Getting Started

We are going to reference an Understanding by Design Unit developed by Catherine Risinger of Trinty University. This paper and others are posted at Digital Commons@Trinity. This and other works are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Read other Math Ubd units from Trinity University and see how students have applied this backward planning process to units of K-12 math instruction.

  • The Cover Page of the Unit

You will begin the planning process by providing the following information similar information on the backward design template. Later you will write a brief summary of the unit

Include

Unit Title: What are Rational Numbers?

Grade Level: 8

Subject/Topic Area: Pre-Algebra

Designed by: Catherine Risinger

Time Frame of the Unit: 4 weeks

Brief Summary of the unit (including curricular content and unit goals

In this pre-algebra unit of rational numbers, students will further their understanding of rational numbers and its application to everyday experiences. Pre-algebra is the stepping stone to high school mathematics. Therefore, it is imperative for students to recognize and demonstrate that there are appropriate situations in which rational numbers should be used and their usefulness to us.

In the culminating performance task, students are asked to develop and present a plan for the BBQ that they will be hosting for a specified number of people. The BBQ scenario allows students to apply their knowledge of rational numbers in order to do comparison shopping at 3 different grocery stores. The unit concludes with why students shopped the way that they did and a self-evaluation of what they have learned.

(Risinger, 2005)