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

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

DESMOS ACTIVITIES

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