From: Claudia (for Teacher2Teacher Service)
Date: May 23, 1998 at 22:16:47
Subject: Re: 7th grade - learning percents

Percents is a topic that seems to plague lots of folks. One method that I have 
found that works is to use two number lines. 

One number line is always marked from zero to 100. The other number line 
contains the "problem" information  like "What percent of 11 is 55? The 11 is
positioned on number line 2 and 55 is set to correspond to the 100 on number 
line 1:

        0....................................100
        0.........11..........................55  

Put an x on the first number line across from the 11. Then set up a proportion: 
11 is to x as 55 is to 100  or  11/x = 55/100. x will be the percent. The
positions can be changed based upon the information given.

- Claudia

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