Hede, J.T., &
Bostic, J.D. (2014). Connecting the threads of area and perimeter. Teaching Children Mathematics, 20 (7), 418 - 425.
Summary
In order to get 6th
grade students to see the value and importance of learning the concepts of area
and perimeter, the authors of this article decided to give students a more
meaningful experience by asking them to design and create a quilt square. The lesson
began with the teachers displaying various quilt patterns to the students and
discussing the mathematical qualities that each quilt possessed. Students
noticed that the majority of the quilts had geometric patterns that repeated
one another. In phase 2 of the lesson, students
were provided with grid paper and instructed to design their own quilt
square that contained only regular polygons and had a total area of 64 inches
squared. Then students calculated the area and perimeter of each of their
shapes to ensure that the sum was as close as possible to 64 inches. Finally,
students cut out their shapes from wallpaper and created their final products.
The quilt squares of all the students were displayed in the hallway for the
rest of the school to see.
Reflection
I thought this
lesson was a creative way to teach area and perimeter. Generally, real-world
application of these concepts involve arranging furniture in a room, but never
have I heard of students creating their own quilt squares. I am not convinced, however, that the
students found this to be a meaningful, real-world application project. How
many students actually plan on sewing their own quilts with the knowledge
gained from this lesson? Students might be exposed to the difficulty of
quilting if a grandparent had it as a hobby but otherwise this lesson ended in
a fun art project. This is obviously a step up from practice worksheets but not
necessarily a project I want to try out in my own classroom one day.
Patterson, L. G.
& Patterson, K.L. (2014). Problem solve with presidential data. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, 19 (7), 406-413.
Summary
This lesson provided
students with a integrated lesson of Mathematics and Social Studies. The
teachers began the lesson by getting students excited about the current and
past presidents by introducing them to presidential facts and trivia. They also
showed students a presidential rap on YouTube. Then, the teachers integrated
the mathematical concepts through a bell ringer at the beginning of the next
class, asking students to define mean, median, and mode. Students were placed
into small cooperative groups and each member of the group was given a group
role (i.e. scribe, spokesperson, runner, etc.). In these cooperative groups,
the students calculated the age of each of the presidents when they were
inaugurated. These ages were graphed using a stem and leaf plot and then
students calculated the mean, median, and mode of this data. The following
class period, students created different representations for the data and
discussed patterns and/or trends they noticed in the data.
Reflection
Being a History buff
myself, I always appreciate incorporating social studies into the curriculum of
other subjects. However, it is unclear to me as to the purpose of this history
lesson. If the objective of the lesson was to get students to discuss the idea
of age in the effectiveness of the presidency, this lesson simply asked them to
determine what is the average age of the American presidents. There was little
discussion over how age is important to the presidency or why the majority of
our presidents have been in their 50s.
The lesson seemed more mathematically based than social studies based even
though it was taught in a social studies classroom. I think it could be useful if the teachers continued on
to discuss the factors that contribute to an effective president that includes
a discussion on age. Then both the mathematics and the social studies
objectives will be met.
Thanks Sara:)
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