Grade level: 5th – 6th grades
Skills: Line graphs, ratio (fraction), and division
Related environmental issues: Others
Coronavirus has infected more than 1.6 million people in 211 countries as of April 10, 2020. The three figures below show some of the impacts that it’s had on people.
The line graph below shows the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States since February 3, 2020.
1. During which period did the number of confirmed cases start increasing?
A)During 2/23 – 3/4
B) 3/4 – 3/14
C) 3/14 – 3/24
D) 3/24 – 4/3
2. During which period did the number of confirmed cases increase more, during 3/14 – 3/24 or 3/24 – 4/3 ?
3. Around how many confirmed cases does the United States have now?
A) 340,000 cases
B) 480,000 cases
C) 520,000 cases
As many countries introduced travel restrictions not to spread the Coronavirus, the number of airplanes in the air decreased.
The figure below compares the number of airplanes that used the London Heathrow Airport, one the busiest airports in the world, on March 27, 2019 and March 25, 2020.
4. Which fraction shows the ratio of the number of airplanes at the London Heathrow Airport on March 25, 2020 to that on March 27, 2019?
A) 1/2
B) 1/3
C) 2
D) 3
As more people stay at home and work from home, workers depend more on video calls and instant messaging.
The bar graph below shows the number of business instant messaging sent by the average Slack app user for 5 days during February and March in New York. Slack is a business instant messaging app.
5. How many instant messages were sent by the average Slack user in NY in a day during February? Round to the nearest whole number.
6. How many instant messages were sent by the average Slack user in NY in a day during March?
7. How many more instant messages were sent by the average Slack user in NY in a day in March than in February?
Figure 1 : Retrieved from google (Accessed on April 10, 2020)
Figure 2: BBC, (April 10, 2020) Coronavirus: The world in lockdown in maps and charts
Figure 3: BBC, (April 10, 2020) Coronavirus: The world in lockdown in maps and charts
The structure of the figure was modified.
Answer keys
Factful Environmental Math Problems (2020)
Just published and now available from Amazon (paperback)
About this book
The objective of Factful Environmental Math Problems is to cultivate our young people’s skills to analyze and evaluate fact-based data for understanding our world, while improving their math skills and critical thinking skills.
With the rise of the Internet and new technology, building skills to analyze and evaluate fact-based data becomes increasingly important for our young people to prepare for this rapidly changing world. These skills minimize their chances of being brainwashed by false information and making uninformed decisions and ultimately help develop their critical thinking skills. (Read more)
Published: March 26, 2020
Price: $6.25