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The
Atlantic Slave Trade: We Are Family
| Subject: | Migration |
| Curriculum Area: | Math; 10th grade |
| Instructional Objective: | Students will be able to compute the number of African slaves brought to North America, South America, and the Caribbean within a given timeframe. |
| Activities: | Discussion, Research, Writing |
Procedure:
1. Distribute to the class copies of the chart "Distribution of African Slaves in the Americas during Atlantic Trade 1450-1870."
2. Tell the class that 10 million Africans were brought to the Americas during this time period.
3. Using the percent figures in the chart, students are to compute the number of Africans taken to North America, South America, and the Caribbean.
4. Have volunteer students perform their computations at the chalkboard, while others complete the assignment at their seats. Students should first convert the percentages to decimals, then multiply the figure 10,000,000 by each decimal such that
7% = 700,000
43% = 4,300,000 5
0% = 5,000,000
5. Write the number of students in the class on the chalkboard.
6. Ask for student volunteers with ancestors from the Caribbean and other parts of the Americas.
7. Have class compute the percentage each cultural group comprises of the total class.
Ex.: 36 students are in the class; 12 are from South America.
(a) Make a fraction by placing the number of students from the Americas above the total: 12/36
(b) Change the fraction to a decimal by division?.33
(c) Change the decimal to a percent?33%
8. Have student volunteers put their work on the chalkboard. Discuss the results.
Alethia J. West