EDU 430/530
Science, Mathematics, and Teaching for Social Justice
Developed by Barbara Garii
Sixty-seven students and eight teachers at Oswego High School are going on a field
trip to the Everson Museum in Syracuse . They need to reserve enough buses so that
everyone has a seat. Each bus has enough seats for thirty passengers. How many buses
do they need to reserve in order to go on the field trip?
Many students “do the math” (67 students + 8 teachers = 75 people; 75 divided by 30 =
2.5) and announce that they need 2.5 buses to go on the field trip.
What’s wrong with this picture? Well, the problem is that even though the
mathematics is correct, the understanding of what the math means, in context, is wrong.
Mathematics isn’t just how we manipulate the numbers (the “process” of mathematics).
It is also what those numbers mean, how we make sense of the numbers, and what
processes we use to problem solve and when we use those processes. (We don’t need 2.5
buses — in fact, we cannot reserve ½ a bus! We have to reserve 3 buses.)
Using word problems and extended projects in science and mathematics
classrooms gives us and our students opportunities to appreciate not just the process of
mathematics but the underlying meaning of our mathematical solution. In other words,
Teaching for Social Justice in Science and Mathematics classrooms allows us to explore,
interpret, and reconsider what we understand about mathematics and science.
Usually, the processes of mathematics and science are not easily amendable to
teaching for social justice considerations. There are, of course, exceptions especially
within the fields of ethnomathematics (which explores different methods of organizing
mathematical ideas and problem solving) and ethnoscience (which explores how different
cultures organize and classify scientific knowledge). Another goal of ethnomathematics
is to ensure that mathematics is contextualized: the mathematics is grounded in the needs
and expectations of the community that uses the mathematics.
Teaching for Social Justice focuses on the context of our understanding of
mathematical and scientific ideas. Teaching for Social Justice in science and
mathematics forces us to confront our assumptions about “truth” and “knowledge.”
Teaching for Social Justice reminds us that information is meaningless unless is it
embedded in an appropriate contextual understanding.
430_530_SJConference/430_530_Documents for CoursePack/430_530_SciMathTchgSJ
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Teaching for Social Justice in Math and Science: Questions to
Ask in the Classroom
Topic
 Geology
Typical Questions Raised
 What are ores? What are the
geologic forces that shaped their
development? How are they used?
How are they mined?
 Physics
 Fission and fusion of atoms
 Nuclear energy
 Division
 Division algorithms
 When do we use division?
 Averages
 Calculation algorithms of mean,
median, and mode
 Averages as a descriptive
statistics tool
 Percents
 Algorithms for calculation
 Sale prices, addition of taxes,
descriptive statistics
Social Justice Contextualization
 What are the costs associated with
mining? Who benefits from the mining?
What are the social, environmental, and
economic consequences associated with
mining?
 Albert Einstein said: “Concern for
man and his fate must always form the
chief interest of all technical endeavors.
Never forget this in the midst of your
diagrams and equations.” What does this
mean in terms of nuclear energy?
 Explore legitimate and illegitimate
uses of nuclear power and justify the
legitimacy
 Where are nuclear power plants
located? How does nuclear power
influence the politics and economics of
Oswego county?
 What is the difference between
“equality” and “equity?”
 What does it mean to “be fair?”
 What do averages really tell us?
 What information is lost, obscured, or
hidden when we talk about “the
average?”
 Is anyone “average?”
 How do different types of taxes (e.g.,
income tax versus sales tax) differentially
impact different groups of people (rich
versus poor)?
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Putting Mathematics in Context
How can we integrate Teaching for Social Justice into the mathematics classroom? We
do that by remembering that mathematics is not used in a vacuum. In Mathematics
classes, we assign our students word problems, we introduce our students to careers that
involve mathematics, we explore the history of mathematical ideas, and we ask students
to bring in examples of mathematics in their lives. This is how we give context to
mathematical understanding.
So, take this a step further. How can you do those same things and incorporate teaching
for social justice in math class? Listed below are links that will give you mathematical
background material. These sources will help you plan math lessons that are relevant to
real world uses of mathematics.
Mathematics (Proportions) and
Civics (Social Studies), Political Science, ELA
How do we votes? How are our votes counted? Are there other ways to think vote (that
are fair and democratic)? What is the electoral college? How does the electoral college
privilege certain voters and ignore others? What impact does that have on the outcome of
presidential elections?
http://www.ams.org/featurecolumn/archive/voting-introduction.html
http://www.ams.org/featurecolumn/archive/weighted1.html
http://www.ams.org/featurecolumn/archive/voting.games.two.html
Mathematics (Algebra and Proportions) and
Social Studies (geography, map reading, population changes)
What does it mean to “fairly apportion” the members of congress? In these exercises and
discussions, your students can explore the Constitution in terms of representation to the
government. How do these different apportionment plans impact taxation, availability of
government services, and local economies?
http://www.ams.org/featurecolumn/archive/apportion1.html
http://www.ams.org/featurecolumn/archive/apportionII1.html
Mathematics (Algebra, Proportions, Ratios, Percents, Graphing) and
History, Business, Economics
When a company (like Enron) declares bankruptcy, its creditors have to get paid, but they
only get a proportion of the money they are owed. When a bankrupt company B
announces it will pay ten cents on the dollar, that means that for every dollar Company B
owes, it will pay out only ten cents. Is this fair? What happens when big multinational
companies and small mom-and-pop businesses are both creditors? When individuals
declare bankruptcy, they, too have to repay the money they owe. Who is at most risk
declaring bankruptcy and why?
http://www.ams.org/featurecolumn/archive/bankruptcy.html
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A Few Lesson Plans
Mathematics (Probability, Statistics), and
Current Events, Geography
An exploration of racial profiling, “Driving While Black,” this lesson can be expanded to
consider airport screening, disciplinary measures in schools, and Wal-Mart’s decision to
ignore shoplifting if the shoplifter has taken less than $25 worth of merchandise
http://www.teachersforjustice.org/c-lessons/math/1LESSON-Gutstein-6-2-05.doc
Mathematics (various topics) and
physical education, economics, career exploration, and current events
These lessons are geared to high school students but can be modified for middle and
elementary school students.
http://www.wfu.edu/~mccoy/socialjustice/
Ethnomathematics and Teaching for Social Justice
Teaching for Social Justice in mathematics education means that we have to understand
and teach to the contexts of our students’ lives. Ethnomathematics is one way of
addressing this. Historically, ethnomathematics asks how different cultural and
professional groups use mathematics. Recently, mathematicians have expanded the
definition of mathematics to include exploring how mathematics is used in the lives of
specific groups of students themselves, such as
One set of examples that talks directly to these concerns addresses the lives of native
Alaskan students living in rural Alaska.
http://www.ankn.uaf.edu/curriculum/units/storyproblems/
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