Financial Algebra Course

financial algebra course logo

DESCRIPTION

This free math curriculum is helping thousands of math teachers answer the age-old question, “When am I going to use math in real life?” with confidence.

The NGPF Financial Algebra Course engages students with real-world financial applications while maintaining deep mathematical rigor. Each of the course’s 10 units blends one core personal finance topic with one relevant math concept (e.g. Investing and Exponential Functions).

Grade Level(s):
9-12
Standards Alignment:
National Standards for Personal Financial Literacy, Common Core Mathematics
Format(s):
Google Drive, Desmos Activities
Assessments:
1 exam per unit, course diagnostic, and course final exam
Cost:
FREE, and always will be

Course Materials

Syllabus, Assessments, and more

Unit 2

Checking & Linear Equations

Unit 3

Saving & Systems of Equations

Unit 4

Budgeting & Systems of Inequalities

Unit 5

Intro to Investing & Exponential Functions

Unit 6

Investing Strategies & Exponential Functions

Unit 7

Types of Credit & Modeling Functions

Unit 8

Managing Credit & Fundamentals of Statistics

Unit 9

Paying For College & Statistical Analysis

Unit 10

Insurance & Probability

Resources

PERSONAL FINANCE RESOURCES

ANALYZE: Inequalities in Investing INTERACTIVE: Living Paycheck to Paycheck Over a recent 20 year period, what percent of pros investing in large companies "beat the market?" COMPARE: Types of Savings Accounts PLAY: Budget Frenzy! CALCULATE: The Math Behind Your Federal Taxes INTERACTIVE: Online Bank Simulator MOVE: Let's Make a Mutual Fund MOVE: Types of Employment What percent of students receive scholarships or grants for college? PLAY: Roll with the Market ANALYZE: A FAFSA Submission Summary RESEARCH: Professional Certifications PLAY: The Bean Game What percent of Americans who have credit card debt won't be able to pay it off within a year? CALCULATE: Debt Avalanche v. Debt Snowball What percent of new businesses are still operating after 10 years? How much more likely is a business to launch if the founder creates a business plan? How much does a texting while driving ticket increase auto insurance premiums? MOVE: Inflation Over Time Do consumers send more money on Venmo or spend more money on Amazon? INTERACTIVE: Bummer! When the Mean is Nice INTERACTIVE: Invest with STAX! If you invested $1,000 in Netflix stock 10 years ago, what would it be worth now? CREATE: Personalized Productive Gap Year Plan What are the top 3 types of products/services Gen Z is most likely to splurge on? What source of funding is used most often to start new businesses? You Just Gotta Habit! CALCULATE: How Much House Can You Afford? MOVE: What Determines Your Insurance Premium? PLAY: It Costs HOW Much? PROJECT: Credit Protections - You Be the Teacher RESEARCH: Credit Protections ANALYZE: Dollar Cost Averaging MOVE: Your Tax Dollar in Action What is the average credit card debt held by Gen Z? ANALYZE: Household Debt and Credit Report FINE PRINT: Financial Aid Package MOVE: Credit Musical Chairs CALCULATE: The Cost of Auto Loans COMPARE: Which Repayment Option is Best? CALCULATE: Impact of Credit Score on Loans CALCULATE: Return on Your College Investment Which savings strategy is most effective? FINE PRINT: Schumer Box FINE PRINT: Checking Account Statement MOVE: Up and Down with Credit Scores INTERACTIVE: Compounding Cat Insanity PLAY: Types of Car Insurance What's the average credit score needed to rent an apartment? PLAY: Organize Budget Expenses

DESMOS ACTIVITIES

DESMOS: Marbleslides: Exploring Exponentials DESMOS: Exponential Growth in Circles DESMOS: Exponential vs Linear Patterns DESMOS: Piecewise Functions: FICA Tax Rates DESMOS: Cart Sort: Graphing Linear Inequalities and Income DESMOS: Exponential Regression in Investing DESMOS: Systems of Two Linear Equations DESMOS: Writing Equations in Standard Form DESMOS: Chance Experiments DESMOS: Recursive Formulas: Paying Down an Auto Loan DESMOS: Writing and Graphing a System of Linear Equations DESMOS: Exploring Tax Rates by Income Level and Tax Type DESMOS: Comparing the Cost of Different Student Loans DESMOS: Graphs of Piecewise Functions DESMOS: The Impact of Investing Fees on Exponential Growth DESMOS: The (Awesome) Coordinate Plane Activity DESMOS: Linear Equations from Checking Word Problems DESMOS: Writing Linear Equations and Checking DESMOS: Prize Wheel Puzzle DESMOS: Histograms and Box Plots of Housing Costs DESMOS: OLS Regression and College Costs DESMOS: Investing and Exponential Change DESMOS: Card Sort: Independent and Dependent Events DESMOS: Card Sort: Linear Systems DESMOS: Comparing Funds Using Compound Annual Growth Rate DESMOS: Card Sort: Conditional Probability DESMOS: Exploring State and Local Tax Rates DESMOS: Growth Factor and Investments DESMOS: Graphing Systems of Equations with Savings Balances DESMOS: Card Sort: Four Views of a Function DESMOS: Complex Systems of Inequalities DESMOS: Growth of Savings vs Investments DESMOS: Recursive Formulas: Paying Down Student Loans DESMOS: Card Sort: Linear Equations in Standard Form DESMOS: Card Sort: Matching Recursive Sequences DESMOS: College Sticker Price and ACT Scores DESMOS: Future Value of a Periodic Investment DESMOS: Point Collector: Lines DESMOS: Linear Growth Patterns DESMOS: Card Sort: Sampling Methods DESMOS: Real World Linear Inequalities DESMOS: Credit Dot Plots DESMOS: Linear Equations in Standard Form DESMOS: Polygraph: Guess the Distribution DESMOS: Piecewise Functions: Calculating Effective Income Tax Rates DESMOS: Piecewise Functions: Introducing Marginal and Effective Tax Rates DESMOS: Create a Histogram