Individually or in groups of your own choosing (5 students or less per group) find an article (from a
newspaper, news website, magazine, etc.) related to a topic of your choosing that addresses the math
concepts we have discussed (or will discuss) in this course. Some of the math concepts are
understanding large numbers, ratio, percent, percent change, mean, median, mode, averages, weighted
averages, investigating bias in statistics, descriptive statistics, measurement, indices, financial math,
counting, and probability. Use the article (make sure you cite the source) and develop
• Write an introduction to the topic (2-3 paragraphs or more) that will also be included in the
project you turn in. This introduction can come from notes in class or research done on the
topic. This introduction should also highlight the big math ideas that your case study will
address, provide definitions, and examples of the math concepts.
• a warm-up Question Set (minimum of 4 questions). These questions need not be based on the
data given in your article. See examples of warm-up questions from the Case Studies we have
done.
• a Case Study Question Set (minimum of 6 questions) similar to the set up in the book. These
questions need to be based on the real world data given in your article(s). You are not allowed
to make up data values but use the real data given in your article(s).
• You will also need to provide a solution manual (with all work shown and process explained) for
the Warm-up and the Case Study Questions, which will be checked for correctness and detail
added.
• Also, on its own page as a cover sheet provide a list of group member names, if working in
groups.
Formatting:
Introduction, Warm-up, Case Study Questions, and the solution manual for the project should be typed.
You may use word, power point, or any other program to make your project aesthetically appealing.
Grading:
There is a rubric on the back of this sheet. Grading of questions will be based not only on correctness,
but also on how good of questions they are and the diversity of math concepts they address, the detail
provided in the solutions, and the richness of the introduction. Note: Please DO NOT pick blogs, math
tutoring websites, or articles that just provide definitions of math concepts such as mean, median etc.
without any real-world data. No points will be awarded for using made up data.
The point is to do research on a topic of interest such as Food Insecurity in Arkansas, Refugee Crisis,
Water Pollution and Marine Life, Global Pandemic & Inflation, Real-Estate in NWA – pre & post COVID,
etc. find real-world data through research and create math questions through which we can make
sense of the quantitative data in our society.
