An 8th-grade algebra class at Frank S. Greene Middle School in Palo Alto invited Project HumaneKind to discuss ways in which mathematical equations and analyses can contribute to solutions to community issues. Leonor Delgado, from our education team, visited the class and led a discussion around the proliferation of homeless cats and kittens. (Dogs and puppies were also taken into account!) Key to this problem was an underlying equation—one which the students will formulate—to explain and calculate the feline population explosion. Students also learned about ways in which community volunteers, through Trap-Neuter-Return, and Project HumaneKind, through community education, work to find humane ways to decrease numbers of homeless pets.
