Exploring net worth
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Introduction
In this activity, students learn how to calculate their net worth, which assets and liabilities to include, and why it’s important to know how much their net worth is. In doing so, they learn about the addition and subtraction of integers, the management of personal finances, and representations of large numbers.
Achievement standard
By the end of Year 7, students represent natural numbers in expanded form and as products of prime factors, using exponent notation. They solve problems involving squares of numbers and square roots of perfect square numbers. Students solve problems involving addition and subtraction of integers. They use all 4 operations in calculations involving positive fractions and decimals, choosing efficient calculation strategies. Students choose between equivalent representations of rational numbers and percentages to assist in calculations. They use mathematical modelling to solve practical problems involving rational numbers, percentages and ratios in financial and other applied contexts, justifying choices of representation. Students use algebraic expressions to represent situations, describe the relationships between variables from authentic data and substitute values into formulas to determine unknown values. They solve linear equations with natural number solutions. Students create tables of values related to algebraic expressions and formulas and describe the effect of variation.
They apply knowledge of angle relationships and the sum of angles in a triangle to solve problems, giving reasons. Students use formulas for the areas of triangles and parallelograms and the volumes of rectangular and triangular prisms to solve problems. They describe the relationships between the radius, diameter and circumference of a circle. Students classify polygons according to their features and create an algorithm designed to sort and classify shapes. They represent objects two-dimensionally in different ways, describing the usefulness of these representations. Students use coordinates to describe transformations of points in the plane.
They plan and conduct statistical investigations involving discrete and continuous numerical data, using appropriate displays. Students interpret data in terms of the shape of distribution and summary statistics, identifying possible outliers. They decide which measure of central tendency is most suitable and explain their reasoning. Students list sample spaces for single step experiments, assign probabilities to outcomes and predict relative frequencies for related events. They conduct repeated single-step chance experiments and run simulations using digital tools, giving reasons for differences between predicted and observed results.
Content descriptions
Achievement standard
Represent natural numbers in expanded notation using place value and powers of 10 (AC9M7N03).
Compare, order and solve problems involving addition and subtraction of integers (AC9M7N07).
Use mathematical modelling to solve practical problems involving rational numbers and percentages, including financial contexts; formulate problems, choosing representations and efficient calculation strategies, using digital tools as appropriate; interpret and communicate solutions in terms of the situation, justifying choices made about the representation (AC9M7N09).
Teacher resources
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Net worth
Student learning resources
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What is net worth?
Calculating net worth
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Suggested activity sequence
This sequence is intended as a framework to be modified and adapted by teachers to suit the needs of a class group. If you assign this activity to a class, your students will be assigned all student resources on their 'My learning' page. You can also hand-pick the resources students are assigned by selecting individual resources when you add a work item to a class in 'My classes'.
- Introduce the topic of net worth by showing the visualiser. As you read point out the statistics in the table on slide 2, particularly that 20% of Australian households share almost 62% of wealth (Highest quintile).
- As a class and with some explicit teaching, work through how to represent Gina Rinehart’s net worth in different ways, including expanded notation using place value and powers of 10.
Name: 14.8 billion
Short form: 14.8B
Letters: Fourteen billion eight million
Millions: 14800 million
Numbers: 14,800,000,000
Powers of 10: 14.8 x 109 (14.8 → 148 → 1,480 → 14,800 → 148,000 → 1,480,000 → 14,800,000 → 148,000,000 → 1,480,000,000 → 14,800,000,000)
Standard form: 1.4 x 1010 (1.4 → 14.8 → 148 → 1,480 → 14,800 → 148,000 → 1,480,000 → 14,800,000 → 148,000,000 → 1,480,000,000 → 14,800,000,000)
- Students complete question 1 of the worksheet.
- As a class, read through the explainer or have students read it individually or in pairs using the Cornell note-taking system template.
- Students complete the remaining questions on the worksheet.
- Discuss with students what they found interesting about net worth.
- If appropriate, invite students to work out their own net worth.