Home›Lesson Plans›Mathematics›Ratios & Proportional Relationships · Grade 7

Percent of a Number

Seventh graders learn to find the percent of a number by using benchmark percents like 10%, 25%, and 50% and proportional reasoning, then match each benchmark to its meaning.

Grade 7Percent of a Number55 minutes1 class periodGradual ReleaseExplicit teaching4 StandardsCommon Core
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Lesson at a Glance

Everything you need before the bell rings

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to…

  • ✓Define a percent.
  • ✓Use benchmark percents.
  • ✓Find a percent of a number.
  • ✓Match each term.
Essential Question

A $40 meal and a 20% tip, worked out in your head. How do benchmark percents like 10% and 50% make finding a percent of a number quick?

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Lesson Phases
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Vocabulary Terms
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Standards Aligned
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Interactive Task
Match the Term · Interactive

Match the Term

Project this and match each percent term to what it means — tap a term, then tap its meaning.

💰 Match each term to what it meansTry it
Term
What it means
Tap a term, then tap what it means.
The Lesson · Gradual Release (I Do · We Do · You Do)

55 minutes, five moves

Tap any phase to open the teacher moves and student actions.

1

Hook — The 20% Tip

5 min

A meal costs $40 and you want to leave a 20% tip. How can you work that out in your head, without a calculator?

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Show a $40 bill.
  • Ask how to find 20%.
  • Set the goal.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Think.
  • Guess.
  • Get ready.
2

Use — Match the Term

12 min

Students match each percent term to its meaning.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Send students to Match the Term.
  • Match each pair.
  • Note the benchmark.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Match.
  • Say.
  • Note it.
3

Modify — Build from Benchmarks

13 min

Students find percents using benchmarks.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Pick a number.
  • Find 10% and 50% of it.
  • Combine them to find 60%.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Pick.
  • Find.
  • Combine.
4

Create — Solve a Tip

15 min

Students apply percents to money.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Choose a bill amount.
  • Find 10% of it.
  • Use it to find a 15% or 20% tip.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Choose.
  • Find.
  • Use.
5

Reflect — Parts of a Hundred

5 min

Students reflect on finding percents.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • What does percent mean?
  • How can you find 10% of any number quickly?
  • Complete the exit ticket.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Say it.
  • Say it.
  • Complete the exit ticket.
Standards Alignment

Built to the standards you report on

Aligned to the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (High School Algebra II).

CCSS
7.RP.A.3

Use proportional relationships to solve multistep ratio and percent problems.

CCSS
7.RP.A.2

Recognize and represent proportional relationships between quantities.

CCSS
6.RP.A.3

Find a percent of a quantity as a rate per 100.

CCSS
MP.2

Reason abstractly and quantitatively.

Differentiation

One lesson, every learner

Multilingual Learners

ELL / EMERGING READERS
  • Percent + meaning cards.
  • Sentence frame: “10% of a number is the number divided by ___ .”
  • Match one benchmark at a time.

Support & Access

IEP / 504
  • Start with 50% (half) and 10%.
  • Use a 100-grid to shade percents.
  • Learn one benchmark fully before the next.

Stretch & Extend

GIFTED / EARLY FINISHERS
  • Find any percent by combining benchmarks.
  • Solve percent increase and decrease.
  • Set up and solve a percent proportion.
Materials

What to gather

  • 📽️Projector / board
  • 💰Percent / 100-grid cards
  • 💻Match the Term
  • 🧮Calculators (for checking)
  • ✏️Pencils
  • 🎫Exit-ticket slips
Vocabulary

Key terms — hover for a quick definition

percenta part out of 100, shown with the % signbenchmark percenta friendly percent like 10%, 25%, or 50% used to find othersproportionan equation stating that two ratios are equalrate per 100another way to read a percent, such as 7% meaning 7 per 100wholethe full amount a percent is taken frompartthe amount a percent represents out of the wholedecimal forma percent written as a decimal, such as 25% = 0.25fraction forma percent written as a fraction, such as 25% = 1/4
Evaluate

Exit Ticket

Preview the three formative checks. Tap “Sample answer” to see what mastery looks like — hide them before you print for students.

QUESTION 1
What does percent mean?
A part out of 100; for example, 30% means 30 out of every 100.
QUESTION 2
How can you find 10% of any number quickly?
Divide the number by 10 (move the decimal point one place to the left).
QUESTION 3
Using benchmarks, how would you find 20% of 60?
Find 10% of 60 (which is 6), then double it to get 12.

Create: solve a tip.

Have students choose a restaurant bill, find 10% of it, and use that to work out a 15% or 20% tip, so percents connect to everyday money. A printable percent-of-a-number worksheet is in the Mathematics library.

Study · Flashcards

Study the key terms

Tap a card to flip it, then rate whether you knew it. Built from this lesson’s vocabulary.

🃏 Percent of a NumberFlip
Card 1
Term
Tap to flip →
Meaning
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Practice · Quiz

Check your understanding

A quick self-check with instant feedback, drawn from this lesson’s key terms.

📝 Percent of a NumberQuiz
Score: 0
1 / 6
Question 1
0%

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Practice · Worksheet

Printable worksheet

A print-and-go review sheet with a built-in answer key. Tap “Show answer key” to reveal answers, or print the clean version for students.

🖨️ Percent of a NumberPrint
Name: ________________________
Date: ____________

Part A · Write the word that matches each meaning

Word bank: benchmark percent, decimal form, fraction form, part, percent, proportion, rate per 100, whole
  1. another way to read a percent, such as 7% meaning 7 per 100
  2. the full amount a percent is taken from
  3. a percent written as a decimal, such as 25% = 0.25
  4. a percent written as a fraction, such as 25% = 1/4
  5. an equation stating that two ratios are equal
  6. the amount a percent represents out of the whole
  7. a part out of 100, shown with the % sign
  8. a friendly percent like 10%, 25%, or 50% used to find others

Part B · Show what you learned

  1. What does percent mean?
  2. How can you find 10% of any number quickly?
  3. Using benchmarks, how would you find 20% of 60?
Answer key — Part A: 1) rate per 100 · 2) whole · 3) decimal form · 4) fraction form · 5) proportion · 6) part · 7) percent · 8) benchmark percent
Part B: 1) A part out of 100; for example, 30% means 30 out of every 100. 2) Divide the number by 10 (move the decimal point one place to the left). 3) Find 10% of 60 (which is 6), then double it to get 12.