Percentages · Ages 11–12
Is 50% always 50?
Does your child say 50% is always 50? It isn’t carelessness: this rule has worked before, when the whole is 100. This free printable shows that a percentage depends on the whole, with questions instead of corrections, a strip of 10 boxes of buttons, and a hundred grid to shade.
Download the printable (PDF, 2 pages)US Letter size. Print single-sided, at 100% (actual size). Black and white is fine.
Page 1, for you
- Why “50% is always 50” is a logical idea.
- The key idea, in a simple diagram: “percent” means “per hundred”; on 40 buttons in 10 boxes, 50% is 5 boxes, which is 20 buttons.
- What is always true (100% is the whole; 50% is half of the whole), two traps and one limit.
- Three questions to ask instead of correcting.
- The activities: forty buttons or dry pasta and a strip of 10 boxes drawn on a large sheet of paper, out of reach of toddlers; give your child only page 2.
- Notes to read after your child has worked it out, and a cut-out slip (two bags of beads) for a few days later.
Page 2, for your child
- A page with written instructions, which your child fills in.
- Margot says 50% is always 50: “Do you agree with Margot?”
- Seven steps: predict, color, check, try with 20 buttons, compare two cards, explain, then a family challenge.
- A hundred grid to shade and two strips of 10 boxes (A and B) to test the cards with dots or buttons.
Our videos for parents
This printable goes with the “Percentages” episode of “Understand the concept,” our video series for parents. Find our videos on Ludip’s YouTube channel.
Visit Ludip’s YouTube channelLudip: Math & Science Stories
Ludip is a collection of math and science comic series for kids. Every episode tells a story around one concept to understand, then activities invite your child to explore it through play. Ludip is coming to iPhone, iPad and Android.
Get notified at launch