Students can use basic algebra skills to determine which of two similar products is a better deal. They may compute, for example, whether purchasing four of the less-expensive product is a better deal than purchasing three of the more-expensive brand. Another fun project could challenge students to purchase a list of 10 products using a given amount of money. They'll enjoy seeing whether they can find a combination of products to fit their limited budget.
Ask students to interview local merchants to see if the principles of supply and demand that they are learning in class are in effect in the local market. They might ask the owner of a sandwich shop how he prices his menu offerings and whether less-popular items are more expensive due to their popularity or some other factor, such as being made with expensive ingredients. If an ingredient has become more expensive, they can ask the owner how he accounts for inflation in his prices. They may also interview customers to determine how an item's price affects what they order. Ask them to write a report on their findings.
Geometry students learning about angles can apply their lessons to the buildings around them including their school. Architects use geometry to draw a plan of the structures that they will build. Invite a local architect to speak to the class about his work. Your students can document the details of nearby geometric structures, such as how many right angles there are in the classroom. Ask your students to draw a plan of a building of their choice, such as the school or their homes, and label each angle. A more challenging assignment may be to design a building of their own that includes right, obtuse and acute angles or that has no angles at all, such as a parking structure in the shape of a helix, which looks like a coil wound around an invisible vertical axis. Calculus students also can identify the equations used in the helix's design.
Many college students love sports, so ask them to study the statistics of their favorite team or player. They can compute a baseball player's batting average using his records for the season. You also can ask them to predict the probability that their team will win its next home game based on their record of wins and losses at home. Ask them to form a hypothesis based on the statistics that exist for a given team and see how their hypothesis stands up at the team's next game.