What does it mean when an item in a shop is marked at 50% off? How much life is left in your phone battery if it has 10% charge?
Percentages are a useful way of showing how much of something there is, by expressing it as parts of 100.
Teach your children about percentages using our handy topic guide!
Teaching Ideas
- Use our percentage dominoes to get the children reasoning about percentages.
- Challenge your children to use their knowledge of percentages to complete this investigation.
- These “Would You Rather” questions from NRICH help children to explain their thinking about percentages.
- Are you a smart shopper? Compare the offers at three different shops and work out the best deals in town with this NRICH investigation.
- Use this starter activity to get children quickly finding percentages of numbers.
- Ask your children to convert fractions, decimals and percentages, using this handy sheet.
- Ask children to make a list of places where they see percentages. Why are they used in those places? For example, why do shops show discounts as percentages?
Resources
- Download our Percentages Pack for a reference guide, printable resources and activity sheets.
- These handy cards show matching fractions, decimals and percentages, and come with ideas for using them in the classroom.
- This BBC Bitesize page is a useful brief introduction to percentages.
- This comprehensive resource from NCETM includes videos, teacher guides and presentations for linking fractions, decimals and percentages.
- This Oak National Academy lesson looks at the uses of percentages.
Percentages Facts
- Percent comes from the Latin “per centum”, meaning “by the hundred”.
- The percentage sign (%) developed between the 15th and 17th centuries, before that mathematicians used different ways to show it, such as “p 100” or “p cento”.
- A percentage is a way of writing an amount, by showing the number of parts per 100.
- Percentages can be converted into decimals and fractions.
- A percentage is equal to a fraction with a denominator of 100, for example, 50% is the same as 50/100.
Videos
Percentages challenge: Football
This BBC Teach video demonstrates how to use percentages in a football challenge.
Running time: 9:11
Find a percentage of a number which is a multiple of 100
This is a nice clear explanation of how to find a percentage of a multiple of 100. Click on the playlist to the right for more percentage videos.
Running time: 3:06
The One with Percentages and 30
This video models two different methods of solving missing number questions involving percentages.
Running time: 5:56
Things I Wish I Learnt At School – Percentages
This short video demonstrates clearly how to use the fact that a percentage question can be reversed and will still give the same answer to solve tricky percentage problems.
Running time: 2:49
Fractions, decimals and percentages
This Decimal Dance Off demonstrates the relationship between fractions, decimals and percentages.
Running time: 5:01
Books
The Grizzly Gazette
When a vote is held to elect a mascot for Camp Grizzly, who will get the biggest percentage of the vote?
10-Minute Tests - Fractions, Decimals & Percentages
This book contains 12 bite-sized tests covering Fractions, Decimals & Percentages. It’s ideal for pupils who are working at the expected standard but want a bit of a boost in this area.
Understanding Maths: Decimals & Percentages
A comprehensive guide to decimals and percentages.
Links
- This page from the School Run gives a good overview of the topic.
- This great game can be set up to suit your children when working on converting fractions, decimals and percentages.
- Match percentages to their decimal equivalents to create an underwater world in this Sealife percentage game.
- Match percentages to decimals and fractions with this pairs memory game.
Are you teaching your children about other topics? Explore our full collection of guides!
