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Math Concept Reader
Math Concept Reader Take Your Math to Work ca63os_lay_070109af_ll.indd 1 1/9/07 10:13:01 PM DIGITAL FINAL PROOF Expedition: Antarctica by Aenea Mickelsen ca62xs_lay_061207ad_am.indd 4 1/9/07 9:09:15 AM DIGITAL FINAL PROOF Copyright © Gareth Stevens, Inc. All rights reserved. Developed for Harcourt, Inc., by Gareth Stevens, Inc. This edition published by Harcourt, Inc., by agreement with Gareth Stevens, Inc. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright holder. Requests for permission to make copies of any part of the work should be addressed to Permissions Department, Gareth Stevens, Inc., 330 West Olive Street, Suite 100, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53212. Fax: 414-332-3567. HARCOURT and the Harcourt Logo are trademarks of Harcourt, Inc., registered in the United States of America and/or other jurisdictions. Printed in the United States of America ISBN 13: 978-0-15-360205-4 ISBN 10: 0-15-360205-8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 175 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 Math Concept Reader by Susan R. Gregson Take Your Math to Work ca63os_lay_070109af_ll.indd 3 1/9/07 10:13:03 PM DIGITAL FINAL PROOF Last year, Matthew Keller went to work with his dad on Take Your Child to Work Day (TYCTWD). Mr. Keller is the art director at an advertising agency. His dad showed Matthew how he uses the computer to create graphic designs for magazine ads. Matthew was amazed to see the number of people who work together to create a single ad. This year, Matthew is spending TYCTWD with his mom. Matthew’s mom works for a research firm. Matthew wants to learn how to find data and present it in different ways, such as in tables, graphs, and maps. Matthew and three of his classmates are entering the Math Mania Contest later in the month. Their contest entry will show how to use a Geographic Information System, or GIS, to explore data about a community. A GIS can be used to find data on land use, population growth, animal migration, water quality, and much more. Matthew’s mom promised to show him and his Math Mania teammates how to use GIS Web sites. The sites are one-stop places to go for federal, state, and local geographic information, or data. Chapter 1: A Special Day Away from School ca63os_lay_070109af_ll.indd 2 1/9/07 10:13:04 PM DIGITAL FINAL PROOF On the morning of TYCTWD, Mrs. Keller meets Matthew and his teammates in the school office. She has already spoken to the students’ families to get permission to drive them to her workplace. Each student brought a signed note from home to give to the school secretary so that they can leave with Mrs. Keller. She will bring them back just before the end of the school day. Matthew’s math teacher, Mr. Mason, is joining them on the TYCTWD field trip. Matthew introduces his mom to his teammates Patrick, Shamari, and Chi-Lan. Mr. Mason shakes Mrs. Keller’s hand and thanks her for including him on the trip to her research firm. As Matthew’s mom drives the group to the office, she tells them about the company and why she chose a career in research. Mrs. Keller likes her job in research because she gets to find the answers to questions. Once they arrive at the research firm, Mrs. Keller brings her special guests to the research library. Matthew Keller’s mom brings him, three of his classmates, and his math teacher to work for Take Your Children to Work Day (TYCTWD). ca63os_lay_070109af_ll.indd 3 1/9/07 10:13:11 PM DIGITAL FINAL PROOF Spring and Fall Shoe Sales Sandals Tennis Shoes Slippers 1,000,000 800,000 600,000 400,000 200,000 0 Number Sold Types of Shoes Spring Fall The research library has several computer stations linked to the Internet. Shelves of books line the walls and a large table is at the center of the room. Shamari whispers to Patrick, “It looks just like a library.” Mrs. Keller smiles at Shamari. She tells the students that they don’t have to be quite as quiet as they do in a library. “Well, we probably don’t want to be as loud as gym class, though,” adds Mr. Mason. Matthew points to an easel with a graph on it. “Mr. Mason,” he says, “That double-bar graph looks like it has some interesting data.” The students look closer at the graph. “I wonder what kind of information was collected?” says Chi-Lan. Mrs. Keller explains that another employee works with a client, or customer, who sells different types of shoes. The client wanted a graph that would compare which types of shoes sold during the different seasons. “That is just the first draft of one of the graphs he made for the client,” Mrs. Keller says. “He will share this draft with the team and then we will give him suggestions for changes.” ca63os_lay_070109af_ll.indd 4 1/9/07 10:13:11 PM DIGITAL FINAL PROOF Mrs. Keller tells her visitors that sometimes her colleagues, or coworkers, will create a draft graph. “We try to decide the best way to show statistics and data,” she tells the students. “Sometimes it is easier to understand information if we show it in a circle graph, but other times it makes more sense to show data in a bar graph or line graph. Another option is to use maps to show information.” She says that the chart on the easel is just an idea in the works and that it will be redrawn several times. “Once we agree on how we should display data, we create our graph or map on the computer. We make sure there is enough information on the graph so readers can figure out the story we are trying tell,” Mrs. Keller says. Mrs. Keller tells the team that she wants to help them with their Math Mania project. She asks everyone to join her at a computer and the students gather around her. * This map of North America from the U.S. Geological Survey is one example of how a GIS displays data. ca63os_lay_070109af_ll.indd 5 1/9/07 10:13:12 PM DIGITAL FINAL PROOF Chapter 2: Mission Possible: Community Data Mrs. Keller grabs an atlas, or a large book of maps, from the shelf before she sits at the computer. “I know you want to show data on the community in your Math Mania project,” she says to Matthew. Shamari tells Mrs. Keller that one of the things she wants to find out is how many people live near their school. Matthew’s mom opens the atlas and points to a number of maps of their state. She explains that it is a good idea to collect information from books, atlases, government sources, and the Internet. Patrick pages through the atlas and finds a map of the state with cities and towns. The map shows population ranges for some of the largest cities. Patrick knows the names of many of the cities listed in the atlas, but he does not see the name of his town. “That’s a great start,” says Mr. Mason. “How can we find our town?” Chi-Lan wonders how they can get the data for the area around their middle school in Pennsylvania. ca63os_lay_070109af_ll.indd 6 1/9/07 10:13:13 PM DIGITAL FINAL PROOF Mrs. Keller shows the students a site on the Internet. The site has links to information about the United States and its states, cities, and towns. “This is a site with GIS data,” says Mrs. Keller. “People can use a GIS to investigate different types of data that can be shown as a map.” Shamari asks if they can find the population for the area around their middle school. Patrick asks if they can find out the number of males and females in their borough, or town. Mrs. Keller shows the students how to search for information on Downingtown in Chester County, Pennsylvania. The site tells them about data available online from American Fact Finder. Mrs. Keller explains that American Fact Finder is a service of the United States Census Bureau. Every ten years the Census Bureau collects information about people living in the United States and Puerto Rico. Chi-Lan points out the search box on the American Fact Finder Web page. “We can enter the school’s ZIP code and get a current fact sheet on the area!” she says. “That will be great data for our project.” Matthew enters the school’s ZIP code and the population data appear. The students enter their middle school’s ZIP code into a GIS to find out the population of the area. ca63os_lay_070109af_ll.indd 7 1/9/07 10:13:15 PM DIGITAL FINAL PROOF Percentage Percentage of Males and Females in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, and U.S. Populations Downingtown United States 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 Female Male 0 The students learn that the most recent information on their community is from the United States Census. The data were collected in the year 2000. “The government is updating their data now to include even more recent information,” explains Mrs. Keller. “Current data is not always available, so we sometimes need to find additional sources for the best data.” “In 2000, the area around the students’ school had a total population of 41,450. There were 21,063 females and 20,387 males,” says Chi-Lan. She continues to read the online fact sheet. “Of the entire Downingtown area population, 50.8 percent were females and 49.2 percent were males,” she says. “That’s compared to 50.9 percent females and 49.1 percent males for the United States during that same time.” Mr. Mason asks, “What might be a good way to display the population data, and the number of males and females?” “We could make a circle graph,” Shamari says. Patrick has a different idea. “Let’s do a bar graph instead. The bar graph will present both sets of data more clearly than a circle graph.” Mrs. Keller agrees that this is an excellent way to present the information. ca63os_lay_070109af_ll.indd 8 1/9/07 10:13:15 PM DIGITAL FINAL PROOF [...]... Alonzo, stops in to greet the visitors “We’re glad to have you here today,” he says “I use the math I learned in school at my job every day, and so do most of the other people who work here.” As Mr Alonzo leaves, Mrs Keller tells the students that she knows Matthew’s homework last week was a lot like one of her projects Shamari asks Mrs Keller to explain the similarities between their math homework and... would work best to put the soybeans and tomatoes in a double-bar graph “These two foods are eaten in similar amounts,” Mrs Keller says “Sesame seeds are eaten in much smaller amounts compared to tomatoes and soybeans Many people eat sesame seeds If we show this data on a bar graph with soybeans and tomatoes, though, it will look like people don’t eat any sesame seeds.” A client wants to know how much tomatoes,... that they can use the research to decide where to sell more of their products “I see,” says Shamari “Their tomato dip might sell much better in the United States, where people already eat a lot of tomatoes.” Matthew says, “Using the data in the bar graph, we know that Ireland is one of the countries with the lowest amounts of tomatoes eaten.” Mr Mason explains that tomatoes might not grow well in Ireland... She wants to make sure the data are correct “You spotted a good example of how data can look misleading I need to make sure we know exactly what the data show.” 14 ca63os_lay_070109af_ll.indd 14 1/9/07 10:13:22 PM DIGITAL FINAL PROOF Mrs Keller explains how the food company might use the data Mr Mason checks his watch He says, “We need to get back to school soon because Take Your Child To Work Day is... tell from this data whether or not the Irish like tomatoes.” Patrick says, “We would need more data before we could make that kind of statement.” “That sounds like a great homework idea,” Mr Mason says “Can we save that assignment for after Math Mania?” Matthew asks “We learned a lot of things today that will help us make our entry great I want to get to work on it right away!” 15 ca63os_lay_070109af_ll.indd... DIGITAL FINAL PROOF Glossary atlas a book of maps client a customer to a person or company that provides a service colleague a person who you work with Geographic Information System (GIS) tools used to capture, store, manage, display, and analyze geographical information population the total number of people in a group or area research using a system to collect data and facts statistics data that uses numbers... soybeans They sell a healthy vegetable dip with tomatoes They also sell an energy bar made with sesame seeds.” 12 ca63os_lay_070109af_ll.indd 12 1/9/07 10:13:19 PM s DIGITAL FINAL PROOF “We have information from our homework on the amount of tomatoes that were consumed, or eaten, in the United States!” Chi-Lan says Matthew says they found information on tomato consumption on a Web site that the United... between their populations is too great to fit within one range of numbers on one graph.” Mrs Keller nods and adds that one graph with eight lines for the states and provinces might be confusing It is clearer to put the provinces on one graph and the states on another 11 ca63os_lay_070109af_ll.indd 11 1/9/07 10:13:19 PM DIGITAL FINAL PROOF Chapter 3: Math at School Turns into Math at Work The vice president... homework and her project “Remember when Mr Mason asked you to find three crops grown in this country?” Mrs Keller asks “Mr Mason told us to use a graph or table to show how much of each crop is grown each year,” Patrick answers Mrs Keller explains that she is gathering similar data for a small food company “The company wants to know the amount of tomatoes, soybeans, and sesame seeds that people eat in ten... of Agriculture (USDA) runs He thinks they may be able to use that site to find the same data on soybeans and sesame seeds He is sure the other countries that Mrs Keller’s client is interested in are listed in the data, too The students gather around a computer They show Mrs Keller where to find the data “This is a real example of school math at work, ” says Mr Mason Chi-Lan thinks Mrs Keller should . PROOF Chapter 3: Math at School Turns into Math at Work The vice president of the company, Mr. Alonzo, stops in to greet the visitors. “We’re glad to have you here today,” he says. “I use the math I. 07 Math Concept Reader by Susan R. Gregson Take Your Math to Work ca63os_lay_070109af_ll.indd 3 1/9/07 10:13:03 PM DIGITAL FINAL PROOF Last year, Matthew Keller went to work with his dad on Take. library. Matthew Keller’s mom brings him, three of his classmates, and his math teacher to work for Take Your Children to Work Day (TYCTWD). ca63os_lay_070109af_ll.indd 3 1/9/07 10:13:11 PM DIGITAL