportion, rate, ratio, sales tax,
scale, simple event, simple interest, theoretical probability, weighted average
how to apply the concept of cross-products to solve for proportional expressions
probability is used as a predictor
percentages tell you what part (of a whole) applies to a particular event
Students will be able to
construct ratios from a set of data
identify and reduce ratios to lowest terms
convert between percents, fractions, and decimals
determine if a set of ratios form a proportion
solve for a variable in a proportion using cross products
evaluate the change in price by using percent of increase or decrease
compute the final price of an item while incorporating discounts or sales tax
infer the probability and odds of a simple event
decipher and compute when data requires theoretical or experimental probability
identify if two events are independent or dependent
design a game that incorporates ratios, proportions, and probability
Standards Addressed
Most closely aligning with the statistics and probability portion of the Iowa Core
Pertaining to Probability and Statistics:
Making inferences and justifying conclusions

understand and evaluate random processes underlying statistical experiments

Using probability to make decisions
o calculate expected values and use them to solve problems
o use probability to evaluate outcomes of decisions
Conditional probability and the rules of probability
o understand independence and conditional probability and use them to interpret
data
o use the rules of probability to compute probabilities of compound events in a
uniform probability model
Pertaining to Ratios:
Analyze proportional relationships and use them to solve real world and mathematical
problems.
o Compute unit rates associated with ratios of fractions, including ratios of lengths,
areas and other quantities measured in like or different units.
o Recognize and represent proportional relationships between quantities.
Decide whether two quantities are in a proportional relationship
Identify the constant of proportionality (unit rate) in tables, graphs,
equations, diagrams, and verbal descriptions of proportional relationships
Represent proportional relationships by equations
o Use proportional relationships to solve multistep ratio and percent problems
Understand ratio concepts and use ratio reasoning to solve problems.
o Use ratio and rate reasoning to solve real-world and mathematical problems,
Find a percent of a quantity as a rate per 100; problems involving finding
the whole, given a part and the percent.

Materials
Students would need access to:
paper
pencils
calculators
graph paper
access to laptops
Materials to construct a board game (markers, paper, scissors, etc.)
dice
M&Ms (or similar objects with many colors)
Local store advertisements
Text books or materials for problems and definitions
I would need access to:
a white board
Elmo (or similar type of technology)
paper for practice problems and worksheets
post-it notes
technology to show video and online spinner

UbD Stage 2: Evidence of Learning (Assessment)

Pre-Assessment:
Formal Assessment- Pre-Test (the Friday before the unit starts) on skills and concepts
students will learn throughout the unit. This will test to see how deep of an understanding
students have with ratios/proportions/probability before the unit.
In the case that a student has demonstrated mastery of the unit that I plan to teach, I
would supplement the students with extensions and further applications of the content.
For example, I could have the student focus on a more statistics-based unit. Students
commonly learn statistics in college, but I could provide with more application and real
world based problems that they can work on while I give the class work time. I would
still ask that the student complete the material that is taught in class, but during in-class
work time, they may be allowed to further their learning so the student will have a
challenge with new material.
Formative Assessment:
Post-it checkso Students are given a post it note with a problem on the board, they complete the
problem as a bell work type problem, as they complete, I walk around to check
their understanding. If many students are falling into the same mistakes, or do not
know how to complete, I can do a mini-reteach to keep everyone on track
Worksheets for extra practice problems
o Go over them the next day to ensure student understanding of the material before
moving on. Answer any questions students may have along the way.
Budgeting assignment
o This will be given after lesson on percent of change for students to get real
practice with discounts and sales tax.
Short quizzes at the end of the sections taught (Friday Quick-Quiz)
Brainstorm sheet for the project
o To see where students are at with the project and clarify any questions they may
have.
Unit review problem packet
o Review material for the test
o Students will hopefully catch any errors before being assessed on the material
Summative Assessment:
Part I - Test at the end of the unit (attached)
Part II Product based assessment - students will create their own board game (attached)
This will demonstrate that they have learned key ideas such as ratios and probability
This will also enable me to offer an assignment that is differentiated for the students in
my class. I would consider finding a way to challenge the students that breezed through
this unit, or consider asking just for basic information from students that are struggling.
This is also a great way to do it on a case-by-case basis depending on my students. The

finished project will be a game with is the same across the board, but students will also to
express as much or as little creativity as they wish.
Knowledge & Skills targeted:
This part of the assessment will be aligned with what I have outlined in Stage 1 with what
I would like students to know and be able to do for this unit. This includes a check for
vocabulary and concepts as well as objectives achieved.

Pacing Calendar
Monday

Unit: Using Proportional Reasoning

Tuesday

Wednesday

Alana Linde
Thursday

Preassess the students on their

understanding of the upcoming
unit by administering a pre-test

Pre-Unit
Introduce the new unit and a
brief preview of what the
students will be doing the next
few weeks.
M&M activity to introduce
Ratios

Bell work: Students will selfgrade their homework and do a

post-it (formative) check on the
previous lesson. Go over a few
problems that students have
questions on before passing
their homework in.

Bell Work: Students will selfgrade their homework and do a

post-it check on the previous
lesson. Go over any problems
that students have questions on
before the homework is turned
in.

Lesson and application to ratios

and their forms and purpose
(incorporating the M&M activity)
> ratios
> simplifying ratios
> ways to write ratios

Week
1

Lesson on percents:
Infinite Chocolate Video to
> covert ratios to %s
introduce proportions and use
> convert decimals to %s
background knowledge of ratios
> simple interest (l = prt)
to solve. (Critical thinking
problem).
Application: Word problem
Lesson on proportions which
practice. Critical thinking, 'does
this make sense?'
Assignment: Students will be includes the notion of using
assigned practice problems to cross products to verify if two
ensure understanding of ratios, ratios form a proportion as well Assignment: Practice
as solving for a missing
they will have time to work
problems on percents. Time to
variable in a proportion.
independently in class (if it is
work independently (if not
> scale
not completed, it will be
completed, assigned as
> rate
homework)
homework)

Bell Work: Post-it check on

percents. Check for
understanding before moving
on to new material.

Bell work: Students will be

given a few problems based on
percent of change for post-it
check.

Lesson on Percent of Change:

> percent of increase
> percent of decrease
> sales tax
> discounts

Self-Assessment Quiz!
(Friday 5-10 pt quiz to
determine where students are
at for themselves and myself,
great formative check to see
how the next week will need to
be adjusted accordingly - we
will grade these in class and I
will go over problems that
students missed as a whole)

Application: Use newspaper

adds to compute price of an
item after discount / sales tax.
Assignment: Students be
given a budget to go 'shopping'
with. Students must find the
most amount of items to buy
without going over budget incorporates discounts and
sales tax.

Assignment: Practice
problems on proportions. Time
to work independently (if not
completed, assigned as
homework)

Week
2

Friday

Revisit the spinner activity to

introduce the lesson.

Bell Work: Post-it check on

work from yesterday.

Lesson on Probability:
> probability
> odds
> simple event

Lesson on Probability 2:
> theoretical probability
> experimental probability

Introduce Project - Create a

Board Game. Go over
requirements and rubric.
.
Assignment: Give students
time to brainstorm and sketch
out a plan for their project.
Bring this planning sheet to
class with them tomorrow.

Bell Work: Post-it check. Go

over homework and answer
questions that students have
from it before turning in.

Lesson on Probability 3:
> independent
Incorporating new insights from
> dependent
> compound events
this lesson, work on Project
while I check students'
progress.
Dice Activity: Students will
determine the possible
Assignment: Practice
outcomes of rolling two dice.
problems pertaining to
Students will partner up and roll
probability (Homework if not
25 times. They will then
completed during class time)
calculate the outcomes and
determine if the game is 'fair' or
not.

Bell Work: Post-it check on

new material from yesterday.

Spinner Activity- students will

use a culmination of instruction
from the week to construct
spinners based on particular
criteria. This will be a preview
to new week's instruction. (Also
a formative check to see if
students can be critical thinkers
to determine probability)

Quick Quiz! 5-10 pt quiz over

this week's material.

Analyze: Students will research Work day:

Unit problem set assigned for
what data in the media
portrays.
review of the unit test
Lesson on Data in the Media.
"How does data in the media
sway your opinion? Is data
skewed? Ethical?" **Consider
this in your game you are
creating.

Time for students to work on

their project or ask questions
before the weekend. Reminder
it is due on Wednesday.

Time to work on projects after.

Debrief: Can this happen in

your game? How can you avoid
this? (Formative check with
probability and projects)

Week
3

Review:
Go over the unit problems:
-Students partner up and peer
share their findings on the
problems.
-Go over all the problems
together by having students
come to the board and compute
the problems explaining them to
their peers
Answer or clarify any
outstanding questions for the
test.
give students the remainder of
the class to study or work on
project

Unit Test

Project Game Day:

Students will gather in groups
of 4 or 5 and explain the rules
to their peers.
They will then, spend some
time playing each others'
games.
Switch after 20 minutes.
Allow 5 minutes to wrap up
after students have had the
time to share.

Project Game Day:

Students will gather in groups
of 4 or 5 and explain the rules
to their peers.
They will then, spend some
time playing each others'
games.
Switch after 20 minutes.
Allow 5 minutes to wrap up
after students have had the
time to share.

Reflection time on the unit,

tests returned and gone over in
class.
Clarify any outstanding
questions from the
unit/test/project

Name: ____KEY________

Page 1

Using Proportional Reasoning Unit Test

Directions: Complete the test and turn it in when you are finished. Please show all
your work. Reduce to simplest terms and circle your final answer to each
question.

1. Are these ratios equivalent?

1:2 and 9:18

Yes

2. Are these ratios equivalent?

1 to 2 and 3 to 8

No

3. Solve for q.

q=2

4. Solve for d.

d = 17.5

5. Solve for t.

t = 2.1

Name: ____KEY________

Page 2

6. Write 0.032 as a percentage.

3.2%

7. Write 67.5% as a decimal.

.675

8. Write 75% as a fraction.

9. Write

40%

as a percentage.

10. Write 16% as a fraction.

4/25

11.What is 110% of $12?

13.2

12. 48 is 75% of what number?

64

13. 56 is what percent of 80

70%

14. 30% of __ = 12

40

Name: ____KEY________

Page 3

15. What is the percent of change from $4 to $3?

25% decrease

16. What is the percent of change from 50 to 80?

60% increase

17. Gary rushed for an average of 100 yards per game last season. This season,
his average is 30% lower. What is his average this season?
70 yards per game

18. Nicole babysits on the weekends as a job. In March, she earned $57. This
month she earned $76. What is the percent of change in Nicoles earnings?
25% increase

Name: ____KEY________

Page 4

19. Lauren ate dinner at Paul Reveres. The bill came to $14. She left an 18%
tip. What was the total cost of Laurens dinner?

$16.52

20. Scheels has a pair of gloves for 60% off this week. The original price is
$5.75. Calculate the sales price of the gloves. What is the sale price of a
Kitchen Art glass bowl originally priced at $5.75?
$2.30

21. Max found a laptop on clearance for $161. The original price tag read $460.
What is the discount percentage?
65%

22.A clothing store bought a coat to sell for $80. The manager discounted all
coats by 25%. If Skye, who earns a 5% commission on the sale price, sold
the coat, how much commission did he make?
$3

Name: ____KEY________

Page 5

23. You pick a marble out of a bag at random (7 green, 3 brown, 6 white) What
is the probability that you choose a white one. Write as a fraction or whole
number.
3/8

24. Of the last 175 people at the basketball, 5 won a prize. What is the
experimental probability that the next person who comes to the game wins
a prize?
1/35

25.In your deck of cards you have 3 purple, 4 blue, and 1 brown. You pick a
card at random. Without putting the first card back, you pick a second card
at random. What is P (brown, purple) ?
3/56

Name: ____KEY________

Page 6

26. You have a quarter and a 6-sided die on your desk.

a. What are the total possible outcomes?

12

What is the probability that:

b. P(tails) ?

c. P(less than 6) ?

5/6

d. P(heads, even number) ?

1/4

27. A card is chosen at random from a deck of 52 cards. What is the probability
that you select a face card (jack, queen, king)?
3/13

Create Your Own Board Game!

Due:

Hasbro is seeking intelligent, creative minds to construct a new hit-selling game

for their company. Applying the concepts of ratios, proportions, and probability,
you will create your own board game to submit to Hasbro .
What you will need to submit:
Your Game this includes but is not limited to
o Board
o Playing pieces
o Cards
o Spinner
Quick Play Instructions for how to play your game.
o This is meant for someone to quickly look at and understand the
basics of your game. A bulleted list, or paragraph is suitable for this
portion.
An explanation of how the concepts we have learned in this unit apply in
your board game.
o 1-2 pages typed
o Include:
The theme of your game
Explain the math concepts in your game (ratios, proportions,
percent of change, probability, etc.)
Is your game fair? How so?
You will present your game to your peers by telling the players the
rules and objective of the game. You will actually play your game
for about 5 minutes. Each student will spend time playing each
others game.

Evaluation:
This assignment will be graded on your explanation, presentation, board, and
instructions.
Explanation of your
Game
Theme
Concepts used
Fair
Presentation
organized
neatness

Your Game
(The actual board)
novel
complete
Instructions
clear
easy to follow

Fully explained
(subcategories
are identified
and explained)

Mostly
explained
(subcategories
are identified
but not fully
explained)

Somewhat
complete
(not all
subcategories
are identified or
explained)

Lacking
completion
(an attempt to
identify and
explain)

Presented neat
and organized

Mostly
organized and
neat

Somewhat
organized and
neat

Lacking
organization and
neatness

Complete

Mostly
complete

Somewhat
complete

Incomplete

Clear and Easy

to Follow

Mostly clear
and easy to
follow

Somewhat clear
and easy to
follow

Lacking clarity

*Students know what is meant by fully, mostly, somewhat, lacking (etc.) based on
in-class discussion and examples.
*Answers that span achievement levels will result in an averaged grade.

Narrative Essay:
Mathematics is a subject that students tend to resist, because they claim it is boring and
inapplicable. My reason behind selecting the topic of Using Proportional Reasoning for my unit
plan was to foster the idea that these skills help to model and solve problems in everyday
situations. This also aligns with the enduring understanding I have set for my unit plan. There are
many times when proportional reasoning applies to daily life. Whether it is in the work force or
everyday life, I hope my students will use these lifelong skills beyond the unit test.
Sifting through the Iowa Common Core, I was able to find a plethora of standards that
align with this unit of instruction. This also helps to justify my teaching because these objectives
have been explicated for teachers to cover over the course. Using proportional reasoning is a
skillset that is important to acquire at this age because it will help students with estimating,
predicting, and applying.
The learning goals and objectives that I have set for my students to obtain over the course
of this unit will be presented to the students at the beginning of each lesson. This will help the
students and I ensure that what was planned to be taught actually is translated to the students. It
is also worth mentioning that while constructing my summative assessments, I made sure that
what I will be looking for from the students aligns with the objectives that I have stated. I also
incorporated Blooms taxonomy in my objectives. This seeks a range of skills from my students
from remembering to creating.
Knowing that students have a short attention span, it is important for me to plan an
engaging unit of instruction with transitions that flow well into each part of the lesson. A useful
technique that I will incorporate into my class is the post-it check for understanding at the
beginning of the class. This will help both my students and me see where we are at as a class and

individually. This also takes some pressure off students that are anxious about grades. They will
be able to ask questions and clarify any misconceptions before they are asked to complete the
summative assessment. I will also incorporate Think, Pair, Share time within the lessons. I think
that many students are not confident about their math skills or are hesitant to speak up. Using this
method will help them to catch each others mistakes or give them a boost of confidence. The
reason why I have students come to the board to participate in the unit review is that I want them
to hear from their peers how they are arriving at answers to problems. This will allow the class to
share the different approaches they take and create a democratic environment as opposed to me
giving them all the correct answers. I want to challenge my students to reach conclusions and be
confident in their thinking without me telling them exactly what to do. This will also help with
creating accountability and respect within my class.
Finding novel ideas to sprinkle into my lessons helps students remain engaged and embed
the main ideas from each lesson into their memory. In addition to this, something that I wish for
my students is that they become critical thinkers. From this unit, students may have a general
understanding of the topics discussed, but they may not know it. Incorporating activities such as
the M&M and newspaper ads helps students to kinesthetically become connected to math.
Alongside this, students are also seeing how this type of math applies to the world outside the
classroom. Activities such as the infinite chocolate video and data in the media lend themselves
to extended thinking. By having students exposed to what math looks like and thinking critically,
they can become better interpreters of the constant statements that are placed in from on various
forms of media.
In order to become a critical thinker, a lot of work will need to be done by me to set up
these activities so that students receive them well. I strive to create a classroom environment

where my students and I question what we have been told and prove how our opinions we
formulate are educated and sound.
It is important to consider challenges that may arise for students within this unit. A
challenge that I may face after the preassessment is a wide range of prior knowledge. If I have
students that know nothing about the upcoming unit and students that know everything, I will
have to plan what to do for all of the students to ensure that they are still gaining insights and
having learning experiences. Throughout the unit, with the help of the post-it checks, I will be
able to gauge what information students are observing and be able to determine if I need to
reteach part of a lesson that students are having difficulty with. Another way that I will help
scaffold students reach achievement of the objectives would be to spend extra time with them
after the lesson is taught while students are working on their assigned homework problems. It is
important to take each student on a case-by-case basis because his or her needs may not fit a
particular mold. However, I recognize that I may need to adjust the unit to ensure that students
have enough time to understand and apply the concepts they are learning.
In my product-based assessment, I leave the criteria open enough so that I am able to
differentiate for students that may need more or less of a challenge. For example, a student could
create a simplistic game and still receive the credit as long as it fits on the rubric.