GROWING IN AWARENESS THROUGH MY GLOBAL LEARNING PROJECT
My global learning project was entitled "Math Tells a Story." I wanted students to see that mathematics is a useful tool for measuring poverty and painting the picture of wealth distribution in terms that they could understand. Math goes beyond worksheets and equations; statistics can measure and explain the lives of people from different countries and different economies. At this early stage, I have two classrooms from the Dominican Republic participating along with my classes. |
SYNOPSIS OF PROJECT
We collaborated with two classrooms from a private school in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic. Students from both countries photographed grocery items with their prices and emailed them to the site. We calculated how long it takes for students from each country to earn the items, using the median incomes from both countries: $25 per hour for an American and about $2.77 per hour for a Dominican. We discovered that although prices were about the same for most goods, on average it was 9 times more difficult for a Dominican to afford it than an American! Students calculated prices into dollars and were shocked at how expensive items we take for granted would be if we had to pay a proportional amount. |
STUDENT OUTCOMES AND LEARNING
Math teachers do not usually have the opportunity to integrate math in ways that help students really understand the world. My students were astounded at the wealth inequalities they discovered when they did the simple calculations in this project. One student commented, "It's sad what they have to go through. A lot of people say that life here is bad, but these people have it a lot worse."
Another student commented, " Wow!!!! I certainly would not pay $75.00 for a bag of cookies. This made me realize how blessed I am and I really feel bad for those people in poverty. It would be tough to live like that." By connecting on this database project, students were able to see the human face of poverty and to appreciate more what they are blessed with. They also got some good practice in converting currencies through proportions and understand exchange rates.
Math teachers do not usually have the opportunity to integrate math in ways that help students really understand the world. My students were astounded at the wealth inequalities they discovered when they did the simple calculations in this project. One student commented, "It's sad what they have to go through. A lot of people say that life here is bad, but these people have it a lot worse."
Another student commented, " Wow!!!! I certainly would not pay $75.00 for a bag of cookies. This made me realize how blessed I am and I really feel bad for those people in poverty. It would be tough to live like that." By connecting on this database project, students were able to see the human face of poverty and to appreciate more what they are blessed with. They also got some good practice in converting currencies through proportions and understand exchange rates.