Resources/Percent change practice: increase and decrease
Grades 6-7•Printable worksheet + answer key•CC0 license

Percent change practice: increase and decrease

A printable lesson focused on percent increase and percent decrease.

Students compute percent change using differences and original values.

Print-ready worksheet with answer key and quick teaching tips.

Grades 6-70 problems10 minAnswer key included
Not sure where to start? Take the placement diagnostic.

Ready-to-teach

Clear steps, examples, and practice in one printable page.

Misconception-proof

Highlights common mistakes and how to fix them quickly.

Open license

CC0: free to copy, adapt, and share without attribution.

Quick overview

This free percent change worksheet for grades 6-7 teaches percent increase and decrease with clear steps.

Lesson plan snapshot

15-20 min
  • Warm-up (3 min): review percent-to-decimal conversion.
  • Model (5 min): solve the worked example together.
  • Guided practice (5 min): complete problems 1-3 as a group.
  • Independent practice (7 min): finish the remaining problems.

Materials: calculator (optional), pencil

Learning targets

  • Calculate percent increase and percent decrease.
  • Identify the original value for percent change.
  • Check results with estimation.

Step-by-step approach

  1. 1Find the difference between the new and original values.
  2. 2Divide the difference by the original value.
  3. 3Multiply by 100 to convert to a percent.
  4. 4Use percent increase or decrease based on direction.

Common mistakes

Mistake

Dividing by the new value instead of the original.

Try instead

Percent change is based on the original value.

Mistake

Forgetting to multiply by 100.

Try instead

Convert the decimal to a percent by multiplying by 100.

Mistake

Using the wrong sign (increase vs decrease).

Try instead

Check whether the new value is larger or smaller.

Worked example

Guided
A price increases from 50 to 65. What is the percent increase?
  1. Difference: 65 - 50 = 15.
  2. Divide by original: 15 ÷ 50 = 0.3.
  3. Convert to percent: 0.3 × 100 = 30%.
Answer: 30%

Related resources

Percents

Convert percents and solve percent-of problems.

View resource

Ratios

Unit rates and proportional reasoning practice.

View resource

Decimals

Decimal comparison and operations practice.

View resource

Practice problems

16 problems • 24 min

Printable worksheet
  1. 1
    A value decreases from 60 to 52.8. What is the percent decrease?
  2. 2
    A value increases from 200 to 224. What is the percent increase?
  3. 3
    A value decreases from 75 to 52.5. What is the percent decrease?
  4. 4
    A value increases from 80 to 88. What is the percent increase?
  5. 5
    A value decreases from 100 to 80. What is the percent decrease?
  6. 6
    A value increases from 240 to 336. What is the percent increase?
  7. 7
    A value decreases from 60 to 42. What is the percent decrease?
  8. 8
    A value increases from 50 to 75. What is the percent increase?
  9. 9
    A value decreases from 300 to 150. What is the percent decrease?
  10. 10
    A value increases from 75 to 112.5. What is the percent increase?
  11. 11
    A value decreases from 300 to 225. What is the percent decrease?
  12. 12
    A value increases from 200 to 230. What is the percent increase?
  13. 13
    A value decreases from 100 to 75. What is the percent decrease?
  14. 14
    A value increases from 60 to 69. What is the percent increase?
  15. 15
    A value decreases from 90 to 67.5. What is the percent decrease?
  16. 16
    A value increases from 90 to 108. What is the percent increase?

Answer key

16 answers
  1. 11) 12%
  2. 22) 12%
  3. 33) 30%
  4. 44) 10%
  5. 55) 20%
  6. 66) 40%
  7. 77) 30%
  8. 88) 50%
  9. 99) 50%
  10. 1010) 50%
  11. 1111) 25%
  12. 1212) 15%
  13. 1313) 25%
  14. 1414) 15%
  15. 1515) 25%
  16. 1616) 20%

Teacher tips

  • THave students label original vs new values before computing.
  • TUse estimation to check if the percent makes sense.
  • TKeep percent change problems in real contexts.

Parent tips

  • PUse sale prices or discounts as real examples.
  • PAsk your child to explain why the percent is increase or decrease.
  • PPractice with easy fractions like 1/2 and 1/4 first.

Open license

You are free to copy, adapt, and share these materials. No attribution required. Released under Creative Commons CC0 1.0 (public domain).