MATHEMATICAL/LOGICAL SKILLS ACTIVITY
LEARNER PREPARATION:
For this activity, students should be prepared to organize large amounts of information into logical pieces. They should be resourceful and capable of conducting extensive research. Their basic math skills should include an understanding of percentages and how they are calculated.
OBJECTIVE:
This activity is designed to give students an overall picture of how different businesses contribute to the Lubbock economy. "Contribution" is determined by comparing the revenues and number of employees. Students will learn what type of businesses and industries are the highest contributors. Students will learn to effectively use online research through this activity. They will also become more familiar with graphing data and interpreting graphs.
MEDIA AND MATERIALS:
~ City of Lubbock Economic Development
~ Company Websites
~ Microsoft Excel and/or a Math Applications Package
USE OF RESOURCES:
~ Students will use the Lubbock Top Ten Employers page to identify companies and businesses to include in this activity.
~ The company websites and other resources (.gov and .org) will be used to conduct online research on the listed companies.
~ Microsoft Excel or another application will be used to organize the revenue and employee information
LEARNER PARTICIPATION:
Students will be expected to compile a list of 8 locally operated businesses in Lubbock, TX. They will then conduct online research on each of these companies. They will be looking for information regarding the company's revenue and number of local employees.
This information will be used to construct a pie graph using Microsoft Excel or another Math Applications package. To accomplish this, the students will also need to research the total revenue of businesses in Lubbock and the total number of employed individuals. This may require the students to collaborate and determine round numbers to make the calculations easier. Once percentages have been calculated, the pie graph will allow the students to graphically represent the individual contributions to the economy.
EVALUATION OF LESSON:
Students will be given an opportunity to orally present their findings to the class. They will be organized into small groups to additionally compare and contrasts their individual pie graphs. Finally, the graphs will be displayed in the classroom.
Teachers should assess the effectiveness of the activity by listening to the group conversations to be sure that students are grasping the idea of having major contributors to the economy and the underlying lesson in understanding percentages and how they can be used to represent important information.
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