Before posting about where I will be taking my students in math I thought it would be important to preface with a bit of information about where they have been.
When I entered the classroom this week the students had completed (for now) their focus on powers of ten and had moved onto learning the characteristics of a circle. My associate teacher had at some point created and labelled a drawing of a circle which was then kept on the board as a reference while their journey moved towards understanding the relationships between the characteristics themselves.
After learning each definition the students began participating in a blend of hands on and interactive activities with the goal of discovering pi. The first completed a handout that required them to measure the circumference of a variety of circles using string and a ruler to measure the diameter. After each measurement they would divide the circumference by the diameter.
The second activity was a Learn Alberta resource in which the students could change the dimeter of a circle and then press a 'play' button which would 'unroll' the circle so the circumference was demonstrated as a straight line. After this the diameter was shown as being able to fit in the circumference a little more than 3 times. An equation was produced as this was happening to show the diameter as having fit 3.141592 times in the circumference no matter how large or small the diameter was. The students were then able to connect this number to the numbers they had collected from the previous activity.
Although many of the students had a prior knowledge of the concept of pi, very few had an understanding of its meaning. The combination of these two activities allowed learners of all styles to gain a firm understanding of where the number behind π came from!
Throughout the unit the students will also be working on a Problem Based Learning assignment surrounded around the surface area, volume and capacity of cylinders. Each week along with their regular lessons they are being introduced to new aspects of the assignment and beginning to complete small sections at a time.
This week they were introduced to the project. In triads, the students are expected to create a product that would be sold in a cylindrical package. Throughout the unit they will be required to research competitors for their project online and through real life investigation. Each person will be responsible for one package size: either a sample size, retail size or commercial size. They will have to do research specific to their packaging size (this includes finding competitors, discovering where they are sold and investigating average packaging sizes).
At the end of the unit the students will be expected to create their packaging using an online platform. They will have to be able to identify and demonstrate all of the measurements for both the package itself and a box to enclose the product in.
This is about where I came in! Stay tuned to hear about my strategies for teaching area of a circle!
When I entered the classroom this week the students had completed (for now) their focus on powers of ten and had moved onto learning the characteristics of a circle. My associate teacher had at some point created and labelled a drawing of a circle which was then kept on the board as a reference while their journey moved towards understanding the relationships between the characteristics themselves.After learning each definition the students began participating in a blend of hands on and interactive activities with the goal of discovering pi. The first completed a handout that required them to measure the circumference of a variety of circles using string and a ruler to measure the diameter. After each measurement they would divide the circumference by the diameter.
The second activity was a Learn Alberta resource in which the students could change the dimeter of a circle and then press a 'play' button which would 'unroll' the circle so the circumference was demonstrated as a straight line. After this the diameter was shown as being able to fit in the circumference a little more than 3 times. An equation was produced as this was happening to show the diameter as having fit 3.141592 times in the circumference no matter how large or small the diameter was. The students were then able to connect this number to the numbers they had collected from the previous activity.
Although many of the students had a prior knowledge of the concept of pi, very few had an understanding of its meaning. The combination of these two activities allowed learners of all styles to gain a firm understanding of where the number behind π came from!
Throughout the unit the students will also be working on a Problem Based Learning assignment surrounded around the surface area, volume and capacity of cylinders. Each week along with their regular lessons they are being introduced to new aspects of the assignment and beginning to complete small sections at a time.
This week they were introduced to the project. In triads, the students are expected to create a product that would be sold in a cylindrical package. Throughout the unit they will be required to research competitors for their project online and through real life investigation. Each person will be responsible for one package size: either a sample size, retail size or commercial size. They will have to do research specific to their packaging size (this includes finding competitors, discovering where they are sold and investigating average packaging sizes).
At the end of the unit the students will be expected to create their packaging using an online platform. They will have to be able to identify and demonstrate all of the measurements for both the package itself and a box to enclose the product in.
This is about where I came in! Stay tuned to hear about my strategies for teaching area of a circle!
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