Mathematics Curriculum
On this page: Charting Your Progress
| Health Cost Trends | Pulse
and Respiration Projections and Analysis
Goals: To pursue knowledge of mathematics,
health career education and science and to increase
self-discipline.
Objectives:
- To engage students in subject areas, noting an
aging workforce (job opportunities), to become eligible
for future job positions.
- To develop an awareness of career opportunities
in the health professions and the health care industry
as a whole, while building (the public’s)
confidence in the health care system.
- To create individual responsibility by educating
students to the possibilities and entrance requirements
needed to become a health care professional, and
how decisions students make now will influence their
ability to enter into these fields later.
What will the students do?
In the physical education curriculum modules,
exercise to keep fit and stay well with water, students
kept simple training logs to determine whether they
were able to exercise and drink water according to
their plans. Using these training logs, in this module
students will learn how to present their results graphically.
Students will learn how to demonstrate their actual
results with their plans.
What will the educators do?
Educators will need graph paper and the training
logs that their students kept in these other modules.
Mathematics educators could coordinate this activity
with their colleagues in physical education or obtain
the training logs directly from the students.
Using graph paper, the students create a line graph
to show their results. Students learn the concept
of a dependent variable, which is graphed horizontally
on the X axis; and independent variables, which is
graphed vertically on the Y axis. Measurement of time,
whether daily, weekly, monthly, or annually, the dependent
variable X; and the amount of exercise is the independent
variable Y. This process is repeated to with water
consumption as the independent variable Y to obtain
graphs about water consumption.
In addition to plotting the results based on the
first week’s training log, students will also
learn to extrapolate data and project trends. To complete
the estimation process, the teacher needs to teach
the students how to extrapolate data. This is done
by having the students multiply their results by 4,
to equal 1 month; and again, until multiplied by 52.
This will enable students to project their trend,
by month, for the entire year. These series of estimates
are then used to create a line graph.
By beginning with the exercise log, students will
be able to graph with respect to one variable, which
is time exercised. Then, by moving on to the log for
water consumption, the amount of exercise and the
amount of water consumed are accounted for. This will
enable students to track and graph more than one independent
variable.
Students should make graphs that show their actual
amounts of activity and water consumed, and the estimates
of their future activity and water consumption. These
figures will be made into a line graph on the same
page as the estimates, to enable a comparison. Each
student will note the variance between the estimates
and the actual results.
This will teach students trend analysis, how to account
for, and project differences between planned and actual
activities. Educators can also enhance the learning
experience by modifying this exercise which used line
graphs, by repeating this effort using bar graphs.
Educators will be able to demonstrate how the same
information and analysis looks when it is graphically
depicted using line graphs and bar graphs.
What information is available to educators?
Educators have the data collected in the exercise
activity log in Exercise to Keep Fit and in the training
log for water and exercise in Stay Well With Water.
What are the activities of Business/Adopters?
- Academic Enrichment/Career Awareness: serve as
resource speakers or tutors
- Cultural Enrichment: sponsor visits by health
professionals.
The speaker should be the health professional, such
as the dietitian, athletic trainer or physical therapist
who worked with the students and educator on Exercise
to Keep Fit or Stay Well With Water. At the close
of those activities, they worked with the educator
on presenting and preparing the training logs.
Now, in this module, they should be available to
participate in the analysis and discussion of the
results. They could use the materials provided to
the educator.
What methods should the educator use to assess
the effectiveness of this activity?
First, as described, each pair of students will produce
graphic analyses, on their exercise and water consumption.
Here they will present this information, using real
and projected data, and the variance between these
two sets of data, to conduct trend analyses. The time
frames for these analyses will range from one week
up to one year, in monthly increments. They will depict
this data using line graphs and bar graphs.
From the field of education, two methods of assessment
are recommended, in order of effectiveness for this
activity. They are performance-based assessment; and
pictograms and graphic organizers.
This activity meets National Science Education Standards
for mathematics in problem solving, algebra, and functions;
and National Health Care (Core) Skill Standards for
academic foundation and communication.
Goals: To pursue knowledge of mathematics;
health career education and science.
Objectives:
- To engage students in subject areas, noting an
aging workforce (job opportunities), to become eligible
for future job positions.
- To develop an awareness of career opportunities
in the health professions and the health care industry
as a whole, while building (the public’s)
confidence in the health care system.
What will the students do?
In Charting Your Progress, students were
able to describe and analyze trends in areas related
to their personal health and performance. In this
module, students will use these same mathematical
tools to describe and analyze trends in an area related
to health care for society; that is, health insurance.
Students will be required to present health cost
information quantitatively, by displaying the information
numerically; in line and bar graphs; and as a percentage
change over time.
What will the educators do?
Educators will take information about health
costs, available from the U.S. Census Bureau, and
assign their students to review and analyze those
tables pertaining to health costs.
Using graph paper, the students create a line graph
to show their results. Students learn the concept
of a dependent variable, which is graphed horizontally
on the X axis; and an independent variable, which
is graphed vertically on the Y axis. For example,
time would be an independent variable. The amount
of money spent on national health expenditures would
be a dependent variable.
In addition to plotting the historic data found in
these tables, students will also learn to extrapolate
data and project trends. To complete the estimation
process, the educator needs to teach the students
how to extrapolate data. For example, there is table
121, which has 10 years of historic data on national
health expenditures, and a 1-year projection. The
educator will work with the students to extend these
projections further into the future. These series
of estimates are then used to create a line graph.
These figures will be made into a line graph on the
same graph as the estimates, to enable a comparison.
Each student will note the variance between the estimates
and the actual results.
Educators can also enhance the learning experience
by modifying this exercise using line graphs, and
repeating this effort using bar graphs. Educators
will be able to demonstrate how the same information
and analysis looks when it is graphically depicted
using line graphs and bar graphs.
Educators will teach the concept of percentage change
over time. This equals ((b-a)/a)*100, where “b”
equals some value in the current time period and “a”
equals this value in the previous time period. Example:
national health expenditures were $696 billion in
1990, and $1,211 billion in 1999. To calculate the
percentage change in national health expenditures
during the 1990s: (($1,211 B - $696 B)/($696 B) *
100 equals a 74% increase in national health expenditures
over that decade.
Educators will arrange for a speaker to lecture the
class about these issues and their impact.
What information is available to educators?
What are the activities of Business/Adopters?
- Academic Enrichment/Career Awareness: Serve as
resource speakers or tutors
- Cultural Enrichment: Sponsor visits by health
professionals.
The speaker should be someone who works with this
type of health cost information. This could include
officials from a hospital, health insurance company,
or local, State or Federal department of health.
The speakers will receive the information from the
educator prior to their visit to the classroom. They
should be prepared to discuss how the type of information
shown in this Statistical Abstract affects their jobs
in the health industry; and what this information
means for their employers and their customers. The
speaker should make these numbers and their analyses
meaningful to the students. Ideally, students will
understand how these numbers and their analyses can
affect the ability of people to obtain and pay for
health care.
What methods should the educator use to assess
the effectiveness of this activity?
First, as described, each pair of students will produce
graphic analyses, using line graphs and bar graphs.
Then they will show the percentage change over time
in these health costs.
From the field of education, two methods of assessment
are recommended, in order of effectiveness for this
activity. They are performance-based assessment; and
pictograms and graphic organizers.
This activity meets National Science Education Standards
for mathematics in problem solving, communication,
mathematical connections, algebra, and functions;
and National Health Care (Core) Skill Standards for
academic foundation and communication.
| Pulse
and Respiration Projections and Analysis |
Goals: To pursue knowledge of mathematics;
To pursue knowledge of health careers.
Objectives:
- To engage students in subject areas, noting an
aging workforce (job opportunities),to become eligible
for future job positions.
- To develop an awareness of career opportunities
in the health professions and the health care industry
as a whole, while building (the public’s)
confidence in the health care system.
- To create individual responsibility by educating
students to the possibilities and entrance requirements
needed to become a health care professional, and
how decisions students make now will influence their
ability to enter into these fields later.
What will the students do?
Students will learn how to predict pulse
and respiration rates. Then they will compare their
estimates to actual results.
What will the educators do?
Teachers will need graph paper and a clock with a
second hand to perform this activity.
To prepare their students, educators need to teach
their students what pulse and respiratory rates are,
how they are related, and what causes them to vary.
To take a pulse, a person places two fingers on the
inside of the wrist, below the thumb. A pulse should
not be taken on the neck, as it can occlude the carotid
artery if not administered properly.
Then students are paired up. They will count pulse
rates on each other for a series of increasing intervals
and then note the results. The series of intervals
are 6, 10, 15, and 30 seconds. Everyone takes the
pulse of their partners.
Using graph paper, the students create a line graph
to show their results. Students learn the concept
of a dependent variable, which is graphed horizontally
on the X axis; and independent variables, which is
graphed vertically on the Y axis. Time in seconds
is the dependent variable X; and the number of pulses
counted is the independent variable Y.
This process is repeated to obtain estimated respiratory
rates and graphs.
To take a respiratory rate, one person watches another
person inhale and exhale. One inhalation and one exhalation
counts as one respiration.
To complete the estimation process, the teacher needs
to teach the students how to extrapolate data. This
is done by having the students multiply their results
by 10, 6, 4, and 2 to get estimates per minute. These
series of estimates are then used to create a line
graph.
Then the teams count their pulses and respiration
for one full minute. These figures will be made into
a line graph on the same page as the estimates, to
enable a comparison. Each student will note the variance
between the estimates and the actual results.
Finally, each team will report on their findings,
including the estimates, actual rates, and the variances,
to the rest of the class.
What information is available to educators?
What are the activities of Business/Adopters?
- Academic Enrichment/Career Awareness: Serve as
resource speakers or tutors
- Cultural Enrichment: Sponsor visits by health
professionals
A health professional such as a respiratory therapist
or physicians assistant can present information on
pulse and respiratory rates, and the reasons why they
may vary.
What methods should the educator use to assess
the effectiveness of this activity?
First, as described, each pair of students will produce
data on their predicted pulse and respiration rates;
the actual rates they measured, and the corresponding
line graphs.
From the field of education, three methods of assessment
are recommended, in order of effectiveness for this
activity. They are collaborative learning; performance-based
assessment; and pictograms and graphic organizers.
This activity meets National Science Education Standards
for mathematics in problem solving, communication,
connections, algebra, and functions; and National
Health Care (Core) Skill Standards for academic foundation,
communication and teamwork.
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