And You Thought Gasoline Was Expensive!

Introduction

Have your students considered that gasoline might be a bargain when compared with the price of other liquids they consume? Take bottled water, for example. A 16-ounce bottle of water costing $1.09 works out to $8.72 a gallon. That makes gasoline look like a real bargain!  Of course, buying a gallon of water is usually cheaper than buying eight 16- ounce bottles of water; but for the purpose of illustration, the bottled water example puts the cost of gasoline in perspective.  

                  

Involve students with the use of technology to:
1. Compare different themes with their country with others.
2. Learn how to create graph using a website.
3. Develop analysis of data.

Task

Students create charts comparing the cost of a gallon of gasoline to gallons of other liquids mouthwash, house paint, fruit juice, and white-out, for example.

Calculate, COLA, cost of living, economics, equation, gallon, gasoline, inflation,liquid, measure, measurement, pint.

Students will
1. Research the cost of a gallon of gasoline.
2. Calculate the costs of gallons of a variety of liquids.
3. Create charts showing the data they collect.
4. Discuss the data.
5. Use software or a free online tool to create graphs comparing the costs of a
gallon of gasoline with that of five other liquids.

Process

Students can do this activity individually or in small groups, in class or for
homework. For an in-class activity, you might:

1. Provide students with newspaper ads from food, drug, auto parts and/or
home supply stores so they can price a gallon of a variety of liquids, such as
fruit drinks, house paint, mouthwash, auto engine oil, perfume, white-out, and
so on.
2. Have students create charts with four columns: Liquid Product, Cost of
Item, Size (Volume) of Item, Price per Gallon.
3. In the first row of the charts, students record the cost of a gallon of
gasoline. In the remaining rows, students enter the information gleaned from
the ads for a variety of other liquids.
4. Next have students use the cost of each of the other products on the chart
to calculate the cost for a gallon of the product. (With younger students, these
calculations could be done as a whole-class activity.

For student with accomodations:

1. Make the table with four columns: Liquid Product, Cost of Item, Size (Volume) of Item, Price per Gallon.

2. Look and save photos of the products of different countries with the prices.
Evaluation

1. See if the charts are done such it is written in the instructions.
2. Compare the data in the chart with the graph, to check if it has the same information.
3. Students should make an analysis of their results, specifying with country have the products with less cost.

Conclusion

Students should be able to complete the chart and make a graph with the obtained data.

Credits

References:

Hopkins, Gary. And You Thought Gasoline Was Expensive! [ONLINE] Available
at: http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/02/lp265-01.shtml. [Last Accessed
April 24, 2015]


Hopkins, Gary. And You Thought Gasoline Was Expensive! Create a Graph.
[ONLINE] Available at: http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/. [Last
Accessed April 24, 2015]

Teacher Page

Damaris Joubert

University of Puerto Rico 

Campus of Rio Piedras

Mathematic Education

d.joubert7@hotmail.com