I have one final topic to cover in the last 14 days of school: volume. While at NCTM and bouncing ideas off of my fellow colleagues Fawn Nguyen's blog (http://fawnnguyen.com/) was mentioned and in particular her volume lesson that was amazing. So I went to her page, read the blog and immediately have started to follow it.
What I loved most after reading her blog, was how adaptable this lesson was, I could keep it very simple, or lead them towards maximizing volume (a calculus concept), plus there was food involved which is an instant win in middle school.


Students began working, some immediately measuring and cutting, others discussing and drawing out possible plans.
Once they had all formed their boxes I displayed them for the class and we discussed which appeared the biggest? How could we figure it out? Find the volume they replied. So while they calculated volume (I prompted them with the formula that we had discussed in an activity earlier that week) I filled their boxes with popcorn.

Then I sent them home with an extension for homework. We talked about what we learned: the corners must be squares. Then we talked about all the different boxes that could have been created. Which one is the best? How could we figure it out. So we went through the first option (using only whole measurement), 1cm squares cut form each corner. They recorded the volume in a chart that I provided, their homework is to come up with all the possible boxes and decide which is best. So we will see what comes back on Monday!
My big take away is that my kids are talking, and excited to do math. Since my return I have had numerous comments on how class is fun. Is everyday perfect, certainly not. Do I have those student who are off task, absolutely. But I've decided they wont be my driving force, instead it will be the ones who are suddenly seeing a point to math and taking an interest.
We had fun with this activity in my classroom. It was so fun to see their thinking and creativity. Love this! You are an an amazing person and I am grateful to know you. You are an inspiration.
ReplyDeleteMauren, Thank you for sharing your passion for new math ideas. It makes such a difference when students are engaged and collaborating. I love the pictures/examples, it will help others who want to join in on your journey. Keep that spark going!
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