Bringing The Bacon Bome To Bath Class
As readers might recall, two years ago there was buzz in the air concerning a report about processed meats and cancer. News outlets pounced on the possibility of including bacon and cancer in the same sentence, and as a mathematics teacher, I pounced on the opportunity to discuss risk with students. In pursuit of engaging students with items that they might encounter or hear about in their daily lives and having a little extra time to discuss the notion of modeling and assumptions, I had students read in class one of the many news articles that discussed the topic. The one I chose, from Allison Aubrey of NPR, noted that there was a “16 percent increased risk of colorectal cancer associated with each 3.5 ounces of red and processed meat consumed per day” (Aubrey 2015). Aubrey had obtained the information from the World Health Organization (2015) report that initially started the media flurry.