Summary
This is a project spanning at least a month. Students are challenged to find triangles used extensively in some cohesive manner. Suggested general topics were architecture, urban planning and nature. While they could use these topics or some subset of topics, the assignment asks students to think outside of the box, surprise their audience and captivate them.
Besides finding these triangles, students are to investigate how and why the triangles are used. Triangles are to be classified by sides and angles and then to make a connection, if one existed, as to why certain types of triangle are found over others. If they could determine why triangles are a better choice of polygon over another type, they are asked to explain that as well.
Students rose to the challenge by coming up with their own themes: Winter, sports, religion, food, aerodynamics, yoga, triangulation, under the sea.
TIPC Ratings
The teacher provided challenges & offered support on an “as needed” basis. Students were tasked with finding reliable sources of information, researching their chosen topic and supporting their findings with facts.
Students chose their own group and assigned roles and tasks within their groups.
*While most students chose to work in groups, a few preferred to work alone.
While some questions to be answered are provided for students, they were also challenged to develop their own appropriate questions and provide answers. Student authored questions were usually specific to their topic and applied to the manner in which they have discovered triangles all around us.
Students answered these and other questions as they gained a better understanding of their chosen topic.
The teacher provided questions which were meant to provoke thinking “outside of the box” when approaching the topic of triangles either as abstract or physical objects in our world.
Students identified triangles and “analyzed a trend” to find commonality among their findings. This common factor became their topic idea. Students represented their findings using a format of their choosing which they felt best displayed the topic in a captivating and informative way.
Student Artifact
Discovering Triangles from HCPS Instructional Technology on Vimeo.
