Rethinking mathematics : teaching social justice by the numbers

Gutstein, Eric, (editor of compilation.). Peterson, Bob, 1953- (editor of compilation.).

Summary: In this new expanded and updated edition of Rethinking Mathematics, more than 50 articles show how to weave social justice issues throughout the mathematics curriculum, as well as how to integrate mathematics into other curricular areas. Rethinking Mathematics offers teaching ideas, lesson plans, and reflections by practitioners and mathematics educators. This is real-world math -- math that helps students analyze social problems as they gain essential academic skills. This book offers hope and guidance for teachers to enliven and strengthen their math teaching. It will deepen students' understanding of society and help prepare them to be critical, active participants in a democracy. Blending theory and practice, this is the only resource of its kind. --

Record details

ISBN: 9780942961553 (alk. paper)
ISBN: 0942961552 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Physical Description: print
xiii, 286 pages : illustrations ; 28 cm
Edition: Second edition.
Publisher: Milwaukee, Wisconsin : Rethinking Schools, [2013]
Copyright: ©2013

Content descriptions

General Note:

Includes index.

"A Rethinking Schools Publication."

Formatted Contents Note:

Part 1: Viewing math broadly. 1. Teaching math across the curriculum / Bob Peterson ; Teaching suggestions : disparities in wealth cartoon ; Activity box: No-TV week math ; Driving while black or brown : a math project about racial profiling / Eric (Rico) Gutstein -- 2. Historical, cultural, and social implications of mathematics / S.E. Anderson -- 3. "I thought this U.S. place was supposed to be about freedom" / Maura Varley Gutiâerrez -- 4. Rethinking mathematics and its intersection with race : interview with Danny Martin / Eric (Rico) Gutstein -- 5. Reading the world with math / Marilyn Frankenstein ; Teaching suggestions : the war in Iraq, the Boondocks cartoon ; Activity box: Using math to take a critical look at how the unemployment rate is determined / Marilyn Frankenstein ; The war in Iraq : how much does it cost? / Bob Peterson -- 6. Race, retrenchment, and the reform of school mathematics / William F. Tate ; Environmental hazards : is environmental racism real? / Larry Miller -- 7. Adventures of a beginning teacher with social justice mathematics / Liz Trexler -- Part 2: Infusing social justice into math classes. 8. "Home buying while brown or black" / Eric (Rico) Gutstein ; Teaching suggestions: Corporate control of U.S. media line graph ; Teaching suggestions: "And how do you spend your wages?" Cartoon -- 9. Living algebra, living wage / Jana Dean ; Teaching suggestions: The dependent variable ; Teaching suggestions: The Y-intercept ; "I can't survive on $8.25" : using math to investigate minimum wage, CEO pay, and more / Eric (Rico) Gutstein -- 10. Sweatshop accounting / Larry Steele ; Activity box: How do you live on 31 cents an hour? ; Teaching suggestions: The global capitalist economy cartoon ; Globalization, labor, and the environment : a linear programming unit / Indigo Esmonde and Jessica Quindel ; Poverty and world wealth : recognizing inequality / Susan Hersh and Bob Peterson ; Unequal distribution of U.S. wealth : recognizing inequality, part two / Michael Langyel -- 11. Chicanos have math in their blood / Luis Ortiz-Franco ; Activity box: The hidden grain in meat / Stephanie Kempf -- 12. Whose community is this? : understanding the mathematics of neighborhood displacement / Eric (Rico) Gutstein -- 13. Understanding large numbers / Bob Peterson ; Activity box: How many Willis Towers tall Is $135 billion? / Eric (Rico) Gutstein -- 14. When equal isn't fair / Julia M. Aguirre and Maria del Rosario Zavala -- 15. Racism and stop and frisk / Kathryn Himmelstein -- 16. "With math, it's like you have more defense" / Erin E. Turner and Beatriz T. Font Strawhun ; Designing a wheelchair ramp : putting the Pythagorean theorem to use / Adam Renner -- 17. "That smell is from the sugar cane fire!" / Raquel Milani and Michela Tuchapesk da Silva -- 18. What's a good school? / Michelle Allman and Almanzia Opeyo -- 19. Radical equations: a review of the book by Bob Moses and Charles E. Cobb Jr. / David Levine -- 20. Teaching percent change + social justice = opportunity for deep mathematical discussion / Flannery Denny -- 21. The square root of a fair share / Jana Dean -- 22. The geometry of inequality / Andrew Brantlinger ; South Central Los Angeles : ratios, density, and geometry in urban areas / Eric (Rico) Gutstein -- 23. Plotting inequality, building resistance / Adam Renner, Bridget Brew, and Crystal Proctor -- 24. Integrals and equity / Megan Staples ; HIV/AIDS status : using statistics to understand ratios / Sage Forbes-Gray ; Teaching suggestions: HIV status bus stop photo ; Justice for janitors : rich lessons in the power of math / Bob Peterson -- 25. Math, maps, and misrepresentation / Eric (Rico) Gutstein ; Teaching suggestions: Map of territory that Mexico lost to the United States ; Real-world projects: Seeing math all around us ; Teaching suggestions: Do you support invading Iraq? cartoon ; Deconstructing Barbie : math and popular culture / Swapna Mukhopadhyay -- 26. Multicultural math / Claudia Zaslavsky ; Tracking PA announcements : collecting data in the classroom / Robert M. Berkman -- Part 3: Infusing social justice math into other curricular areas. 27. Ten chairs of inequality / Polly Kellogg ; Fast foods, junk foods, and advertising : analyzing the barrage of advertising aimed at children / Bob Peterson -- 28. Transparency of water / Selene Gonzalez-Carillo and Martha Merson -- 29. Write the truth : presidents and slaves / Bob Peterson ; Teaching suggestions: "Eight companies earn more" one-dollar bill graphic ; Libraries, books, and bias : using math to raise issues of representation / Bob Peterson ; The mathematics of lotteries : going beyond probability / Laurie Rubel -- 30. Rethinking and connecting algebra to real-world issues / Sandra Kingan -- 31. A social justice data fair / Beth Alexander and Michelle Munk -- 32. The transnational capital auction / Bill Bigelow ; Sweatshop math : taking a closer look at where kids' "stuff" comes from / Bob Peterson ; Teaching suggestions: "Work faster!" cartoon -- Part 4: Resources for rethinking mathematics. Websites, math curriculum and pedagogy, books with theoretical/academic perspectives, curriculum guides/resources, children's books, sources for maps, and more.