A Race of Monumental Proportions

TIPC Ratings

Ideal – 6

At the beginning of the lesson, the students use ActivEngage to help brainstorm information that is needed to solve the lesson problem (Where will the teacher be located when the winner finishes the race?). The students use their information fluency skills to locate and assemble these necessary measurements. Specifically, the students research the distance (in miles) of a 10K race, they find the winning times of the Monument 10K from previous years using various search techniques, and they find the total distance of the video run using Google Earth, GoogleMaps, or another tool that can calculate distance between two locations. In completing these tasks, the students use digital tools to create research questions, assemble the information that is needed to solve the problem at hand, and synthesize this information using a variety of mathematical techniques in order to determine an answer to the problem.

Approaching – 4

ActivPrompt and ActivEngage facilitate student collaboration within the lesson. The ActivPrompt predictions allow the students to examine collective data from an entire class and determine trends and outliers. The teacher uses ActivEngage as a brainstorming tool and checkpoint throughout the lesson, which allows for the same type of phenomenon. The students discuss their mathematical reasoning and solve the lesson problem in teacher-chosen pairs, which allows the students to voice their reasoning out loud and receive help from another individual.

Ideal – 7

Critical thinking and problem solving are the major focus of this lesson. The teacher uses ActivPrompt at the start of the lesson, and allows the students to make predictions and collectively view those predictions, which then leads to a discussion of trends. After making these predictions, the students generate and respond to purposeful questions through participation in the ActivEngage brainstorm. Students collaboratively generate questions about the measurements needed to solve the lesson problem. Students then use various search techniques and geographic tools (GoogleEarth, GoogleMaps, etc.) in order to assemble this information. While working in groups and using the information that they have found, the students must select their own critical thinking and problem solving strategies. The teacher does not provide the students with equations or fill in the blanks scenarios but instead prompts and probes the students as to how they would use their math knowledge to calculate the answer to the lesson problem. There are various mathematical calculations that can reach the same conclusions, and the teacher asks groups to present and explain these procedures. During these student explanations, the teacher asks the students to reflect on their own problem solving strategies and what they are learning about problem solving. At the end of the lesson, the students use GoogleEarth to find place markers throughout the Monument 10K race that will help the students maintain their race pace as they run or walk the Monument 10K on April 13th. Although the ultimate product of this assignment is a worksheet, the calculations that the students make in this assignment relate to an authentic task, as the information that they gather will help them run or walk the race at their desired pace.

0 – Not Observed

Creativity and Innovation are not a particular focus of this lesson.