Percentages

Ages 9 to 12 Read alone or together · about 25 minutes

Read together

Percent means “out of 100”. 50 percent is half. 25 percent is a quarter.

To find 10 percent, divide by 10.

Do it

1. Colour 100 squares on grid paper: 25 red, 50 blue, the rest yellow. Write each as a percent.
2. Find 10 percent of 80, then 50 percent, then 25 percent.
3. Check a shop price with 20 percent off. What do you pay?
4. Make your own percentage puzzle for a family member.

Talk about it

• What is 50 percent of 60?
• Which is bigger, 25 percent or one half?

For the grown-up

Percentages connect fractions, decimals and everyday money. Start with 50, 25 and 10 before harder ones.

Mark as done

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Where this comes from

• National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers, Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (2010), standard 6.RP.A.3c (finding a percent of a quantity)
• National Research Council, Adding It Up: Helping Children Learn Mathematics (National Academies Press, 2001)

Written with AI assistance and checked against the sources listed. Please read it before sharing it with a child.