Pre-Reading:

Purpose:
• The purpose of the pre-reading exercises is to understand the prior knowledge and any misconceptions that the students may have about the Electoral College and voting procedures.
• Based on their prior knowledge students will be introduced to new vocabulary that is not typically seen in a mathematics course.

Activity:
1. Students will be asked to go home and glance at the newspaper and local/world news on television. They are to make a list of 3 topics that they feel are discussed the most. As a class we will predict which topics they think will be discussed the most.

a. Students may also ask their parents which topics that they feel are in the news.

b. Since this is an election year, students should bring up something about the Election or the Presidential candidates.

i. If for some reason it is not brought up, I will have a picture of both candidates and their running mates. I will ask the following questions:

1. Who are these people in the photograph?
2. How do you know who they are?
3. Where have you seen them?

c. Students will share their topics with the class and we will see if their predictions were correct on the most talked about topics in the news.

2. Students will then be asked “who elects the president of the United States?”

a. All answers should be written on the board.

3. After the answers are given, I will ask the students to write down all that they know about the process of voting. If time does not permit that, we can simply ask them to write down all that they know about the Electoral College.

a. Students will share their thoughts on the questions.

4. Students will be given the text about the Electoral College and asked to read.

During-Reading:

Purpose:

Students should make connections with the test while reading. They will use the information that they learn from the text to see how the Electoral College contributes in selecting the President of the United States.

Activity:

1. The text is already geared at what I want the students to know. Students should be able to answer the questions that are the headings of each section of the text by the end of the reading.

2. Students will read independently about the Electoral College. They will then discuss in small groups the answers to the headings.

a. Students will discuss their answers in small groups to make sure that everyone is on the same page and understood the material that they read.

3. We will come back as a class and discuss the answers to the headings of the text. We will also discuss any concerns or questions that they may have.

a. I anticipate that students will be shocked to know that the Electoral College can choose a candidate that did not actually win the popular vote.

4. We will discuss whether or not our answers to “Who elects the President of the United States?” were correct.

Post-Reading

Purpose:

Students will:

• Collect state-level data on population and electoral votes.
• Calculate each state's share of the electoral votes as a decimal and a percentage.
• Decide if there is a chance for a 2 way tie? 3 way tie?
• Use measures of central tendency to make an informed decision about the number of electoral votes for each state.

Activity:

1. Students will work in pairs and complete Question 1 on the Activity Sheet. Each pair will be given 5 states that they must find information in order to fill in the table.

a. If students have access to computers with internet access, they should go to State Applet to obtain the data for the table in the Activity Sheet.

b. If computers are available but students do not have access to the internet, have students record data in a Electoral College Spreadsheet. Students should complete the remaining cells using a program such as Microsoft Excel.

c. If computers are not available, students should research the data using the library or teacher could print out the information from the State Applet.

2. After the small groups have completed Question 1, we will come together as a class to fill in the rest of the table.

3. Students will go back into their groups to complete the rest of the Activity Sheet.

4. As a class, we will come back to discuss the material in the Activity Sheet. They will also be asked additional questions to make sure that they have understood the purpose of the lesson.

a. Questions 11 and 12 should be brought up because students should recognize how influential Calfornia is to the election.

b. Additional questions for students could be:

• Why do candidates spend so much money in California?
• Why are there so many states with exactly 3 electoral votes?
• How are electoral votes related to population?
• Do you think the voting system is fair? Why or why not?

5. Students will then use the information that they learned from the Activity Sheet and from the class discussions to make a campaign schedule for the presidential candidates. They must use data collection and analysis to justify their answers.

a. Students will present their findings to the class in a presentation. They may want to create a brochure or poster.

6. Students should complete a 3-2-1 in a journal or on paper to turn in. This will be done in order to determine if they have grasped the concepts. Some sample questions are listed.

a. What are three things you learned about the Electoral College today and the use of mathematics in the process?

b. What are 2 questions that you still have about the Electoral College or the process of electing a president?

c. How does the population play a role in the number of electoral votes a state has?

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Standards & Expectations

Data Analysis & Probability

• Formulate questions, design studies, and collect data about a characteristic shared by two populations or different characteristics within one population (NCTM, 2000, p. 249).

Number & Operations

• Work flexibly with fractions, decimals, and percents to solve problems (NCTM, 2000, p. 215).
• Use factors, multiples, prime factorization, and relatively prime numbers to solve problems (NCTM, 2000, p 215).

National Standards for the English Language Arts (IRA & NCTE, 1996)

1. Students read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.

3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on thier prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sould-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).

7. Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and nonprint texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.

8. Students use a variety of technological and informational resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.

12. Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information.