Is It Really News?
Computation and Estimation
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Objective
Students will apply the concepts of fractions and decimals to determine what part of a
newspaper is really news.
Overview of the Lesson
A leading national newspaper stated that the majority of the information contained
therein is in the form of advertisements. To investigate this, copies of the local newspaper
are distributed to student groups. The class is instructed to reach a consensus on their
definition of “news” and on general headings to be used to categorize the contents of a
newspaper, such as sports, entertainment, advertisements, etc. Using transparent grid
sheets as overlays, students estimate the total area of a newspaper page, excluding the
margins, and determine the area of each category on their assigned pages. Students then
express the area of the article to the area of the page as a fraction and decimal. The class
then records all findings. The total area of each of the categories is computed. These totals
are compared to the total number of pages. On the basis of this data, students decide how
much of the newspaper is really news.
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