One of my favorite classroom tools is the newspaper, and I'm excited to reintroduce it to my classes this year. I updated this 2007 newspaper activity focused on rates, ratios and proportions. In the activity, students are directed to specific sections of our local newspaper where there's data like currency exchange rates, gas prices, and our team's football statistics and use those numbers to solve problems.
It's designed specifically for my local paper, but you should easily be able to adapt it to your own. I purchased enough papers for groups to share to keep costs (and mess) low and also picked up a stack of (free) flyers from our local supermarket chain. The latter was used for students to find examples of rates and unit rates.
Updated Newspaper Math Activity on rates, ratios and proportions
Here's a collection of the newspaper math activities I've used over the years:
Using the Newspaper in Algebra I
More Ways to Use Newspapers in Algebra I
Even More Ways to Use the Newspaper in Algebra I
You can find more ideas for using newspapers in the classroom in my book Ten Cheap Lessons.