Wage War
Should the government increase the minimum wage?
In this lesson, students use systems of linear equations to explore the relationship between wage and labor, analyze the economics of fast-food restaurants, and debate whether the federal government should increase the minimum wage.
Students will
- Given a table of values, calculate the change in y per change in x (i.e. the slope); interpret the slope in context
- Solve a system of linear equations
- Interpret the solution of a system, and the space on either side, in a real-world context
Before you begin
Students should be comfortable calculating the slope of a line; they do not need to be familiar with systems of equations prior to the lesson.Common Core Standards
Content Standards
Mathematical Practices
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