Florida B.E.S.T. MA.912.FL.3.11

MathGrades 9–12Describe the advantages and disadvantages of short-term and long-term purchases.

The Standard

Given a real-world scenario, establish a plan to pay off debt.

Florida B.E.S.T. Standards for Mathematics

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students identify the balance, interest rate, minimum payment, and money available for debt payments. They choose a payment amount and schedule, then calculate payoff time and total interest.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can build a realistic payment schedule using the balance, interest rate, minimum payment, and monthly budget. They can compare shorter and longer schedules by payoff time, monthly cost, and total interest.
Common Misconceptions: Students may assume the minimum payment clears debt quickly or ignore interest added each month. They may choose an aggressive payment that leaves too little money for required expenses.
How to Assess It: Give students a $1,200 credit card balance at 18% APR, a $40 minimum, and $180 available monthly. Ask them to choose a payment, estimate payoff time and interest with a calculator, and justify the plan.

Lesson moves

Give pairs debt cards and 20 budget tokens; each round, they pay bills, add monthly interest, and track the falling balance.
Ask students to write which matters more, lower monthly payments or lower total interest, and defend their choice using a debt scenario.
Run a matching game where students pair debt scenarios with feasible payment schedules, then check payoff dates using a spreadsheet.
Have students compare a car loan’s minimum schedule with a $50 extra monthly payment using an online loan calculator.

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