The Number Cruncher

Intro · Question · Rubric · Background · QuickQuest · Roles · Group · Conclusion · Help · Dictionary

The Number Cruncher helps the WebQuest team understand the meaning behind the numbers. How big is five trillion anyway? What other numbers are important? And who says so? As the Number Cruncher you can develop a basic understanding, learn more or become an expert. Go as far as you can because this will help your team make the most informed answer to the Question and reach the highest levels on the Rubric.

The Basics

1. Go to The U.S. National Debt Clock and record the exact amount of the debt and the exact time. (Note: if the time is not correct, press your browser's reload button to update the clock.)
2. When you're finished writing that info down, press the refresh/reload button on your browser. You might need to use the option key to do a full refresh/reload.
3. Write down the new amount and the time.
4. Figure out how much time passed between the first time you checked the Debt Clock and when you reloaded it (use seconds or minutes as you see fit).
5. Figure out the change in the debt from the first time you checked it.
6. Divide the amount of debt in #5 above by the time that passed (#4) to find out how much the National Debt increased in one second or one minute.
7. Create your own list of what could have been bought that you value using the amount the national debt increased in one minute. You can use guesstimates and ask people, use catalogs, newspapers, etc. (Refer back to the Money Matters? Sampler?)
8. Save this list to use in your group's letter to your congressional representative.
9. Go to Federal Spending and the Budget from the National Center for Policy Analysis. How can you use these descriptions of numbers to help your team mates understand how big 5 trillion is?

Learning More

Use the links below to get an understanding of what's happened in the past, present and future predictions for debt and growth.

The National Debt: 1940-2005

from the Concord Coalition

Quarterly Economic Survey

from USA Today

CBO Baseline Budget Projections, 1999-2010

from Congressional Budget Office

with three alternative calculation methods

Becoming an Expert

Now that you have a better understanding of this particular role, you can help your team more by pursuing additional questions that came up for you. Use the Hotlist of Links as a starting point. Consider some strategies provided by Jamie McKenzie in his article The Research Cycle.