Reflections throughout this Course

February 12, 2022

Driving Question:

How can we create a quilt pattern that will artistically display geometric shapes that reflect our culture?

Subquestions:

· What is the definition of culture?

· How do cultures differ in our community?

· Can you define your culture through food, holidays, colors, or family activities?

· What family traditions define you?

· What geometric shapes do you see in quilt samples?

· How can fractions be used to add contrasting colors to your design?

· How can you use fractions to divide one shape into other shapes?

· Why is understanding geometric transformations important in quiltmaking?

· How can we use the color wheel to create a pleasing design?

· What famous quilt did Betsy Ross create? What geometric shapes do we see in it and what was the quilt used for?

· Can mixing patterned fabric with solid color fabric help to define cultural traditions within a quilt?

Identify the characteristics of a quality driving question

· Engaging for students

· Open-ended

· Aligned with learning goals

· Relevant to the student’s life (real-world role)

· Unique answers for each student

Describe how an entire unit can be created around your driving question by explaining your list of sub-questions and explaining how your driving question meets those criteria.

The driving question meets the criteria of a quality driving question by being open-ended, aligning with the learning standards for fine arts, math, history, language arts, and technology. It also meets the criteria of a quality driving question by helping the students create a project that they relate to – it will help display their family traditions, or heritage designs and color patterns. Finally, the driving question will engage students with a fun and creative way to learn about geometry and fractions.

The sub-questions in this project help to bring together the different cross-curriculum aspects of the assignment by including fine arts, math, history, and language arts. The subquestions also help to make each student’s project unique in that it asks about their own culture and family traditions. Finally, they also help students reflect on how they can use fractions (or parts of a geometric shape) to create a unique quilt pattern.

Comment on the tools you are using or the resources you have reviewed

For this week's project, I have reviewed several websites and videos on how to create a well-constructed driving question. The PBLWorks website has been a great resource of information, templates and instructional videos to help determine what a well-constructed driving question looks like. I have also reviewed many websites that connect quiltmaking to math lessons to see what I think would work and which lesson plans need more thought or standards-based details added. I have visited our state standards website for math, language arts, technology, history and fine arts to gather standards in which to base this lesson on.