MATH IN THE MEDIA
Using the Jersey Journal, Herald News, Star Ledger, Bergen
Record, New York Post, or another approved newspaper, I want you to
construct word problems that my self and your classmates are able to
solve. Please include the article, graph, map, chart, etc… Here are
numerous suggestions to help you in your conquest.
WEATHER SECTION:
Find the average high/low temperature in the state.
How many hours of darkness can we expect today based on the
Sunrise/sunset times?
Convert the temperature to or from Fahrenheit to Celsius.
LOTTERIES:
Add the winning numbers. Find other combinations that would
give you the same sum.
Keep track of winning numbers over a period of time. Which
number(s) appears most often?
ADVERTISING:
Write out word problems from circulars and advertisements.
Compare regular prices to sale prices. Compare the prices of the
same product at different stores.
Purchase a certain number of items…how much change would
you receive from a $50, $100 bill?
Round off prices to the nearest dollar.
Make a collage of items that total $1,000 or $1,000,000.
Find geometric shapes in the ads.
TODAY IN HISTORY:
Determine how long ago an event occurred. How many DAYS and
YEARS ago was it?
Create a timeline of some important events.
SPORTS:
Which team had the highest score? The lowest score? What is?
the difference between the highest and lowest scores?
Pick one team and graph their scores over a period of time?
FINANCIAL PAGES:
Find the closing price of certain stocks from the day before by
examining the “change” column.
Graph the change in the Dow Jones Industrial Average from day to
day.
OBITUARIES:
Find the average age of death in today’s paper.
Use the ages to calculate the mean, median and mode.
List the ages that are even and prime numbers.
Of the people that passed away, who lived the farthest away? On a
map, estimate the difference in miles.
Order the ages from youngest to oldest.
FOOD SECTION:
Estimate the cost of making a certain recipe.
Take a recipe and double or triple it.
T.V.SECTION:
Find the oldest movie. How many days and years ago was it
made?
List all the channels that are odd and prime numbers.
What channels are composite? Even numbers?
MOVIE SCHEDULE:
Write the movie “start” times in words instead of numbers.
Which movie theater is showing the greatest number of different
movies?
How many minutes or seconds long is each movie?
CLASSIFIEDS:
You have $500, $1,500 or $10,000 to spend. Construct a collage of
what you would like to buy.
BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Were more boys or girls born at Meadowlands Medical Center?
Palisades General? Hackensack? How many more?
On which day were the greatest number of children born?
REAL ESTATE:
Write out the prices of homes in words.
Find out the home/house that sold for the most money and least
amount of money. Calculate the range.
What is the mean, mode and/or median between the homes,
condos, co-ops in a certain town or city?
ALL WORK MUST BE HANDED IN FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20!
EACH DAY YOUR PROJECT IS LATE, YOUR GRADE WILL BE LOWERED
ONE LETTER!
PROJECTS MUST BE NO LARGER THAN ONE POSTER BOARD.
Answer as many questions and write as many word problems as
necessary to complete fill your visual aid (book, poster, presentation).
Some helpful websites:
www.cnn.com
www.nj.com/starledger/
www.nytimes.com
www.timeforkids.com/
www.theobserver.com/
www.topix.com/city/weehawken-nj
www.hudsonreporter.com/
www.nj.com/jjournal.com
THIS PROJECT COUNTS AS TWO TEST GRADES FOR THE SECOND
MARKING PERIOD!
THE MORE EFFORT THAT YOU PUT INTO THE PROJECT, THE GREATER
YOUR GRADE WILL BE!
Please remember that these are just suggestions. You may come up
with your own examples from magazines, newspapers, websites,
journals, books, etc……..