File Cabinent 3 Act Task

Reflection:

The file cabinet 3 act task aligns with Standard of Mathematical Practice 5: use appropriate tools strategically because students must appropriately decide the information needed to solve the problem. The task begins by having students find a low and high estimate and using the average of the estimate to be a rough guess of the number of sticky notes. Once students have accessed the task on a low floor level, they can use more advanced mathematical tools to solve the problem. The students must appropriately decide the tools, or pieces of information, that they need to complete the task.

The task would be a great introduction to a geometry volume and surface area unit as it starts with a rough estimate and then proceeds to dig deeper into students knowledge on measurement. The task starts as easily accessible for all students as they are asked to create a rough estimate and then use mathematics to further define their solution using appropriate information as a tool. The task could be challenging if students are not organized as there are several different measurements to keep track of throughout the task.

I found the extension on this activity was a great way to extend students to think about how a change in one measurement can change the overall amount of sticky notes. If I were to implement this activity into my classroom I would want to create a worksheet to go along with the desmos activity that would dive further into the students thinking throughout the task. Questions I might include on the worksheet would have students explain their thinking and observations throughout the activity. I found this activity to be easily accessible to all students, but a modification I could include would be to have students work in groups or pairs so they could combine their prior knowledge to complete the activity.

Source: https://teacher.desmos.com/activitybuilder/custom/5981dbdb67136c40b3e03053