Submitted by: Pete Anderson
Collaborators: Corbin Wright, Angie Branyon
School: GAHS
Summary
Geometry is an investigative mathematics. Because of this, my students’ first impression must consist of scenarios of problems without obvious solutions. This is the heart of logic and the essence of my school years’ opening unit of study. We used Agatha Christie’s murder mystery novel “And Then There Were None” as a foundation for critical thinking. The nightly homework assignment was for every student to use deductive reasoning to solve the murders via an online discussion forum. During class time, students worked in teams to solve classic logic problems using essential problem solving skills while guided by rubrics. From there, we addressed formal logic and also found time for a cross-curricular application of topology (earth science) using the setting of the novel “Indian Island”. The unit was concluded with a group assessment where each class was divided into three teams of 7 to 9 students and tasked to solve a blend of open ended and traditional logic problems.
TIPC Ratings
Approaching: Students use information and resources to apply knowledge to real-world situations and accomplish real-world tasks. Throughout the lesson, students used information & resources to apply knowledge to the real world situations presented in the Agatha Christie noven and answered the question “WhoDunIt?”
Approaching: Students communicate ethically within and beyond the classroom in ways that produce collaboration in real and non-real time using schoolspace discussion boards & chat rooms.
Additionally, students were grouped by the teacher in order to mix the student population. This lesson is very close to ideal/target in Communication & Collaboration. Having students select their own groups would enhance the lesson.
Ideal/Target: The unit exposes students to many different problem solving strategies. Students draw from the experiences from learning these strategies to best choose a method (or combination of methods) to solve problems.
Ideal/Target: The entire unit and formal assessment focused on student collaboration to solve problems in creative ways. While the problems were specific to the novel, they represent authentic situations.
