teaching quantitative skills in the context of important global issues by pete kaslik pierce college...
TRANSCRIPT
Teaching quantitative skills in the context of important global issues
By Pete KaslikPierce College
Photo: Chris Jordan
Special Features In-class activities that can be completed
and submitted at the end of class A story that is used through much of the
book Connected algebra problems Connections between chapters Use mathematics to understand critical
issues of the day open source book
0.5 Quantitative Assessment of the World 1.0 Financial Survival 1.5 Sustainability 2.0 Population Growth 3.0 The Algebra of Sustainability 4.0 Statistics 5.0 System Dynamics Modeling
First Project of the Quarter Preparation is done while class is taught
Chapter 1 A brief example of the project will be done
now
Evaluate the topic on a scale of 0 to 4, in which 0 represents a critical state with a negative trend and 4 represents an excellent state with an improving trend.
An “importance weight” score of 0 means you don’t consider the topic to have any importance at all to the well-being of life on earth. A score of 3 means you think the topic is extremely important to life.
U .S. C ru d e Oil D ai ly Pro d u ctio n an d C o n su mp tio nan d U S Po p u latio n
U .S . F ie ld P roduc t ion o f C rude O il (Million Barre ls Per D ay )(L) U .S . C ons um pt ion of C rude O il (Million Barre ls Per D ay )(L) U S Populat ion(R )
Sep
-191
3
May
-192
7
Jan-
1941
Oct
-195
4
Jun-
1968
Feb
-198
2
Oct
-199
5
Jul-2
009
Mar
-202
3
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
22
24
Qu
anti
ty (
Mil
lio
n B
arre
ls P
er D
ay)
80,000,000
100,000,000
120,000,000
140,000,000
160,000,000
180,000,000
200,000,000
220,000,000
240,000,000
260,000,000
280,000,000
300,000,000
320,000,000
US
Po
pu
lati
on
US Oil Production and Consumption
W orld O il P roduc t ion and C ons um pt ion h t tp: / /www.e ia .doe.gov
P roduc t ion C ons um pt ion
1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 201045
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
Mill
ion
Bar
rels
of
Oil
per
Day
World Oil Production and Consumption
Maria BatschiNational Debt Graph
http://zfacts.com/p/318.html
http://www.cedarcomm.com/~stevelm1/usdebt.htm
Sustainability◦ Discussed the day after QAW is completed◦ Steilacoom Valley Thought Experiment
Small Community - It will start with 1000 people There is no oil or other hydrocarbons There is no commerce outside of the community There is limited communication with those outside
of the community Of the 80 square kilometers of land available, only
20% may be altered by the residents◦ Consequence Project
If all non-essential manufacturing (toys, furnishings, new construction materials, etc) was converted to the production of solar panels, wind mills and similar devices, then the consequences to our ability to live without oil are…
If ocean fishing continues at the rate of the last decade, then the consequences to marine fisheries are…
If the Columbia Ice Field melts, then the consequences to farming, hydro power, fish and life in the Pacific Northwest are …
If the Federal Government was forced to eliminate the national debt in 10 years, using a constant annual rate of change (so they can’t put it off until the 10th year), then the consequences to federal programs are…
1. State the complete question with one hypothesis appearing after “then”.
2. Show relevant statistics and graphs that provide the background for the “if” portion of the question.
3. List your assumptions about the future. 4. Use original mathematical calculations to support
your hypothesis. 5. Conclusion – connect all the pieces (background,
assumptions and math) so they support your hypothesis.
Guidelines for the Consequence Project
Population growth ◦ Only discuss human population growth◦ Attempt to make the numbers meaningful by
showing the cities that would have to be built annually to accommodate the people For the US, not including immigration we have to
build a new Phoenix every year.
Integrates various algebraic concepts into a logical progression of sequential problems to ultimately answer a big question such as:◦ What is the most energy efficient shape of a
home?◦ What is the carrying capacity of a community?◦ How many windmills will meet the community
energy needs?
Chapter 4 Statistics Focus is on understanding the population by
understanding the sample Probability topics limited to those that will
lead to inferential statistics (confidence intervals)
Connections to earlier parts of the book◦ Steilacoom Valley ◦ Histogram with QAW weighted means
There are critical issues happening in the world. These issues require a mathematical understanding. It is time we start to deal with them in class – give students the tools to analyze the important issues.