Black Friday: Mastering Discounts and Budgets

Black Friday Escape: A 7th Grade Percent Escape Room on Discounts, Deals, and Budgets

Turn the busiest shopping day of the year into your students’ favorite math lesson. In this digital escape room, students are locked inside the Grand Mega Mall on Black Friday. The only way out is to solve the percent problems real shoppers face. Every correct answer opens a lock, every room reveals a secret code word, and students need all four words to crack the final code and escape.

What students do in each room

• Room 1: Discount Detector (The Electronics Store). Find the amount saved and the sale price for 10 gadgets with percent-off and dollar-off deals. Then decide which item saves the most money.
• Room 2: Bargain Comparison (The Apparel Section). Compare two offers on each item, including percent off, dollar off, bundle deals like “2 for $35,” and Buy One Get One 50% Off. Find the price of one item under each offer to pick the better buy.
• Room 3: Budget Balancer (The Home Goods Section). Use a $300 gift card to fill Grandma’s cart with as many items as possible, including a must-buy vacuum, without going over budget.
• Room 4: Checkout Counter (The Register). Ring up a cart, test which coupon order gives the lower total, add sales tax, and find out whether a “30% off + extra 20% off = 50% off” sign is telling the truth.
• Final Escape. Arrange the four code words into a holiday greeting to open the exit doors.

Why teachers love it

• Standards-aligned: built around CCSS 7.RP.A.3 (multistep percent problems with discounts and tax), with support for 7.EE.B.3.
• Auto-graded with instant feedback: students know right away whether an answer is correct and can retry, so they learn from mistakes as they go.
• Randomized numbers for every student: prices, discounts, coupons, and tax rates change for each student, so students can discuss methods but can’t copy answers.
• Real-time teacher dashboard: see who has started, who has finished, and who is stuck while the lab is running.
• Fits one class period: about 45 minutes from start to finish, with an easy two-day option for shorter periods.
• Ready to go: includes a student introduction deck, a celebratory wrap-up, and a teacher lab overview with pacing, prerequisites, vocabulary, and common misconceptions.
• Real-world math that sticks: students practice the exact skills they will use on their next shopping trip, from reading sale signs to checking a receipt.

Perfect for

• 7th grade math (also great for advanced 6th graders or 8th grade review)
• Percent, discount, markdown, and sales tax units
• November lessons around Thanksgiving and Black Friday
• Engaging review before a percent test
• Independent practice, sub plans, or holiday-week activities

Skills covered: percent of a number, percent discounts, dollar discounts, sale price, unit price, bundle and BOGO deals, comparing deals, budgeting, coupon order, stacked discounts, sales tax, and multi-step problem solving.

Bring the excitement of Black Friday into your classroom and let your students shop their way to the exit. Assign it today!