Food Desert Project
Food Desert Project
Estimated Planning Time: 10-20 minutes to review materials and print
Estimated Lesson Time: 2 - 3 50 minute class periods
Materials needed: Attached documents, protractors
Embedded Files
Lesson is adapted from High School Mathematics Lessons to Explore, Understand, and Respond to Social Injustice (Corwin Mathematics Series) First Edition by Basil M. Conway, Brian R. Lawler, and John W Staley
In a freshman Geometry class, students completed a project about food deserts using the circumcenter and incenter. We first read two articles about food deserts in our community and the U.S. Students completed comprehension questions about food deserts and what they were in their own words. Next, students combined their knowledge of triangles and lines to find the circumcenter and incenter of pre-created maps to decide where their grocery store should go. Finally, students used their research and knowledge to write a letter to our mayor about food deserts. See below for my lesson plan and student examples of their letter to the mayor:
Adaptations for your classroom: Consider using maps or articles from your community with food deserts to make more relevant for students.
Water Bottle Creation
Water Bottle Creation
Estimated Planning Time: 10-20 minutes to review materials and print
Estimated Lesson Time: 2 - 3 50 minute class periods
Materials needed: Attached Document
This was a part of our Volume unit. Students were tasked with creating a water bottle taking into account functionality, surface area, and volume. Surface area was not part of our standards so I gave that information to my students but this could easily be edited to have students find the surface area. This asked students to make predictions, calculate volume, and draw conclusions on what makes a water bottle "the best." The next portion of the project was to create a water bottle of their own using Google Drawing or Tinkercad. Students thoroughly enjoyed this part. Finally, students had to reflect on plastic consumption and take on the role of a bottled water marketing team or environmentalist. See the lesson plan and exemplars below:
Adaptations for your classroom: If you do not have technology, have students complete their model by drawing or 3D objects around the classroom.
Quadratic Regressions
Quadratic Regressions
This lesson is based in the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Click here for more information about the SDGs and resources for your classroom.
Estimated Planning Time: 10-20 minutes to review materials and print, possibly more time if you need to familiarize yourself with the SDGs
Estimated Lesson Time:
For students to just write the paper: 1 week of class
For students to create visual/video: 3 - 4 50 minute class periods
Materials needed: Attached document, poster paper, access to Desmos
Our quadratics unit is in our Geometry course and we completed this in place of a unit test. Before starting this, I taught a short lesson on how to use Desmos to create quadratic regressions. Desmos is a great tool for students who struggle to graph and it gives students a way to check their answers. The data is based on the Our World in Data. Students also examined the Sustainable Development Goals to frame their paper and explanations. Students included their own thoughts about their model and analyzed the model's accuracy. In addition to this template, students turned in their work for the different key points so I could check that they could perform the match. As one of their final products, students wrote a paper analyzing their results. See below for exemplar papers:
After students completed their paper, students partnered up with someone who wrote about the same topic and created a visual representation. Click here for the requirements. Their audience was our school community which challenged students to create a presentation that demonstrated their knowledge in a way that people who did not have the same vocabulary as them understood. To accommodate students who were not comfortable presenting, we used Flipgrid to create the videos. Below are examples of posters students created:
Finally, students "invested" in each other's projects based correctness, visuals, and reasons for investing. Students watched each other's videos, examined posters, and "wrote checks" to invest in others' projects. The top projects were posted in the hallway for our school community to see and vote.
Adaptations for your classroom: Students could make a poster instead of writing a paper. If you do not have technology, consider giving the equations to students so they can find the key features.
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