I found the article below in an issue of Scientific American in the context of teaching high school math, and I thought it was really interesting how many inferences somebody could make, or might want to make, if they applied themselves mathematically. It has made me start to see numbers in more of the things that I read.
This article is about something that affects me personally and, as it turns out, affects a number of my students as well. Many come from families with a high incidence of asthma.
Recently, the inhalers that I have been using for the past 20 years, known generically as albuterol inhalers, have undergone a major change. This is supposedly because the old inhalers emitted chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, which are damaging to the Earth's ozone layer.
But, in fact, there is likely a deeper issue at play.
One thing that pharmaceutical companies hate is when their patent expires on a drug, since then anybody can start manufacturing that chemical generically. In the United States, this period is around 17 years. Often what these companies do (as I learned on an episode of Law and Order) is that they change the drug slightly when their patent is about to expire so that they can get new patent protection. In the case of the albuterol inhalers, the shift in government regulations allowed them to re-apply legal protection to albuterol inhalers so that they can again apply premium pricing on it. It is a total racket, if you ask me.
So, I've been having some students read the article below and answer some questions about it. It demands an understanding of percents, fractions, stepwise problem solving, and mathematical reading literacy.
To view the document, hit the full screen icon at the upper right of the document viewer, and use the +/- buttons to zoom in and out.
Based on the article above, answer the following questions . . .
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