This problem is a good follow-up to The Labor Mediator
It is a more open-ended/less scaffolded exploration of the same concepts. Mathematically, the focus is on calculating averages, and noticing how outliers can have dramatic effects on data sets. As in The Labor Mediator, the problem also has a social justice and a data literacy component as students explore how the same data can be used to tell two very different stories.
A potential extension for this problem involves students role playing the situation:
You gotta Be the problem (a role-play)
Your group will plan and present a role-play to the class that dramatizes the issues of labor and capital at the core of this problem. The important thing is to use your understanding of descriptive statistics to present and display data to support the arguments of the characters you are playing.
- Divide students into groups to role-play either the owners or workers of Xployt-U.
- Choose a situation—You could stage a press conference where either side makes a presentation and then fields questions from the “press,” or a TV show on the ongoing struggle at Xployt-U, or a hearing, or a street demonstration, or any other situation that that you think will dramatize the situation.
- Assign roles: Decide what character each member of the groups will play. Have students think about the attitudes of each character to the strike and pick a director who will lead their group’s interpretation of the role-play.
- Give students the following directions:
- Construct mathematical arguments to win support. What graphs and tables best tell the story you want to tell? What displays of data will make your role-play more visual? Make posters to tell your side of the story.
- Write and rehearse. May sure to talk about what questions the other group will ask you and how you might respond. Try to prepare for at least three questions they might ask.
- Present your role-play. After you have taken your bows, you will answer questions in character from the audience (including the other side and your teacher.)
(Note: This problem and extension are adapted from a lesson created by the math team at the BMCC Adult Basic Education Program)
