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In my local town there are three supermarkets: Gary's Groceries, Fiona's Foods and Paul's Provisions.
This week they have each got a special deal on some products.
At Gary's Groceries, they are selling items at discount prices.
At Fiona's Foods, you can buy items which have a certain amount free.
At Paul's Provisions, there are some "buy one get one free" deals.
Have a look:
If you shopped at Gary's Groceries, how much would you actually pay for each item? So how much money have you saved on each?
Here is your shopping list:
If you bought all the items in one shop, where would be the cheapest?
If you could buy the items from different shops, how would you do it to spend the least amount of money?
Apart from the cost, can you think of any other advantages or disadvantages with buying these items at just one shop?
You have got £10.70 to spend on a party meal for you and nine friends. Here's your shopping list:
How can you do this so that you don't go over your budget?
How many different ways are there?
Which shop offers best value for money on each item?
What sorts of things do you need to take into account to answer this?
Is the "buy one get one free" deal at Paul's Provisions the same as if they had 50% off?
Younger children would enjoy having shops set up in the classroom and being involved in role play. Using empty packets and cartons, along with plastic money or tokens, would be a good way in for many pupils. Another excellent resource would be flyers or leaflets from local supermarkets advertising their offers. (We would have used these ourselves but would get in trouble for copyright reasons!)
This investigation will stimulate a great deal of relevant discussion. Try to make the most of it! With only a small amount of examples, the children themselves should be able to suggest different scenarios which may affect where they would shop. This may lead into "what if?" type extensions, initially instigated by you but later by them too.
Some pupils might like to calculate the original size of each item at Fiona's Foods, before the percentage increase is applied. They could then compare the price of e.g. a single sausage at each supermarket, before and after the special offers are applied. (Children will need to be confident with decimals in order to do this!)
At a higher level, a more general approach can be taken, perhaps along the lines of consumer versus retailer benefits. You can open up the investigation further by splitting the class into groups and setting them off on a "shopping project" with certain aims and/or constraints.
Some children will benefit from having the information in the tables broken down for them by a supporting adult, and focusing on one shop at a time might be helpful. Having coins available for children to use to add up the different prices might also be useful.
Find the exact difference between the largest ball and the smallest ball on the Hepta Tree and then use this to work out the MAGIC NUMBER!
Would you rather: Have 10% of £5 or 75% of 80p? Be given 60% of 2 pizzas or 26% of 5 pizzas?
Can you match pairs of fractions, decimals and percentages, and beat your previous scores?