Carnival Math Freebie { Real Life Math }

I am a huge fan of using real life math in the classroom. If you follow my blog, you know that I share several freebies that feature real life math. For this post, I want to share a fun carnival math freebie with you that was inspired by my real life experience. This past weekend, my family and I went to the a small carnival set up in our town. I wanted to share a set of carnival math task cards.

 Before I get to the math, here are a couple of shots from the day. The carnival was just one of those small ones set up in mall parking lots, but the boys had a blast!

While at the carnival, I found there were many opportunities for Real Life Math . The biggest math dilemma is always whether to buy individual tickets or the unlimited armband. When we got to this particular carnival, we had to decide between buy individual tickets for $0.50 each or buying an unlimited rides armband for $20. We bought the armbands for the kids because we knew they wanted to ride a lot of rides and multiple times. We had to decide if it was worth it to buy ourselves armbands or just individual tickets. In the end, we decided to go with the armband so we would not have to mess with the tickets.

I created a set of task cards that you can use in your classroom to discuss this real life math situation. (And have the students practicing their multiplying and reasoning skills!) I think the students will enjoy these task cards. I mean after all, who doesn’t love a carnival theme?