I love starting class with a question to engage students right out of the gate. My experience has been they love to make predictions and educated guesses. The immediate feedback they receive (in which they often are wrong) keeps them interested as they try and figure out the flaw in their math or logic.

Here are some math problems to get students going and also highlight how compound interest can work for and against you!

From Motley Fool:

• …How long would it take to pay back $2,000 worth of credit card debt at 23% interest if you paid $40 per month? The guesses ranged from four to seven years.
  • Make a guess and then use this credit card calculator to get the answer.

• If you deposit $5,000 into an account every year, and your investments grow by 8% each year, how much will you have after 40 years?”
  • Results from his class: Not a single person in the class had a guess of more than $200,000.
  • Make a guess and use this compound interest calculator to get the correct answer (Use Current Principal of $0).

Please feel free to share any other math stumpers you use in your classroom.  Look for Next Gen Personal Finance to start rolling out in the months ahead activities and projects that have a math emphasis

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Here’s a great NGPF activity to build spreadsheet skills: Build a Credit Card Calculator

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.