What do you know so far?
You are about to watch a video about a group of students who started a recycling committee to make their middle school more environmentally responsible.
But first, take this short quiz to see what you know about percentages. It’s OK if you aren’t sure of the answers.
After the video, you will do three practice problems, then take another short quiz so you can see what you learned.
1
The students on the recycling committee are excited to make a difference at school! They began by investigating how many of the trash bins at school had recycling bins next to them and found it was only 30%. To highlight the issue, they want to share this information with the principal in as many ways as possible. Which of these conversions is correct?
a
30% = 3/100
b
30% = 100/30
c
30% = 30/100
d
30% = 1/30
2
When the recycling committee first formed, they conducted a survey to determine whether paper recycling was already common at their school. Out of 36 classrooms, 9 were using paper recycling bins. What percent of the classrooms had paper recycling bins?
a
36%
b
25%
c
9%
d
400%
3
The committee also wanted to reduce or eliminate the use of plastic straws in school. In a survey of the school’s 550 students and staff, 12% said they prefer plastic straws. Which of the following fractions represents 12%?
a
100/550
b
12/550
c
12/12
d
3/25
4
The local hardware store offered to sell new paper recycling bins to the committee for 40% off their usual price. If the committee paid $11.28 each, what was the usual price?
a
$6.76
b
$18.80
c
$28.20
d
$4.51
5
Paper cannot be recycled if there are too many impurities present, like wrappers with food on them. The school’s recycling company requires the paper it picks up to be 98.5% clean. If the recycling company picked up 9,720 pounds of paper in all, what is the maximum weight in pounds of the impurities that could be on the paper?
a
9,574.2 pounds
b
14.58 pounds
c
145.8 pounds
d
95.742 pounds
6
How confident are you about solving problems involving percentages?
a
Very confident
b
Confident
c
Somewhat confident
d
Not confident