L1 · What a percent means: one percent is one hundredth

Learning goal

“I can read and write a percent: the percent sign (%) means "out of 100," and 1% is one hundredth of a whole.”

Percent — a way of naming a part of a whole as a number out of 100: "per cent" means "out of each hundred."

Percent sign (%) — the symbol written after a number to show it is a percent, like 25%.

Hundredth — one of 100 equal parts of a whole; one small square of a hundred grid.

Whole — the entire amount; on a hundred grid the whole is all 100 squares, and as a percent the whole is 100%.

Worked example

A hundred grid has 37 small squares shaded. What percent is shaded? Step 1: The whole grid is 100 equal small squares - the whole is 100 parts. Step 2: Count the shaded squares: 37. Step 3: 37 out of 100 is 37%. Say it: "thirty-seven percent" means "37 out of each 100." Model both ways, side by side: the hundred grid with 37 squares shaded AND a bar cut into 100 equal parts with 37 parts shaded - and, because a fraction name is one step away, 37/100 at its point on the pre-segmented 0-2 number line (between 0 and 1/2, nearer to 1/2 than to 0). Say the anchor fact until it is automatic: one small square = one hundredth = 1%.

Check yourself — explain it

Why does 37% mean 37 out of 100 and not 37 out of 10?

Paired problem — example still visible

A hundred grid has 52 squares shaded. What percent is shaded? -> 52%

Faded completion — last step is yours

"A grid has 8 full rows of 10 squares shaded. That is 8 x 10 = ___ squares, so the shaded part is ___%." -> 80 squares; 80%

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