Is the Electoral College fair?

2023-11-20 09:44:43

Is the Electoral College fair?


Show your students this really cute segment comparing how the Electoral College functions in our elections to what students think is fair and just. From the New York Times, Electoral College 101.

After showing the video consider asking your students what the grouping of students must have been for "colored pencils" to win the class electoral college?  Is there more than one possibility?  What is the minimum number of students that could have voted for colored pencils for them to still win the Electoral College.  Students then consider scenarios where a candidate wins the popular vote, but loses the Electoral College.  Students also verify a claim that a candidate can win the election with as little as 25% of the popular vote!  Is that true and if so, is it fair?  Let's do the math!


Activity Solutions & Supporting Materials
Share this:
Comments (0)
    Display 1 - 10 Of total 0
    The Game of GO
    In March 2016, Lee Se-dol, one of the world's best...
    One harrowing adventure
      Can you imagine being stuck in the...
    Will this be an El Niño winter?
     The Oceanic Niño Index (ONI) started to show...
    This shoe is huge!
    Brian and his son were doing some shopping when ...
    How hard it is to pick the perfect bracket? (Updated)
    Updated (2026)! Games have begun and there ha...
    BIG Snickers bar
      Act 1 - Big question = H...
    2026
     As the new year approaches (where did the ti...
    What is Artemis 1 and when will it launch?
      Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky) 50 years...
    Is this possible?
    Brian Shoemaker, a Newton, MA mathematic...