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Planning for Business Success (Math-Enriched) allows students to learn how business is really done—and how to use mathematics to plan and revise plans in order to succeed. The math lessons teach a variety of mathematics related to the content of Planning for Business Success. The lessons are included at points throughout the original module where the business content relies upon mathematical ideas but the original module does not teach the mathematics needed to analyze the business content in depth. The new math content reviews some pre-algebraic concepts and foundational skills and introduces students to data analysis and statistics, but it focuses primarily on the Algebra 1 concepts that are central to high school mathematics and that students often struggle to master. Because a visual approach is more accessible to many students than the analytical approach used in most Algebra 1 classes, the lessons approach the teaching of algebra through functions, with an emphasis on graphing. Students are introduced to a concept or problem in business, such as how to determine the break-even point of an enterprise, and then learn how to analyze information and come up with solutions using mathematics. After learning how to solve these problems, students see how to apply the relevant concepts to content they may have encountered in previous math coursework.
At a Glance
Mathematics Learned and Applied
In Calculating Your Future: Personal Finance, students learn the skills and knowledge needed to take ownership of their finances. Students apply concepts of algebra and data analysis to making short- and long-term real-world financial decisions, such as how much to spend on a daily and monthly basis; whether to apply for a credit card, and, if so, which one; what to consider before making a major purchase, such as an automobile; how to pay for college; how to weigh the risks of different investment options; and when and how to plan for retirement.
Students use critical-thinking and problem-solving skills to set financial goals and evaluate strategies for meeting those goals. Throughout the module, they use algebra and data analysis to analyze financial situations. For example, students construct and explore functions that express relationships among the variables of principal, interest, and time in order to maximize their investments and minimize debts. Students also consider how personal values and other non-economic factors affect financial decisions, and they examine the short- and long-term effects of different financial decisions.
The modules in the 9th-grade course Working Toward Sustainability engage students in exploring fuel sources that can serve as alternatives to fossil fuels (that is, gasoline, oil, and coal) and learning about the importance of current research into stable and practical sources of energy. Given the political, economic, environmental, and social concerns over the use of fossil fuels, people around the world are seeking alternative sources of energy to power their lives—alternatives that are cost-effective, renewable, equitable, and environmentally safe.
This course builds students’ knowledge of the key science concepts essential for understanding how energy is stored and used as fuel. We All Run on Energy offers an introduction to the scientific concept of energy and how stored energy is released in order to fuel human activity. The three modules Energy from the Sun, Is Hydrogen a Solution?,and The Nuclear Revolution each focus on a particular fuel source: biomass, hydrogen, and nuclear. Students keep scientific logs containing information on the laboratory experiments they conduct over the course of each module, and they build their skills in scientific literacy by learning how to read scientific documents and interpret data and by creating lab reports in their logs.
Read complete module descriptions in the PDF.
A project of EDC. Education Development Center, Inc., works closely with Ford Motor Company Fund