Taming
Your Credit Cards
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Extraordinary or unique
resources (human or material) needed to successfully complete this experience: |
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This is a modified version of a learning experience I created and used
with my eighth grade students at Black Rock Academy in Buffalo, New York. This lesson
relies on the use of two commercial programs:
Analyzer* (graphing application that makes multiple graphs
(including exponential graphs) simultaneously in many colors.
Microsoft Works 4.0 (we used the spreadsheet component to create
credit card summary statements and the word processing component to type reports on credit
card use and investing money wisely for retirement. Though we used the above software,
similar results can be realized by using comparable graphing, spreadsheet, and word
processing software applications that your students have access to (such as Microsoft
Excel and Graph Whiz).
To successfully complete this experience, a computer lab with software
comparable to the software used for this experience is ideal. The lab can have one
computer per student or students may share computers with one or two partners. In the
event that a lab is not available, it is possible to complete the graphing with a graphing
calculator and to simultaneously use a scientific calculator to determine values and
produce a table. The sacrifice, in that case, would be losing a dynamic table that allows
more rapid investigation of compound interest. However, when compared to traditional drill
exercises (20 items of multiply a dollar value by a percent), there is still merit and a
practical understanding can still be attained, though it will be so more slowly.
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