Veterans Day Math

  The War to End All Wars ended at the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month  in 1918.  In 1919, President Wilson declared November 11, 1919 as Armistice Day but in 1954, it was changed to Veterans day as a remembrance to all the men and women who fought in World War II and the Korean War.

One way to bring the historical importance of Veterans day is with this activity from Yummy Math.  It has the stats for wars beginning with the Revolutionary war on up to the present.

Although the activity asks students to develop there questions, I see several possibilities for activities students can do with the numbers.

1.  They can create percentages for the those still living out of the total number who fought.

2.  Create percentages for those who died in the war out of the total number who fought.

3. Graph the number of people who fought in each war comparing it against the population of the time.

4.  Calculate the percentage of the population who performed active duty for each war.

5.  Calculate the percentage of those who died against the total number of people who fought.

6.  Based on the number of World War II veterans listed, what is the youngest age the survivors can be?  What about Korean War Survivors?

If you want to know how many veterans from World War II die each day, go here. Students can calculate how much longer it will be before the last surviving veteran passes so there are none left. 

You could also have students research how fast veterans from the Korean War are dying to figure out how long it will be before there are no more.  Be aware there are those who fought in both World War II and the Korean War.  I know a man who fought in both World War II and the Korean War.  He is 94, going on 95 but his health is slowly declining so I don't know how much longer he'll be around.

Have a great Veterans day. Let me know what you think.