percentage

Introduction

Although children often see the symbol “%” around them, the idea of percentage is normally introduced at a much later stage in the primary schools.  This does not mean that percentage is a more difficult concept for them to understand.  In fact, the learning of percentage can happen in real and practical contexts.  This enables children to appreciate the usefulness of mathematical knowledge through enjoyable experiences in the classrooms.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this topic, you will be able to:

1.    list out the pedagogical content knowledge for the topic of Percentage in KBSR Mathematics; and

2. plan teaching and learning activities pertaining to the topic of Percentage.

Major Mathematical Skills - Percentage

Primary pupils are expected to understand and apply the concept of percentage in a variety of settings.  Specifically, the main mathematical skills for this topic can be summarized as follows:

• To represent percents in graphic form.
• To represent percent as a hundredth fraction and vice versa.
• To express fractions and decimals as percents and vice versa.
• To calculate the percentage of a given quantity.
• To solve problems involving percent in real life.

Pedagogical Content Knowledge - Percentage

In your opinion, why is there a need for percentage to exist in our daily lives?

When we start to compare parts of two unit wholes, fractions are useful when the total number of parts of each whole are the same.  When the total numbers of parts of the unit wholes are different, the comparison becomes more difficult.  However,