Math_goldrush

Before getting into this scenario, I would have taught ratios, percents and taxes. I would use this to supplement what I have already taught. The classes would be divided into groups for each town. The groups would have to find out costs of materials to retrieve the gold and the cost to get to their town. After arriving to town, they would have to figure out the cost of living there and how much room was available in the town. The group would calculate the cost of food and lodging in their town. The group would also have to find the cost of gold at the time. With that information they would figure out what percent of the money form the gold the town would actually get. The group would have to present their findings to "the government" as to why their town would be the best place for the official Boom Town. The main goal is to have the lowest cost of living for the miners and the lowest cost for the town, but the highest percent of taxes back for the town. Marcia

I agree with Marcia that I would have already taught/discussed ratios, percents, and taxes and use this activity as an elaboration or extension of the original lesson plan. It would be really cool if the social studies teacher was in on this activity as well. I would have the students look up the distance that the minors must travel from their town to the actual mining site, the conditions in which they must travel, and population of their town before I began my portion of the activity. I would divide my class in to groups of no more than four students per group. Then, I would have each group decide on a reasonable "town budget" and the amount of money that they would allot for providing housing, etc. for the visiting miners. I would have each group be responsible for deciding which mode of transportation to offer to the prospective miners. If they choose a steam-powered car, they must calculate the cost of the car and the cost of the steam needed to power it to the mining location. If they choose a horse-driven carrier, they must calculate the cost of the carrier and the cost of providing for the horse on the journey to the mining destination. Once the students have discovered the cost of the transportation that they will make available to the miners, they will have to determine how many horses/carriers or cars they will need to have available for rent. Once that cost is determined, they must figure the percent of their town budget that they used for transportation. Did they stay within the amount that they originally alloted? If not, what could they cut back on? Next, the students must determine what they will actually charge the miners to rent the provided mode of transportation. Finally, the students will figure the percent of increase that they charged the miners in order to make this venture profitable. (I realize that this activity only addresses the transportation aspect of the original problem, but I think that it is involved enough to cover the most important mathematical facets. Also, you could have one group work on transportation and the others work on food and cost of living using the same system/method.)  As a resource, I used the following links: http://www.ausbcomp.com/~bbott/cars/carhist.htm and http://www.blackcombsleighrides.com/node/10. Holly Miller, Crescent Middle School