USA TODAY® Related Activities
Space Spending
Teacher Notes:
- Have students find information about the value of money from 1960 to the present. They can compare the table values to this information.
Procedure for the Activity
Answers:
Step 1 Ordered pairs: (0, 3136.4), (5, 29557.5), (10, 17,133.8), (15, 10,630.3), (20, 11,272.5),
(25, 12,460.8), (30, 16,722.6), (35, 16,235.4)
Graph:
The graph climbs steeply, then decreases, climbs slowly, levels off, and decreases slightly.
Step 2
Years Since 1960 |
Amount Spent in Equivalent 2001 Dollars |
Rate of Change |
0 |
$3136.40 |
— |
5 |
$29,557.50 |
(29,557.5 – 3136.4) ÷ (5 – 0) = 5284.2 |
10 |
$17,133.80 |
(17,133.8 – 29,557.5) ÷ (10 – 5) = -2484.7 |
15 |
$10,630.30 |
(10,630.3 - 17,133.8) ÷ (15 - 10) = -1300.7 |
20 |
$11,272.50 |
(11,272.5 - 10,630.3) ÷ (20 - 15) = 128.4 |
25 |
$12,460.80 |
(12,460.8 - 11,272.5) ÷ (25 - 20) = 237.7 |
30 |
$16,722.60 |
(16,722.6 - 12,460.8) ÷ (30 - 25) = 852.4 |
35 |
$16,235.40 |
(16,235.4 - 16,722.6) ÷ (35 - 30) = -97.4 |
Step 3 The values in Column 3 describe the slope of each line segment. The slope is the rate of change per year in the NASA spending. For example, -2484.7 means that 2484.7 million dollars less were spent per year from 1965 to 1970.
Step 4 The average of the values in Column 3 is about 374.27. The rate of change using only the points
(0, 3136.4) and (35, 16,235.4) is about 372.26. The average is slightly greater than the change from 1960 to 1995.
Step 5 The amount of money in 2001 dollars spent by NASA was about 6 times as much as the amount spent in money valued in 1960 dollars. You could take $5 and divide by 6 to estimate that lunch in 1960 cost about $0.85.
Step 6 Consider the table at the beginning of this activity. Complete the table below.
Year |
Actual Amount Spent in Given Year |
Amount Spent in Equivalent 2001 Dollars |
Column 2 ÷ Column 1 |
1960 |
$523.60 |
$3136.40 |
5.99 |
1965 |
$5,250.00 |
$29,557.50 |
5.63 |
1970 |
$3,749.20 |
$17,133.80 |
4.57 |
1975 |
$3,231.00 |
$10,630.30 |
3.29 |
1980 |
$5,243.00 |
$11,272.50 |
2.15 |
1985 |
$7,552.00 |
$12,460.80 |
1.65 |
1990 |
$12,296.00 |
$16,722.60 |
1.36 |
1995 |
$13,996.00 |
$16,235.40 |
1.16 |
Step 7 The value of money in 2001 dollars becomes closer to 1 as you get closer to 2001. You could use this table to estimate the cost of items in 1960, 1965, 1970, 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, or 1995 as compared to the cost of an item in 2001.
Wrapping Up the Activity
See students’ work.
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