1011+Pasta+Mining

=Pasta Mining=

We began our lesson by discussing different types of natural resources. Members of the class explained that natural resources can be either renewable or non-renewable. Renewable resources are replaced by nature and usually don't run out. Non-renewable resources cannot be replaced by nature fast enough to sustain how much we use. They can run out. Different types of each resource are shown in the graphic above.

Students were then asked to show on their personal white boards what a line-graph of production from a non-renewable resource mine (ie. a coal mine or oil well) would look like over time. Most predicted that it would show a decrease in output over time because there would be progressively less of the resource as time passed. Some claimed that production might get a boost at times if new technology were used, workers were more efficient, or a new deposit of the resource was found in the mine.


 * 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 60 seconds 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, each student mined twice. There were ten 60 second rounds.


 * At the conclusion of the activity we put our data into a spreadsheet. The data is shown below.**

They were asked to explain in their memo the reasons for their reccomendation. Before writing the memos they were reminded that some pasta was easier to mine than others. Just because a person mined the most pasta, it doesn't mean they are the best pasta miner. All aspects of the data must be analyzed in making their decision.
 * Each student was then asked to create a memo in Google Docs to the CEO of a mining company reccomending one of the above miners for hire.**

Next, groups were asked to create line graphs using [|Create A Graph]showing the change in the amount of pasta mined by their group over time. Those graphs were compared to those drawn at the beginning of the activity on the personal white-boards to see if the pasta mining trends were similar to those predicted for non-renewable resource mines. The graphs are shown below.





Finally, each group was asked to use [|Create A Graph]to make a pie chart showing the percentage of their groups pasta mined by each individual. Those graphs are shown below.