The Size of Things

Background Information

            The intended audience of the project unit Size of Things is Algebra I students in high school. Students should be given a chance to revisit units of measure and conversion tables, powers of ten and other number bases. They should be familiar with concepts of angular measure, area and surface area, perimeter and volume. During the project, students will explore new avenues to apply proportional variation and rates of change to the above topics via functions and modeling a scaled construction of one of the wonders of the world for their final project. Students will be given access to Smart Draw technology and Geometer’s Sketchpad software as well as Frontiernet and The Great Building Collection website to help them visualize and construct the multiple dimensions that are found in their design of their final project.

There a several components that have been built into the project unit to help integrate mathematical knowledge and the hands-on application that will result in the final presentation. The unit seeks to engage the students with an anchor video to emphasize on the importance of estimation skills. Along with the regular benchmark lessons to introduce students to more complex ideas of rates of change, and formative assessments such as homework, weekly quizzes, we have added other layers of assessments and activities to resonate the concept of scaling, skills of estimation and reasonableness throughout the unit. Students are encouraged to construct a Memory Matrix for a quick reference between various standards of measure of Metric and English that will come in handy in the construction of their final artifacts. Problem of the week discussion sessions were added to the Project unit to help students think outside the box. Students are to keep a word journal right from the start of the unit to keep track of how their ideas were constructed through formal instruction in the classroom and discussions with peers and parents. By their final oral presentation of their journal they would be better able to articulate their personal connections made from formal instruction and procedural knowledge to application of the final constructed project and relate how their ideas have evolved through these reflections. During the presentations, the other students are to engage in peer critique and review sessions for a more collaborative learning experience.

The project itself The Wonders of the World in My Hands would require a significant amount of time and resources. Students will work in groups of three to construct a scaled model of the monument of their choice. This would require some research in the library or web sources such as The Great Building Collection that details extensively about the design, history, culture and architecture of mankind’s great construction. Students will begin to design their buildings after a short lesson on floor plans.  They then convey their designs onto the computer through the use of Smart Draw software. Students will learn how to conceptualize and visualize 3-D shapes with the help of The Great Building Collection.  Thereafter, students will start to build their scaled model upon completion and approval of their computer model designs. Progressively as they learn and reflect in their journals about concepts and skills applied to their construction of their scaled models, their projects gets more detailed and complex. At the end of the project, they will be asked to present their final design to the rest of the class.

This project unit was designed to allow students to connect math concepts directly to their personal interests. NCTM recommends improving math instruction by using technology, more collaborative work, more emphasis on conceptual rather than procedural teaching, and more real-world based activities that serve as an anchor to students’ overall understanding. Research supports that students who have the freedom to chose will show a higher level of engagement and show a higher level of responsibility. Consequently they would have gained a deeper conceptual understanding of math.