The Mathematics of Finance

 

This is a good alternative to the normal grind of teaching formulas and common drills.  This activity/project would be great for a general or academic classroom environment and can be tailored to the needs of an honors level classroom by adding time and having the students follow stock values over a specific timeframe.  You could also have them predict how the stocks would gain or lose money by the trends that the stocks portray over the timeframe that you pick. 

These are some websites that might help if you would want to include stocks, bonds or mutual funds in a more advanced class project:

http://stocks.about.com/

http://stocks.about.com/od/evaluatingstocks/a/Fundanatools1.htm

http://mutualfunds.about.com/

http://mutualfunds.about.com/cs/buildingblocks/fr/whatis.htm   gives a very good definition of all three

http://bonds.about.com/

 

The following are the Pennsylvania State Standards that I used to construct the learning: 

2.2.11
A. Develop and use computation concepts, operations and procedures with real numbers in problem-solving situations.
C. Construct and apply mathematical models, including lines and curves of best fit, to estimate values of related quantities.
2.5.11
A. Select and use appropriate mathematical concepts and techniques from different areas of mathematics and apply them to solving non-routine and multi-step problems.
2.6.11
D. Make predictions using interpolation, extrapolation, regression and estimation using technology to verify them.
2.8.11
B. Give examples of patterns that occur in data from other disciplines.
R. Create and interpret functional models.
The observable goals for the previous standards are as follows:
•    Students should be able to solve problems relating to financial planning.
•    Students should also be able to create a financial plan where he or she invests a given amount of money for a specific gain.