Junior Architect

This is a link to a four-day lesson plan that includes literature, geoboards, architectural blueprints, as well as a lot of student involvement and application. This excellent plan will engage students and encourage them to relate math to the real world. Students will sort geometric figures, determine perimeter and area, create two-dimensional blueprints, and use a scale drawing to construct a three-dimensional model. This plan provides many opportunities for differentiation. The first two lessons could easily be combined into one lesson, and the last two days could be extended. Opportunities for extension are present with the possibilities for finding perimeter and area of the scale drawing and models and comparing them and linking to scale factor.

Weblink address (URL):

Junior Architect

Standards & Objectives

Learning objectives:

Learning Objectives:

Students will:

Complete a chart by multiplying or dividing a given value.
Compare two categories of information in graphic form (line graph).
Identify number patterns.

NCTM Standards and Expectations:

Formulate questions, design studies, and collect data about a characteristic shared by two populations or different characteristics within one population.
Select, create, and use appropriate graphical representations of data, including histograms, box plots, and scatterplots.

Lesson Variations

Blooms taxonomy level:

Applying

Extension suggestions:

Extensions :

In the sports section of the newspaper (or Internet news source), find the weights of ten different athletes. Figure the weights of their skins and then rank the weights from highest to lowest. What is the difference between the highest and the lowest?
Move on to the next lesson, Whale Weight.

Helpful Hints

Materials:

Two colored crayons for each student (preferably red and blue)
A local newspaper or Internet news source
Graph Paper
Skin Weight Activity Sheet

References

Contributors:

Ashley King

Originator:

Ayers Institute for Learning & Innovation