Sales Tax

Allen Batts, Jr.               Jane A. Neil School
                               8555 S Michigan Ave. 
                               Chicago IL 60619 
                                (312) 535-3000 

Objectives: 

This lesson is design for grade level 6-8
Upon completion of the lesson, the students should be able to: 
* Find out what percent of sales tax is changed when purchasing    
    merchandise or food by dividing the price by the sales tax.
* Understand the differences of sales tax on merchandise and food. 

Materials:                      

* Store catalogs (eg. J. C. Penny, Spiegel, Montgomery Wards, Sears, Venture, 
    K Mart, Carson Pirie Scott.) 
* Store Receipts   
* A chart made out similar to a receipt:  Titled in one column Items and in
    the other column Price.  At the bottom Price column should be Subtotal, Tax 
    and Total. 

Recommended Strategy: 

* Introduce to the students that they have a certain amount of items to 
    to purchase 5-10 items. 
* Explain to the class, they are given $500.00 to spend and the one who 
    comes closet to spending $500.00 will receive a prize. 
* Write down items, the page you picked the item from and write down the 
    price.  Be as specific as possible. 
* Divide the class into groups of two or three.  Each member will get to 
    purchase at least $160.00 maximum.  Out of the 5-10 items purchased, you 
    must include a discount.   
* Each group will be given a store name and their neighbor store will check 
    for errors. 
* After everything is checked the store that has an error will be given a 
    consequence.  The store who finds the error or that individual will be 
    rewarded. 

Performance Assessment: 

Discuss with class the different taxes in each state (Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio 
and  Illinois).  Observe the errors and prices of stores in each state and find 
which group came closet to $500.00 and issue out prizes.  This project best used 
in the morning.