Understanding and Analyzing H1N1 Virus (Swine Flu) Data by Liz DeRyke
Liz DeRyke, Highbridge Community Life Center, Bio: I work in the Bronx for Highbridge Community Life Center. I am beginning my second year here and I love it! I have a degree in mathematics so I naturally try to make math accessible to my students. Very often, because of the students past experience with math, they are often wary when presented with any form of math. My passion is to overcome this fear and open many new doors for them through math!
Reflection on Lesson: I developed this lesson because I noticed that the media always announced that we were all going to die!!! Very soon!!! I wondered if students knew where all this information was coming from and whether they realized that not all of the information is trustworthy.
I tried to make this lesson not only accessible to students but rather easy to teach. You do not need to be a math guru to lead this lesson. The hardest arithmetic is finding the percent of growth, but this can be made easier by handing out calculators. (A lot of students gawk when given a calculator, the earlier they are handed one, the more comfortable they feel when they sit at a test.) Very often students are fed data without realizing that they can analyze it by themselves and say what they think the data means. This really gives them the power and means to interpret what the media gives out every day.
Understanding and Analyzing H1N1 Virus (Swine Flu) Data Lesson Plan
