Jenius! (Updated)

How does what we see affect what we feel?

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Jenius! (Updated)

How does what we see affect what we feel?

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Check it out! This lesson was just updated in September 2024, and we hope you love the new and improved version. If you've already prepped an earlier version, fear not, you can still find those here through Thursday December 5, 2024.

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2023-2024 Versions

In the fall of 2024, Citizen Math released updated versions of every lesson in our library, plus a few new ones! We know you may have already prepped an earlier version or planned a repeat of last year, so we're continuing to make these earlier versions available through Thursday December 5, 2024.

You can find the new lessons through the regular search, and we hope you love them as much as we do. You can read more about these updates in Our Community.

Thousands of years ago, Confucius introduced the concept of jen. According to him, a person of jen “brings the good things of others to completion and does not bring the bad things of others to completion.” In other words, jen represents our ability to make the world a better place…but also a worse one.

In this lesson students explore the concept of the jen ratio — the ratio of positive to negative observations in our daily lives — and use it to discuss how what we see influences the way we experience the world.

REAL WORLD TAKEAWAYS

  • What we see – the ratio of positive to negative moments – affects our well-being.
  • Many people believe that the greater the ratio between positive and negative observations is, the better we’ll feel.
  • We can improve our own “jen ratios” – the ratio of positive to negative interactions we observe – by engaging in positive activities and consuming positive media.
  • We can also improve the jen ratios of others by being observably kind.

MATH OBJECTIVES

  • Use ratio language to describe the relationship between two quantities.
  • Compare ratios.
  • Find equivalent ratios.

Great anytime, including at the beginning of a unit before students have any formal introduction to the topic.
Grade 6
Ratios & Unit Rates
Grade 6
Ratios & Unit Rates
Content Standards 6.RP.1 Understand the concept of a ratio and use ratio language to describe a ratio relationship between two quantities. For example, "The ratio of wings to beaks in the bird house at the zoo was 2:1, because for every 2 wings there was 1 beak." "For every vote candidate A received, candidate C received nearly three votes."
Mathematical Practices MP.2 Reason abstractly and quantitatively. MP.4 Model with mathematics.

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