Conduct a survey of banks, savings and loan companies,
and credit unions in your area. Prepare a report on
the different types of savings accounts available and
the interest rates they pay. Include methods of payment
as well as interest rates.
Do you expect to live long enough to be a millionaire?
Suppose that your annual salary today is $52,000. If
inflation continues at 6%, how long will it be before
$52,000 increases to an annual salary of a million dollars?
Consult an almanac or some government source, and
then write a report on the current inflation rate. Project
some of these results to the year of your own expected
retirement.
Historical Quest: Write a short paper about
Fibonacci numbers.
You might check The Fibonacci Quarterly,
particularly "A Primer on the Fibonacci Sequence," Parts
I and II, in the February and April 1963 issues.
The articles, written by Verner Hogatt and S. L. Basin,
are considered classic articles on the subject.
One member of your group should investigate the relationship
of the Fibonacci numbers to nature, another the algebraic
properties of the sequence, and another the history
of the sequence.
