Have you ever heard a student saying, “When will we ever use this math in real life?” Well, we use unit rate all the time and most kids don’t even realize it (yet!) As annoying as that question can be, I secretly hope one of my students will say that when I introduce unit rate. I can easily show them where it shows up in real life, and I love to blow their minds!
Also, I love teaching students about money. Their eyes light up when we start talking about cash, too! Unit rate shows up in so many things that we buy, so it’s a fun topic for me.
We know that ratios are such a foundational concept for 7th and 8th grade math. Students need to see ratios in a variety of ways and know how they work. Unit rate relates to ratios because it’s all about proportions. So, how do we keep students engaged and onboard while they get more practice with these concepts? Read on to find 10 engaging, easy-to-use activities that will get your students all the practice they need with unit rate and ratios.
The List:
- Equivalent Ratios Riddle
- 6th Grade Ratios and Proportions Task Cards
- Writing Ratios Maze
- Equivalent Ratios Matching Activity Freebie
- Unit Rate Digital Escape Room
- Find the Missing Value in a Table Escape Room
- Find the Missing Value in a Table Maze
- Ratio Blasters
- Illustrative Mathematics Games at Recess Ratio Problem
- Video: Ratio and Unit Rate
Equivalent Ratios Riddle
Students can’t get enough practice with identifying equivalent ratios. The more they see it the more they remember the most common fractions. I love this activity because it adds a little fun and students don’t even remember they are doing math.
With this riddle, students try to find the answer to a question like, “Where do sheep go on vacation?” Then, they complete problems and the answer to the problem tells them where to put a specific letter until the answer to the riddle is revealed. Available with both digital and printable versions, you don’t have to prep at all for this activity. Students love the silliness of it.
6th Grade Ratios and Proportions Task Cards
I consider task cards my secret weapon. No matter the unit, I use task cards for multiple activity types. Most commonly we use them in partners, but they also work great for whole class games, exit tickets, or review.
The 6th grade ratios and proportions task cards include problems about ratio language, unit rate, finding missing values on a table, percent of a number, and converting measurements. These cards include both a paper version and a digital version in Google Slides. You can get a lot of practice with a variety of topics with one set of task cards. It’s amazing!
Writing Ratios Maze
If you have been around us for a while you will know that we love mazes. Students love mazes, too! They make practice easier and add a little whimsy. They work perfectly for in-person or online learning.
This set of three mazes has students going between ratios, fractions, and written ratios. They get to see what ratios look like in these different formats. Also, they will start to see how the different ways of showing ratios relate to each other.
Equivalent Ratios Matching Activity Freebie
If you want a hands-on approach then try this Equivalent Ratios Matching Activity. Each student creates a pocket that has four ratios on it. Then, they take ratios on paper and match them with equivalent ratios.
This matching activity is fun to have on hand for fast finishers. Or, if you use it with the whole class you can have them race and show who can do it the fastest. Also, you can have students record their own time and then try to beat their personal record.
Unit Rate Digital Escape Room
Ever since we started making escape rooms we’ve heard how much students love them. The Unit Rate Digital Escape Room is a completely digital activity created in Google Slides. It’s easy to assign through Google Classroom or other LMS.
If you haven’t tried one before, I suggest checking them out. Basically, students do their math problems and the answers help them solve a series of codes. The answers to the codes solve a mystery.
This escape room focuses on finding the unit in simple real-world situations. Students have to simplify a ratio to find the unit rate. Your students will have so much with this activity.
Have you tried a digital math escape room yet? Teachers & students rave about them! To see what all the fuss is about, click the link below, drop your email, and we’ll send you this FREE digital math escape room!
This escape room is built in Google Slides and has 3 puzzles- one for combining like terms, one for distributive property, and the final one for solving 2-step equations. Grab yours today!
Find the Missing Value in a Table Escape Room
The Find the Missing Value in a Table Escape Room works just like the Unit Rate Escape Room. This digital math activity has students find the missing value in a table of proportional values. They’ll find the missing x or y value and it might be anywhere on the table. This escape room works perfectly for a practice activity right after you’ve introduced this topic.
Find the Missing Value in a Table Maze
This maze is another great maze to help students practice using their knowledge of ratios to find a missing value on a table. With math mazes, I love that students can get so many repetitions in such a short amount of time. The more students get to look at tables and see how they work, the better.
These three mazes come in both printable and digital versions. No matter which works best in your classroom, this is a low-prep activity that will get students the practice they need.
Ratio Blasters
So many students love playing video games- so why not use that to practice skill building? In this particular game students have to shoot the ufos that have matching equivalent ratios. It’s simple and easy for students to play.
I find that games like this can motivate some students and get them practicing. We like to have students leader boards and have students play this same game over the course of a few days. You’ll hear students say, “When do I get to try and beat my high score?” as they walk in the room.
This game can be easily shared on Google Classroom, which makes it easy to use in a remote teaching and one-to-one learning model. You can still have leaderboards during virtual learning and this gives students something to talk about in your video conferencing.
Illustrative Mathematics Games at Recess Ratio Problem
I love using Illustrative Mathematics problems with students who need a little more challenge. This Games at Recess Ratio Problem has more than one step and gives students a chance to see ratios in a real world context.
You can have students work through this type of problem in small groups. If your students are in class virtually you can have them work in a breakout room and use a collaborative whiteboard like Jamboard or a shared Google Slide.
Video: Ratio and Unit Rate
You can find a plethora of videos about ratios and unit rate. I like this one because it’s very visual. I really like how Anthony explains things. One thing I like to do when using videos with students is to have a few prepared questions for students to answer while watching. With students who struggle, we usually watch the video all the way through one time, and then the second time through I stop it along the way to discuss.
Here are some questions to ask during the video:
- What are some common unit rates in the world?
- How can we convert rates to unit rates?
- How can you use unit rate to figure out which deal is a better deal?
Introduce Unit Rate with Some Pizazz
The next time you introduce unit rate, or review it with students who haven’t seen it for a while, try out one of these activities. Students will love having some variety and pizazz added to their practice. These activities are low prep and can be used in both an in-person or digital setting. Let us know how your activity goes. We’d love to hear about it!
