7th Grade Math Projects that Parents and Students Can Do Together

What Math Projects Can I Do with My Child?

In 7th grade, students typically learn a variety of real-world math concepts, including proportions, probability, interest rates, taxes and commissions. You can incorporate your child's interests into at-home math projects that involve these concepts. For instance, if your child is interested in building, you could do a construction project together. Alternatively, if you and your child share a passion for sports, you can work together to calculate his favorite players' statistics.

Math Projects

Proportions

1. Your child can apply her knowledge of proportions by completing a construction project. The project can be small, like a birdhouse, or large, such as a bookcase. Begin by having your child draw a blueprint. Then, when building the real model, have her convert the centimeters on the drawing to inches. Your child can see her design come to life by using proportions.
2. A simpler version of this project is to have your child use proportions to create a replica of a building or structure on paper. You'll need to know the measurements of the original structure. Then, using a scale such as 30 feet to one inch, your child can figure out how to shrink an entire building on graph paper. For instance, if a building is 90 feet tall, use the proportion to figure out how tall it would be in your drawing by solving this equation: 30/1 = 90/x. In the drawing, the building would be three inches tall.

Probability

1. Many amusement parks and carnivals have games that have a low probability of winning. These games provide an opportunity to practice probability in real life. For instance, consider a game of ring toss in which the player must throw the ring around the thickest peg to score the largest prize. If only nine of the 100 total pegs are thick, the likelihood of winning the largest prize is 9/100, which equals 9%.
2. If you and your child are sports fans, try calculating a player's statistics. For instance, in baseball, figure out the number of times that the player has hit the ball for each time he or she has been at bat. If the player has been at bat 467 times, but has only hit the ball 276 times, then the likelihood of that player hitting the ball is 276/467, which equals 59%.

Interest Rates

1. Help your child gain an appreciation and understanding for money by having him open up a bank account and calculate the interest rate for his money. This can be a fun and exciting prospect for 7th graders.
2. Turn interest rates into a game. You and your child can make pretend investments in stocks. Track them over the course of a week or even a month. Have your child calculate how much fake money you both won or lost, and whoever makes more money wins. This can teach your child about how investments work and may increase his interest in economics.