General Information
Subject Area: Mathematics (B.E.S.T.)
Grade: 912
Strand: Financial Literacy
Standard: Describe the advantages and disadvantages of financial and investment plans, including insurances.
Date Adopted or Revised: 08/20
Status: State Board Approved
Benchmark Instructional Guide
Connecting Benchmarks/Horizontal Alignment
Terms from the K-12 Glossary
Vertical Alignment
Previous Benchmarks
Next Benchmarks
Purpose and Instructional Strategies
In Math for Data and Financial Literacy, students create their own portfolios and calculate their profits and losses (MTR.5.1, MTR.7.1).- Students should work with real-life scenarios that simulates the creation of a stock portfolio within their budget. Considerations that a simulation includes are guidelines on how to monitor their portfolio and when to sell, buy or trade within a given timeline; use of technology to calculate gains, losses and any fees based on sales; and monitor portfolio based on given time frame.
- Instruction includes how to calculate stock profit using technology and the formulas below.
- Total Buy Price = shares × buy price + commissions
- Total Sell Price = shares × sell price + commission
- Total Profit or Loss = Total Buy Price – Total Sell price
- Students should be able to explain why they made their selections and what they would alter during another simulation.
Common Misconceptions or Errors
- Students may not make the best decisions when diversifying simulated portfolio.
- Students may incorrectly calculate their gains and/or losses based on when the stock is bought or traded.
- Students may buy or sell their stock and/or bond at a time that is not beneficial.
- Students may not include dividends when it is offered by the company. Remind students to research this as part of their development of their portfolio.
Instructional Tasks
Instructional Task 1 (MTR.5.1, MTR.7.1)- Billy has saved up $30,000 to create a portfolio. Identify stocks and/or bonds to help diversify his portfolio. Then monitor the portfolio over a 6-week period, determine when it is a good time to sell or buy more, and determine his profits and/or losses and the end of the time period. Use technology to monitor the portfolio and explain what strategies were effective and ineffective.
Instructional Items
Instructional Item 1- Jan purchased 150 shares for $1,018.50 in a video game stock 5 years ago. Share price (5 years ago): $6.79
Share price (today): $354.44
- How much is Jan’s profit after the 5 years if she sells the 100 shares?
a. $35,444.00
b. $34,765.00
c. $52,147.50
d. $53,166.00