Mathematics in Context Project:
Looking At An Angle

Content Strand:
Geometry

Teacher:
Tanya Sanchez

School:
Garcia Elementary Phoenix, AZ
Grade 7

Project Director:
Meg Meyer

35 minutes

Looking At An Angle: The Mathematics in Context curriculum is designed so that lessons begin with a meaningful context and the math is extracted from that context. The context here involves a ladder positioned against a building, what it does, and for whom and when would a ladder be needed. The class moves outside where they help the school janitor position a ladder. By directing the positioning of the ladder, students see and describe how the angles and distances made by the ladder change when the ladder moves from an unstable position to a safe and stable position- underscoring the mathematical focus of this lesson - the tangent ratio. Back in the classroom, students draw triangles representing the ladder against the wall and examine the relationships amongst distance, height, and angles of the resulting triangles. They discover that the height-to-distance ratio is a measure of steepness affected by the size of an angle. The lesson culminates with students plotting a steepness graph to determine the necessary height-to-distance ratio for a ladder to be safe and stable.

Mathematics in Context Project:
V-Patterns; Beams; Hair & Nails

Content Strand:
Algebra

Teacher:
Joe Dauray
Grade 6;
Cheryl Anderson
Grade 7;
Mike Comella
Grade 8

Project Director:
Meg Meyer

40 minutes

V-Patterns, Beams, Hair & Nails: This video lesson shows an informal preformal formal progression of algebraic thinking from grade 6 to grade 8. Three middle school teachers work together to make math accessible and understandable to students at all levels, one of the major goals of this curriculum. In the grade six lesson, "V-Patterns," students are introduced to basic algebraic thinking by analysing the flight pattern of geese. In grade seven, students explore beams used at a construction site to discover patterns and express these patterns with formulas. Finally, in grade eight, children represent hair growth using three different representations: linear equations, tables and graphs. Throughout, students are discovering relationships and making generalizations using algebraic thinking.