By Mark Robinson
Carmel High School students presented their math-based ideas Dec. 12 for how Hamilton County should prepare for an Ebola outbreak, the culmination of a month-long project-based learning assignment designed by math teacher and instructional coach Dan Perdun.
Groups of students were tasked with developing solutions based on the mathematics of exponentials and logarithms in areas such as public information and education, outbreak containment and even secured safe havens should a pandemic occur. Area officials in the field attended the presentations, including: Tom Sivak, executive director of Hamilton County Emergency Management; Jim Ginder, health educator, Hamilton County Health Dept., and Janice Vanmetre, director of nursing, Hamilton County Health Dept.
“It’s not enough just to do the project,” said Perdun, who collaborated on the project involving seven classes with fellow teachers Michael Hosking and Paige Wehr. “The point is they know that the material they are leaning, someone in the real world cares about it. We’ve invited special guests to attend that would work in a field that they may be dealing with this same question. It’s an authentic audience.”
