Decimals, Rounding, and Apportionment

Abstract

With the end of each census year comes an opportunity to discuss current events and the relationship of mathematics to American history while reinforcing in general-mathematics classes the concepts of decimals, fractions, and rounding. This opportunity arises from the reapportioning of seats in the House of Representatives following each decade's census. In general, apportionment problems deal with the distribution of objects that cannot be subdivided into disjoint sets. Additional examples of such distributions may range from assigning seats in a student council to various classes to deciding on the basis of people's preferences how many pepperoni, mushroom, or deluxe pizzas to purchase for a party needing eleven pizzas.