I love listening to Planet Money, NPR’s economic podcast, on my commute to and from work. And a few weeks ago they did a show that explained how a tiny piece of data like the price of lettuce in Brooklyn contributes to the formulation of the Consumer Price Index (CPI). When I looked up some data on the CPI it seemed to be perfect for students to use when studying Linear Equations so I devised an activity. Listen to the podcast, look at the data and follow the activity. I think the worksheet needs work, but the podcast is great and the data are plentiful!
You can listen to the podcast for free on the Planet Money blog see the October 23rd, 2010 archives for show #222.
The data you’ll need is provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics: here is a table of cpi data.
I love me some Planet Money, and they do a great job motivating this activity.
