Lesson Plan

 

Name:  Brittany Herndon                 Date:  November 15, 2004              Age/Grade Level:  10^th grade

 

Subject:  Mathematics                     # of Students:  28                             # of IEP Students:  0

 

Major Content:  Algebraic Ideas   Unit Title:  Rates and Taxes          

 

Goals and Objectives:

In this lesson, students should learn to work with composition of functions, slopes, averages, and percentages.  They should also learn to derive equations based on the information they are given.  Students can learn important lessons about slopes, split functions, averages, rates, marginal rates, and percents (and of course, taxes).

 

Connections:

This lesson addresses standard MA-H-4.3.2 which states that students will understand how formulas, tables, graphs, and equations of functions relate to each other.  In this activity students must look at the tables provided and figure out which applies to which person.  The lesson also addresses standard MA-H-4.1.1 which states that students will understand the concept of a function and roles of independent and dependent variables.  The students must understand the concept of a function in order to understand and appropriately calculate the adjusted gross income, the average tax rate, and the actual tax rate.

 

Context:

The students will learn about the real world application of taxes and tax rates.  They will also learn about functions and how they can be applied to real world situations.  This will be brought up again later in the year as their understanding of functions increases.  Students will also be able to take this knowledge out of the classroom and apply it to the paychecks they receive and any other instances in which tax rates are applicable.  This lesson will be a brief stop in the overall understanding of functions and how they relate to slopes, averages, and percentages.

 

Resources:

The materials for this lesson are the transparencies of the tables and the transparencies of the figures.  Students will also be required to visit several different websites in and out of class.

 

Procedures:

The lesson will begin by asking students to look at table one and to determine what a family with an income of $40,000 will pay in U.S. income taxes.  After they have answered, whether right or wrong, I will begin to move further into the lesson in order to prove whether or not they are correct.  Next, I will introduce some technical tax terms, with which all of the students may not be familiar.  I will introduce adjusted gross income and taxable income.  I then must define a function that will represent adjusted gross income and taxes, which will be T(x) and x respectively.  I will then discuss the tax rate and discuss which brackets apply to which incomes.  The actual tax rate will be defined as R(x).  Students will be assigned an income level.  From this point they will be required to determine which bracket they fall into, what there adjusted gross income is, and what they will bring home after taxes.  We will then discuss the “bubble” bracket.  We will also briefly discuss how tax deductions decrease taxable income and about tax-code revisions.  At the end of the discussion students will be asked:

1.      What are the total taxes for a family of four with $40,000 in income?  What is the tax rate? 

2.      Explain the difference between actual tax rate and marginal tax rate.

3.      Graph the income-to-tax function.  Graph the actual tax rate.

4.      Answer the following questions, which were in the news in 1990:

a.       Why was the bubble created?

b.      Why should the highest earners pay a smaller percent than those in the bubble bracket?

c.      Why are tax rates flat over such wide brackets?

d.      Why should a poor family with $8,000 income pay the same percent as the relatively well-to-do family with $30,000 income?

5.      For the top bracket, calculate the following:

a.       T(x)

b.      R(x)

c.      The top rate in terms of x

6.      Suppose that lawmakers decide to keep the 33 percent bracket and increase the top bracket’s marginal rate to 31 percent.  How would the upper end of the 33 percent bracket be changed so that the top rate is a constant 31 percent in terms of y?  Who would then pay more taxes?

Student Assessment:

Students will be assessed according to their answers to the six questions, their group participation, and their participation in the class discussion.

 

Refinement:

Prepared after the lesson and the post observation conference.

 

Impact:

Prepared after the lesson and post-observation conference.

 

Reflection/Analysis of Teaching and Learning:

Discuss student progress in relation to the stated objectives (i.e. what they are learning with indicators of achievement.)  Discuss success of instruction as it relates to assessment of student progress.  Include three student samples (high, average, low) and an analysis of their performance based on assessment results.

 

Refinement:

Prepared after the lesson and post-observation conference.

 

]Want to know what you will be graded on?  Click here!