MATH 307

PROJECT
The Price Is Right Lesson

Anna Shaffer
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Anna Shaffer
Math 307
Spring 2023

The Price is Right Graphing Lesson

Introduction:
For this project, I have created a lesson centered around the popular game show “The Price is
Right”. In this modified version of the game, six luxury items will be presented to students. They
must try to guess the true price of these objects. Once guesses have been made for all six
objects, the true retail price (from the company website) will be revealed. Using the true price
of each item, students will find the percent error of each guessed item.
History/Tangent:
For this project, I will be doing a “Price is Right” scenario. The Price is Right is a game
show that began in 1972. In this game, contestants try to guess the price of various items. If
they guess the price correctly, they get to take home the item. In this version of the game,
students will be presented with 6 luxury items, and they must guess the retail price of the item
(from the given brand’s website). The luxury items presented range in price and are
recognizable to the students.
I have purposefully chosen a variety of items ranging in price to test my hypotheses: do
people care about items they can’t afford? The items range from extremely common and
somewhat affordable (Nike Air Forces) to extremely uncommon and expensive (Louis Vuitton
purse). I suspect that most people will have no idea what price range these luxury brands will
be in because it is out of our reach.
We are constantly being bombarded by images of celebrities wearing fancy clothing,
driving expensive cars, and living in mansions- living lives that are so far outside of the average
person’s realm of normalcy. So then why do we care about reality television and celebrity
gossip when normal people can’t even begin to fathom their daily lives? Why do these top 1%
celebrities continue to grow richer? And why are there so many products available to them?
I don’t know if I can offer an answer for most of these questions, but I think it is an
interesting topic, especially at the middle school level. Middle schoolers are constantly feeling
picked on, excluded, or targeted. By wearing name brand clothing and having the coolest new
gadgets, they start to feel more confident. But with the invasion of social media in young
teenagers’ lives, they may feel like they still aren’t enough. By showing how ridiculous some of
these items are, it might show some students how silly and superficial all of it is.
While participating in this project, students will be able to test their guessing skills, use
equations to find percent error, and complete a histogram with data from their peers. Students
will also be able to see the reality of some of their most beloved brands and will hopefully
realize that a label isn’t as important as they might think.

Virginia Standards of Learning

7.9 The student, given data in a practical situation, will
a) represent data in a histogram;
b) make observations and inferences about data represented in a histogram; and
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c) compare histograms with the same data represented in stem-and-leaf plots, line
plots, and circle graphs.
8.16 The student will make connections between and among representations of a linear
function using verbal descriptions, tables, equations, and graphs.

Students will understand that

• Data can be graphically represented.
• Discrete and continuous data are graphed differently from categorical.
• Different graphing methods can represent the same data.
• Missing values can be solved for.
• Percent error can be calculated.
Students will be able to
• Make and read a histogram.
• Locate the quartiles of a set of data.
• Create stem-and-leaf plots.
• Create line plots.
• Create circle graphs.
• Work interchangeably between various graphing types.
Materials Needed:
• Four Function Calculator (or better)
• Pen/Pencil
• Google Slides presentation (with items)

Outline
1. Students will be handed the worksheet titled “The Price Is Right Guessing Game” (Page
3).
2. Using the worksheet, students will fill in the “Guessed Price” column while the
instructor goes through the Google Slides show titled “The Price Is Right Activity” (Page
5- 8).
a. Slide show contains 6 luxury items, and students will be tasked with guessing the
price of each item.
3. Once each student has guessed the price of all six items, the true price of the item will
be shown. Students should fill the retail accurate price in the “Actual Price” column.
4. Instructor will go over the percent error equation listed at the top of the worksheet.
5. Students will use the percent error equation to find their percent error for all six items.
(Using a calculator)
6. Once percent error is calculated for each item, the classroom will be split into 6 groups.
Each group will be given a worksheet and will be tasked with collecting the percent error
from all students in the class (Page 4).
a. Data collection can be done by each student saying percentages out loud,
teacher collection, or having a “team captain” collect data from around the
room.
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7. Once data is collected, each group will create a histogram to represent their given item.
This can be done by hand or on the computer.

Name __________________

The Price Is Right Guessing Game

First, you will fill in your guessing price for the given object.
Next, you will fill in the true retail price under the “Actual Price Column”.
Using the equation below, you will find your percent error for each item.

| (𝐺𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑒− 𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑒) |• 100

| 𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑒 |

Item Guessed Price Actual Price % Error

Apple AirPod Max

Gucci White Washed

T-Shirt

Nike Air Force 1 ‘07

Louis Vuitton Purse

Christian Louboutin
Shoes

PlayStation Five
Console
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Data Collection:
I surveyed a total of 18 people of various ages and walks of life. I asked those surveyed to
complete the first worksheet, although I did not require them to calculate the percent error. If
this was being administered in a middle or high school classroom, I would have had students
calculate the percent error, but because it wasn’t part of the data collection and everyone
surveyed was in college or older, I chose to exclude it from the survey. Below are the results of
the survey.

Guessed Price Per Person

Item 1 Item 2 Item 3 Item 4 Item 5 Item 6

Person 1 275.69 110.45 99.6 215.7 756 499
Person 2 279 123 90 1900 800 499
Person 3 375 200 110 700 650 400
Person 4 199.99 299.99 89.99 1199.99 2199.99 449.99
Person 5 375 682 90 2300 5800 760
Person 6 150 150 100 2000 1500 500
Person 7 250 350 150 1500 5000 450
Person 8 600 1500 120 3000 18000 500
Person 9 250 1000 175 4500 2000 400
Person 10 500 1000 250 5000 2500 5000
Person 11 270 120 105 1000 1120 2000
Person 12 250 1500 95 1500 2000 600
Person 13 675 300 110 2500 1700 800
Person 14 400 400 130 600 6000 400
Person 15 98 37 97 249 450 275
Person 16 259 399 179 2000 699 499.99
Person 17 550 163.99 185 1250 500 459
Person 18 500 100 120 600 400 500
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Percent Error Per Person by Item

Item 6
Item 1 Error Item 2 Error Item 3 Error Item 4 Error Item 5 Error Error

Person 1 49.78 80.96 9.45 91.37 4.91 0.00

Person 2 49.18 78.79 18.18 24.00 0.63 0.00
Person 3 31.69 65.52 0.00 72.00 18.24 0.20
Person 4 63.57 48.28 18.19 52.00 176.73 0.10
Person 5 31.69 17.59 18.18 8.00 629.56 0.52
Person 6 72.68 74.14 9.09 20.00 88.68 0.00
Person 7 54.46 39.66 36.36 40.00 528.93 0.10
Person 8 9.29 158.62 9.09 20.00 2164.15 0.00
Person 9 54.46 72.41 59.09 80.00 151.57 0.20
Person
10 8.93 72.41 127.27 100.00 214.47 9.00
Person
11 50.82 79.31 4.55 60.00 40.88 3.00
Person
12 54.46 158.62 13.64 40.00 151.57 0.20
Person
13 22.95 48.28 0.00 0.00 113.84 0.60
Person
14 27.14 31.03 18.18 76.00 654.72 0.20
Person
15 82.15 93.62 11.82 90.04 43.40 0.45
Person
16 52.82 31.21 62.73 20.00 12.08 0.00
Person
17 0.18 71.73 68.18 50.00 37.11 0.08
Person
18 8.93 82.76 9.09 76.00 49.69 0.00

40.29 72.50 27.39 51.08 282.29 0.81

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Below is the guessed prices and percent error for each item in the form of a histogram.

Guessed Prices For Item One

8

5
Frequency

0
[98, 213.4] (213.4, 328.8] (328.8, 444.2] (444.2, 559.6] (559.6, 675]
Price Guessed

Guessed Prices For Item Two

12

10

8
Frequency

0
[37, 329.6] (329.6, 622.2] (622.2, 914.8] (914.8, 1207.4] (1207.4, 1500]
Price Guessed
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Guessed Prices For Item Three

14

12

10

8
Frequency

0
[89.99, 121.992] (121.992, 153.994] (153.994, 185.996] (185.996, 217.998] (217.998, 250]
Price Guessed

Guessed Prices For Item Four

8

5
Frequency

0
[215.7, 1172.56] (1172.56, 2129.42] (2129.42, 3086.28] (3086.28, 4043.14] (4043.14, 5000]
Guessed Price
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Guessed Prices For Item Five

16

14

12

10
Frequency

0
[400, 3920] (3920, 7440] (7440, 10960] (10960, 14480] (14480, 18000]
Guessed Price

Guessed Prices For Item Six

18

16

14

12
Frequency

10

0
[275, 1220] (1220, 2165] (2165, 3110] (3110, 4055] (4055, 5000]
Guessed Price
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Percent Error For Item One

0
[0.18, 16.58] (16.58, 32.97] (32.97, 49.36] (49.36, 65.76] (65.76, 82.15]

Percent Error For Item Two

7

5
Frequency

0
[17.59, 45.79] (45.79, 74.00] (74.00, 102.21] (102.21, 130.41] (130.41, 158.62]
Percent Error
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Percent Error For Item Three

14

12

10
Frequency

0
[0.00, 25.45] (25.45, 50.91] (50.91, 76.36] (76.36, 101.82] (101.82, 127.27]
Percent Error

Percent Error For Item Four

6

4
Frequency

0
[0.00, 20.00] (20.00, 40.00] (40.00, 60.00] (60.00, 80.00] (80.00, 100.00]
Percent Error
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Percent Error For Item Five

16

14

12

10
Frequency

0
[0.63, 433.33] (433.33, 866.04] (866.04, 1298.74] (1298.74, 1731.45] (1731.45, 2164.15]
Percent Error

Percent Error For Item Six

18

16

14

12
Frequency

10

0
[0.00, 1.80] (1.80, 3.60] (3.60, 5.40] (5.40, 7.20] (7.20, 9.00]
Percent Error
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Item One Guessed Prices

800

700
675
600

500 500
Price

400
348
300
277
250
200

100 98

0
1

Item Two Guessed Price

1600
1500
1400

1200

1000
Price

800 762
600
469
400
300
200
122
0 37
1

Item Three Guessed Price

300

250 250

200
185
Price

150 156
128
110
100 97
90

50

0
1
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Item Four Guessed Price

6000

5000 5000
4500
4000
Price

3000
2350
2000
1779
1500
1000
675
216
0
1

Item Five Guessed Price

20000
18000 18000
16000
14000
12000
Price

10000
8000
6000 6000
4000
2893 3125
2000 1600
400 687
0
1

Item Six Guessed Price

6000

5000 5000

4000
Price

3000

2000 2000

1000 832.8877778
800 640
499.495
437.4925
275
0
1
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Percent Error (Rounded to nearest whole number), where 1ï0 = 10.

*For Item Five, 2ï164 = 2164

Item One Percent Error Item Two Percent Error

Stem Leaf
0 0999 Stem Leaf
1 1 8
2 37 2
3 22 3 11
4 9 4 088
5 013444 5
6 4 6 6
7 3
7 222499
8 2
8 13
Item Three Percent Error 9 4
10
Stem Leaf 11
0 0059999 12
1 248888 13
2 14
3 6 15 99
4
5 9 Item Four Percent Error
6 38
7 Stem Leaf
8 0 08
9 1
10 2 0004
11 3
12 7 4 00
5 02
Item Five Percent Error 6 0
7 266
Stem Leaf 8 0
0 001 005 012 018 037 041 043 9 01
050 089 114 152 152 177 214 10 0

0 529 630 655 Item Six Percent Error

1
1 Stem Leaf
2 164 0 000000000000000113
2 0 9
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The below graph represents the average percent error for each of the four items. By analyzing
the graph, it is obvious that item five had the highest percent error at 282.29%. Item five (the
Christian Louboutin pumps) was not the most expensive on the list, but it was one of the high-
end items and it is a gender specific item. On the opposite end, item six (the PlayStation 5) had
the lowest percent error, at .81%. This low percent error could be due to the commonality of
the item, since most college students own or know someone who owns a PlayStation.

Average Percent Error For Each Item

300.00

282.29
250.00
Average Percent Error

200.00

150.00

100.00

72.50
50.00
51.08
40.29
27.39 0.81
0.00
1 2 3 4 5 6
Items

In reflecting on this project, I would make some changes. While I thought the execution of the
project went well, I would change some of the items to make them more well-known and
gender neutral. Several men that I surveyed struggled with the Christian Louboutin shoes and
the Louis Vuitton purse simply because they had never heard of them. I would also suggest
doing this lesson with a science class. Percent error is a topic covered in science, so this lesson
could be an interesting segway into a science classroom’s usage of percent error.
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