Math and the Environment:
Activity for young children (Math HW 2) (10points)
Project Description
This is a joint project for EDU
314 class and for Dr. Davidenko's EDU373 Math class. You
will design a “pedagogical material” that you could use
to implement one or more mathematics lessons. For the final construction
of the material, you will make use of technology that you will learn
in EDU 314.
This assignment is meant to spark your creativity to create activities related to everyday life and the environment. Examples will be shown in Dr. Davidenko's Match class to clarify the assignment.
For each of the following possibilities,
you will first design (and turn in a draft of) your
product. Later in the semester, you will create your product using
any option from Microsoft Publisher. Then, you will turn in
the final version.
Project Ideas
Here are some ideas:
A picture
book for children K-2 that would allow students
to learn and revisit math concepts or procedures, for example,
counting, simple + and -, sorting, finding patterns, or finding
shapes. The book should have some text on each page, which could
be a question for children. The book should allow the teacher
to pose question while reading.
A poster based on a “rich” picture that
a teacher could show to the students to have them describe
the objects they see and their properties. The following activity
would require students to classify the objects by at least
two properties and then make the corresponding Venn diagram.
Geometry activity: You can take a picture of objects from Raquette Lake (building, walls, decorations, furniture, etc.) that can help the teacher design a geometry lesson. You will be surprised of how much geometry is found in Raquette Lake! Your product would include the picture, directions for the activities and then, possible student responses.
Finding, reproducing and creating patterns: You
can take a picture of objects from Raquette Lake, hand-made
or in nature to be used in a lesson about patterns. The students
would have to describe the patterns, reproduce them and perhaps,
create their own variations. The language used in the lesson
should include geometric words (ex., symmetric, line of symmetry,
rotation, folding, round, to the right, etc.) or other descriptions
(ex. next to, every other, every third) that help students
build rich vocabulary.
Your choice …
What to Submit
Here is what You should hand in:
1. A draft of the design of the ‘object’, that is, the book, or picture or material that you created.
2. The description of how a teacher would use the material you created. For example: “The teacher will read the book to the children and pose the following questions …”
3. The mathematics content that would be targeted by the activity. For example: “In this activity the students will classify objects by size and by color but also will find other properties, etc…” or “In this activity the students will learn to recognize shapes within shapes”
4. Examples of possible answers given by students or possible students’ work. For example, a Venn diagram that the students would create if they classify objects by size and color; examples of polygons that the students could ‘discover’ in a picture of a fence; examples of patterns reproduced from the picture, etc.
RUBRIC
The rubric of this project for EDU314 follows that of Project #7.
Here is the rubric of this project for EDU373 Math.
The grade for this Homework assignment will be based on:
1. Your ability to interpret this assignment (2 to 0)
2. Creativity (2 to 0)
3. The pedagogical value of the activity: Would it conduce to student learning? This would be demonstrated by a clear explanation of how a teacher would use the product (see point 2 above); clear explanation of the math content targeted by the lesson or activity (see point 3 above); appropriate examples of possible student answers (see 4 above) (3 to 0)
4. Good pictures, engaging, motivating, neat work and project (3 to 0).
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