Electoral Reform – fun with numbers!
Everyone knows there are lies, damned lies and statistics. Numbers can be used to prove or disprove anything. Similarly, the same election votes can produce wildly different outcomes depending on the voting system in place.
I’ve always been interested in the mathematics of voting, perhaps even more so than in the election results themselves. A wonderful math activity is to learn about the upcoming Ontario referendum on electoral reform and then use past election data to see how or whether the proposed changes would have affected the outcomes of past elections. You can also find information on other voting systems (using a sample lesson plan with activity sheets or a web-based lecture for example) and discuss concepts such as strategic voting, fairness and representation.
I hope you have as much fun on Oct. 10, 2007 as I do!
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader. If this is your first visit, please be sure to check out "starter kit" of articles. Then, click on the pages, posts or categories on the right that interest you for much more information about home school university admissions in Ontario and Canada.
Comments
Thanks, Jennifer. Yes, first time home ownership, especially rather late in life, really comes with the sense that you paid your dues and now you DESERVE it! 
To tie this back to the original post: our home ownership comes at a price — to achieve our goals, we’re no longer in Ontario. So, I can’t participate in this upcoming election and missed being able to contribute to any election reform by mere weeks. If this isn’t one of Murphy’s Laws, then it should be!
Just dropping by to say, congrats on buying!!! Thanks for your comment on my post and it’s totally awesome that you get to own. Only people who have rented half their life can understand the complete elation of joy that comes with owning…LOL