Labor Day is a celebration of workers, so let’s dive into what workers take home. Explore five activities to help students understand their paychecks, while practicing percentages, linear functions, and piecewise functions.

Reading a Pay Stub

MOVE: Paycheck Scavenger Hunt

Students move around the room following clues and working through real paycheck calculations along the way. This activity reinforces the difference between gross pay and net pay, while also pulling in deductions and tax rates. Watch the Teacher Tip video on how to implement this activity:

Note: This activity is not part of the Financial Algebra Course, but is a great addition to the first unit Taxes & Fundamentals of Algebra.

See Where the Money Goes

PLAY: Dissecting Your Paycheck

Students cut apart a realistic earnings statement and sort the pieces into a chart organized by deduction category. This tactile activity visualizes how gross pay shrinks down to net pay.

Note: This activity is not part of the Financial Algebra Course, but is a great addition to the first unit Taxes & Fundamentals of Algebra.

Wages as a Linear Function

APPLICATION: Graphing Wages and Linear Equations

An hourly wage plus a signing bonus is a linear function students can actually picture. They write the equation, graph it, and interpret what the slope and the y-intercept mean.

Like all APPLICATIONs, this activity comes in three levels.

• Level 1 -- Write and graph linear equations based on 3 fictional compensation packages
• Level 2 -- Look up minimium wage for your state and use a Desmos Classroom activity to explore deeper
• Level 3 -- Check out the Living Wage calculator from MIT to write and graph equations but also reflect on how families cover expenses on a low income

This activity is part of the Financial Algebra Lesson 2.5 Graphing Linear Equations.

How Income Tax Works

MATH: Income Tax Brackets

This stand-alone activity breaks down how our income tax bill is calculated. With video walkthroughs, practice problems, and reflection questions, this activity is great for independent work time or a sub day.

This activity is part of the Financial Algebra Lesson 1.6 The U.S. Tax System.

Income and Payroll Taxes as Piecewise Functions

APPLICATION: Income and Payroll Taxes as Piecewise Functions

Tax brackets are a natural example of a piecewise function. The levels of this APPLICATION cover:

• Level 1 -- Continuous and discontinuous functions for marginal and effective tax rates
• Level 2 -- Follow a pattern to write equations for total taxes and effective tax rates
• Level 3 -- Write equations for Social Security and Medicare taxes and think critically about a graph of FICA effective tax rates compared to income

Each level of this Application is also available as an interactive Amplify Classroom activity. Find the links in the Application Answer Key or as part of NGPF’s Amplify Classroom Collection.

This Application is part of the Financial Algebra Lesson 1.7 Piecewise Functions.

About the Author

Kathryn Dawson

Kathryn (she/her) is excited to join the NGPF team after 9 years of experience in education as a mentor, tutor, and special education teacher. She is a graduate of Cornell University with a degree in policy analysis and management and has a master's degree in education from Brooklyn College. Kathryn is looking forward to bringing her passion for accessibility and educational justice into curriculum design at NGPF. During her free time, Kathryn loves embarking on cooking projects, walking around her Seattle neighborhood with her dog, or lounging in a hammock with a book.