Project Template

Target Audience: Algebra I students

Project Description

We will introduce to students different types of houses, buildings, churches and temples around the world through an anchor video. Then students will be asked to identify how mathematics present in each architecture from the video, such as different geometrical figures. Students will assign to work in teams of two. Each student will keep a portfolio of what they have done, the research notes, ideas and sketches for the project. Students will ask to build a children hospital in down town Austin with space and budget constraints. Students will begin to research building plans and design via the Internet. Next, they will begin creating the blueprint for their hospital. Experts from the community will be invited to speak to students about architecture, structural designs, blueprint and answer any questions students might have. Students will research the cost of materials for construction and they will use Excel to create their proposed budget for approval. After completion and approval of their computer model designs, students will proceed to build a model of their building with foam board. Students will be compiling a portfolio of their project along the way, with all their research, designs, and analyses of the mathematical concepts they have learned. At the end of the project, they will be asked to present their final design to the rest of the class, discussing the mathematics concepts they used, difficulties they encountered, and how they would go about this project if they had the opportunity to do it again.

Driving Question: Where is math in architecture?

Overall goals of the project

Help students to connect mathematical concepts to their everyday lives.
Introduce students to technology such as Excel, and CADD programs.
Provide opportunity for students to interact with architects and engineers.
Provide opportunity for students to get recognized in their community.

Project Objectives

Enhance students' collaborative skills to work in team.
Help students to see the design process of an architect.
Introduce students the way to represent the volume of a cube with a fixed depth by a quadratic function.
Determine spending habits.

Rationale

The Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) indicated that American students perform very poorly in relation to their peers in other countries. Despite national legislation to improve mathematics, students in Texas still perform poorly on the state algebra exam (recently, according to penal recommendation around forty percent of the students are passing). Clearly current methods for teaching Algebra are not meeting the needs of most students.

According to NCTM, students learn much better if they can see how they can apply the math concepts learned in class to their everyday lives. Moreover, educational research reports that students are more motivated when instruction is more student-centered. The Math in Architecture project will help Algebra I students to apply all the mathematical concepts that they have learned to design a house or a building of their dream. Like real-world architects, students will be given constraints (like a fixed width for the base, budget constraints, time-lines, etc.,) for their building. Students will explore different geometrical figures, and how to apply algebra to develop a quadratic function representing the volume of a building with a fix width. Students will also learn about transformation of functions. Students will develop their ideas and then share them with people in the field such as architects and builders to see how math is applied in the field. Students will be taught to use CADD and Geometer's Sketch Pad so that they can apply it to their designs. As students transfer their CADD drawings into models, they will learn about ratio and proportion. Students will apply Excel to compute their budgets.

At the end of five weeks project, students will have opportunity to display their model building at the cafeteria in their school and other community centers so that students will have chance to show their project and to explain about their project to other people. This project is a wonderful opportunity for students to learn about teamwork and see the important of math in real lives.

Background

Teacher should familiarize with the tools associate with drawing the plans, and teacher should be aware of safely precautions associated with the tools such as knives, scissors. Teacher should have a functional knowledge of technology.

Standards addressed

d.2 The student understands there is more than one way to solve a quadratic equation and solves them using appropriate methods.
d.2.A The student solves quadratic equations using concrete models, tables, graphs, and algebraic methods.
d.2.B The student relates the solutions of quadratic equations to the roots of their functions.
d.1.B The student investigates, describes, and predicts the effects of changes in a on the graph of y=ax^2.
d.1.C The student investigates, describes, and predicts the effect of change in c on the graph of y=x^2 +c.

Potential Impact

The reward of this project for students include connecting mathematical concepts to their everyday lives, implementing technology in mathematics, seeing the relationship between math and science. At the same time math teachers will science teachers to incorporate lesson involving architecture and physics into their curriculum.

Evaluation Plan

Formative Assessment

Students will be given a pre-test assessment so that teacher is aware of students' misconceptions. Students will be required to sign up at least once conference a week with teacher, so progress can be regularly monitored. Students will also be keeping a portfolio as they go, with all of their work and explanations of what they have learned after each day.

Summative assessment

At the end of the project, for a final grade, students will turn in a written paper describing all of the mathematic concepts they used as a final portfolio that gives more depth to their understanding of why those concepts were learned. They will be asked to present their final design to the rest of the class, discussing the mathematic concepts they used, difficulties they encountered, and how they would go about this project if they had the opportunity to do it again.

Project Evaluation

As for measure of success and feasibility would be to evaluate what percentage of our students actually completed and passed the project. We hope that by increasing student interest and involvement, that both attendance and discipline issues can be lessened. We can watch these trends throughout the semester, and compare them to previous semesters.

The overall project will be graded against the following rubric.

Final Rubric

1. Written Paper:

Your Points	Rubric Points
	1	Turned in but Not complete
	2	Completed but lacks many mathematical concepts and explanations, many grammar errors
	3	Completed with many good mathematical concepts and explanations but a few grammar errors
	4	Completed with all mathematical concepts and explanations covered, no grammar errors.

2. Presentation:

Your Points	Rubric Points
	1	Missing parts of project, didn't convey information well
	2	Conveyed some main mathematical concepts but missed many of them
	3	Conveyed information effectively but missed few mathematical concepts
	4	Completed with all mathematical concepts covered, no grammar errors.

3. Group participation:

Your Points	Rubric Points
	1	Contributed very little to group
	2	Contributed some to group
	3	Contributed his/her share to group
	4	Contributed more than expected to group

4. Individual Accountability:

Your Points	Rubric Points
	1	Turned in no assignments throughout project
	2	Turned in under half of the assignments
	3	Turned in over half of the assignments
	4	Turned in all of the assignments given during the project

TOTAL POINTS

Your Points

Rubric Max

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