1112+Pasta+Mining

=Pasta Mining= We started class with a discussion of renewable and non-renewable resources: Renewable Resources - Wind, Sunshine, etc.

Non-Renewable Resources - Coal, Oil, Natural Gas

===‍Students predicted that a graph of production from a non-renewable resource mine (ie. a coal mine or oil well) would show a decrease in output over time.===

===‍In order to both understand the consumption of non-renewable resources and gather data for graphing lessons, students were asked to mine for pasta. Students were then broken into 4 groups. Each group was responsible for mining a different kind of pasta. 16 pounds of pasta was then dumped on the floor: 4 pounds of each kind. Each student was given two 60-second opportunities to extract as much of their kind of pasta as they could from the mine.===

Pasta Mining Rules:
 * 1) Each student will get 60 seconds during a turn to gather as much of their kind of pasta as possible.
 * 2) Any pieces of pasta that differ from the kind that is supposed to be mined will be subtracted from the total at the end of each 60 second round.
 * 3) Students cannot use any aids like cups or bowls to help. They can only use what is in their possession normally in the classroom.
 * 4) At the end of a 60 second round, students must carry back whatever pasta they have in their possession and nothing more. If they made a pile of pasta on the ground in front of them, but it is not in their possession at the end of the round, they may not bring it back to be counted.
 * 5) Since this is a study of non-renewable resources, pasta is __not__ returned to the mine at the end of each round.
 * 6) For this activity, there were ten 60 second rounds.

media type="custom" key="12242932"
 * Data**

Each group then made a line graph showing their group's mining output over time:

[[image:mrsoskil/Wilson_Line.jpg align="left"]]




Each group then made a pie chart showing the percentage of the total pasta each person mined:

Group A




Finally, each student needed to use the data to recommend one of the above miners to be hired by the president of Pasta Mining Co. Recommendations were made in business letters that can be seen below.