Motherhood Math: Mothers in the Workforce

Teaching Theme of the Week

from Education World®

Students study a table showing how the number of working mothers increased between 1955 and 2001 and complete the provided work sheet.

Subjects: Educational Technology, Mathematics, Economics, Sociology

Grades Levels: 3-5, 6-8, 9-12

Objectives
Students will:

• study the table that shows how the number of working mothers has increased, and
• use the information in the table to complete the work sheet.

Keywords
mother, work, labor, table, chart, percent, percentage, quiz, true, false

Materials Needed

• computers with Internet access or copies of the table Mothers Participating in Labor Force, 1955-2004
• Mothers in the Workforce work sheet

Procedure
The number of working mothers has increased dramatically since 1955. In 1955, 18 percent of mothers with children younger than 6 years old worked outside the home; by 2000, that number had leaped to 65 percent.

Note: The work sheet for this activity is too difficult for most third and fourth graders. You might want to create your own questions for those students.

Distribute the Mothers in the Workforce work sheets. Explain to students that they will use the Mothers Participating in Labor Force, 1955-2004 table to answer the questions about the history of mothers in the workforce. You can use one of the following approaches or adapt the activity to suit your own needs:

• Post the working mothers table in a learning center. Have students complete the work sheet at that center.
• Invite students to access the table online by typing the URL—http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0104670.html—into the computer's browser window.
• Print a copy of the table for each student.
• Complete the activity as a class. Project an image of the table from the computer onto a large screen.

Assessment
Students will correctly answer at least eight of the ten questions on the work sheet.
Answer Key: 1. T 2. F 3. F 4. F 5. T 6. F 7. T 8. F 9. T 10. T

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