District/School Administration PK-16 Program Support Educational Technology
Technology Toolkit

Apportionment Methods
North Shore Regional Vocational School District

Project Description

The activity presented is part of a course in Discrete Mathematics for twelfth graders who have completed Algebra II. The text used is Excursions in Modern Mathematics, Tannenbaum, 4th ed., from Prentice Hall. This particular section is entitled "Social Choice" and includes chapters on voting systems, fair division, and apportionment. The unit on apportionment includes discussion and exercises on basic principles, various applications, and specifically the apportionment of representatives in a legislative body.

The application to Congressional apportionment in the United States allows integration with social studies through a consideration of the history since 1791. There are five mathematical methods which have been employed throughout the history of the country: Hamilton's Method; Jefferson's, Adams', and Webster's Methods; and the current approach, the Huntington-Hill Method.

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