Florida B.E.S.T. MA.912.FL.4.6
The Standard
Simulate the purchase of a stock portfolio with a set amount of money, and evaluate its worth over time considering gains, losses and selling, taking into account any associated fees.
Florida B.E.S.T. Standards for Mathematics
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students build a stock portfolio using a fixed amount of money and track its value as prices change. They calculate gains, losses, sale proceeds, remaining cash, and transaction fees before judging investment results.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students can allocate a fixed budget, calculate whole shares purchased, and track remaining cash. They can update portfolio value, calculate gains or losses, subtract fees, and explain whether selling improves their position.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may treat a stock’s price change as the total gain or loss without multiplying by the number of shares. They may ignore trading fees, count unsold gains as cash, or assume selling always produces a profit.
How to Assess It
- Give students a portfolio with three stocks, purchase prices, current prices, and a $7 selling fee. Ask them to calculate its current value and the cash received if all shares are sold.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs $10,000 in play money and stock price cards, then have them buy shares, record cash, and update values across five rounds.
Ask students to write whether the highest-gaining stock was the best investment after fees, using calculations as evidence.
Run a portfolio challenge where teams calculate new values from price-change cards and earn points for accurate gain, loss, and fee totals.
Use historical prices from three familiar companies to compare holding, selling, and switching stocks after commissions are deducted.
Free download
Printable MA.912.FL.4.6 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to MA.912.FL.4.6, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.
Download the worksheetKeep exploring
Related Standards
- MA.912.FL.2.1
Given assets and liabilities, calculate net worth using spreadsheets and other technology.
- MA.912.FL.3.8
Calculate using spreadsheets and other technology the total cost of purchasing consumer durables over time given different monthly payments, down payments, fina...
- MA.912.DP.6.7
Weigh the possible outcomes of a decision by assigning probabilities to payoff values and finding expected values and standard deviations. Evaluate and compare ...
- MA.912.FL.4.5
Compare different ways that portfolios can be diversified in investments.
Turn this exact standard into a lesson
Grade, subject, topic, and the complete standard are prefilled. Create one free, no account needed.