Grocery Shopping Math – Financial Literacy Grades 5-8 Price Comparison

Ask students to compare grocery offers while considering how much a shopper actually needs. Four scenarios combine unit prices, discounts and decimal calculations with reasons for choosing one deal over another.
Grades
Grades 5–8
Pages
4
File type
PDF
Answer key
Included

Updated Jun 02, 2026

Subject
Math, Life Skills, Money
Topic
Grocery shopping math, Unit price
Resource types
Worksheets
Answer key
Included
Standards
6.RP.A.3

Product description

From the author

This real-life math lesson for students in grades 5-8 will help show your class how many of the skills they have been learning will come in handy in their everyday lives at the grocery store when they are trying to find the best deal and stick to a food budget.

With inflation rising and grocery prices sky-rocketing, help your students spot a good deal among all the confusing offers!

This lesson has four grocery store scenarios for your students to evaluate and find the best deal. They need to use the following skills:

  • Unit Price: What is the cost of one if it's 2 for $7 or 4 for $13?

  • % Discount: This item is normally $4, but with a store card, it's 20% off today.

  • Rounding: Most grocery items are .99- make sure to round up to a whole number for easier calculations.

  • Critical Thinking: Is it better to buy two to get the deal if you only need one?

  • Financial Literacy: Learning how to read all of these kinds of offers is an important part of sticking to a budget.

  • Life Skills: Grocery shopping is a crucial life skill!

Grades to Use With:

This lesson is designed for students in grades 5-8 who are learning about decimal place value, ratios and rates, and basic operations using decimals.

It could also be used in middle or high school special education classrooms or family and consumer sciences classes.

What's Included: 4-Page PDF

  • Title Page

  • 2-Page Student Worksheet

  • Answer Key

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In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

  • Compare unit prices and discounted totals, then justify a purchase against a stated need.

Teaching tips

  • Use rounding for an estimate, then check exact prices when small differences could change the decision.

Good to know

Questions teachers ask about this resource

Can more than one purchase be justified?

Yes. Some choices depend on whether the shopper prioritizes the lowest total spend or the best unit price. The key discusses this distinction in the toilet-paper scenario.

1 review

Liyana Azman | March 9th 2025

Great practical lesson

Curriculum

Standards, concepts & topics

Standards

  • 6.RP.A.3 — Use ratio and rate reasoning to solve real-world and mathematical problems, e.g., by reasoning about tables of equivalent ratios, tape diagrams, double number line diagrams, or equations. a. Make tables of equivalent ratios relating quantities with whole-number measurements, find missing values in the tables, and plot the pairs of values on the coordinate plane. Use tables to compare ratios. b. Solve unit rate problems including those involving unit pricing and constant speed. For example, if it took 7 hours to mow 4 lawns, then at that rate, how many lawns could be mowed in 35 hours? At what rate were lawns being mowed? c. Find a percent of a quantity as a rate per 100 (e.g., 30% of a quantity means 30/100 times the quantity); solve problems involving finding the whole, given a part and the percent. d. Use ratio reasoning to convert measurement units; manipulate and transform units appropriately when multiplying or dividing quantities.

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