Math

//**1. Who and what will you need for this project to be successful? (77) **//

The mathematics team includes Jessica, Nicole, and Ryan. In addition, Scott (the science expert) offers input to our group when appropriate. Enthusiastic students are essential to making this project run smoothly. We will be skyping with real mushers (current or retired) and will be interviewing them to find out about the actual Iditarod race course. Through careful interview questions, we can determine which areas of the course are easy to travel through and which areas prove to be more diffiuclt to travel through.

For the shadow exploration activity, students will need a tape measure, a writing utensil, and a worksheet where they will be recording their actual heights and shadow heights. A computer with internet access will be necessary when skyping. The computer will also be used when we learn how to use Microsoft Excel. Screencasting will come into play as far as learning the computer program.

Wikispaces will be needed for students to post the data. They will be expected to post data regularly onto the wiki. In addition, the teahcer will post pratcice problems onto the wiki that the students will be expected to complete for the following day's class.

//**2. Create a project calendar with key events, due dates, etc. (78)**//

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__Unit__: Ratios and Proportions (involving distance, rate, and time)

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//**3. How will you meet the needs of all learners and how will you make sure that each learner is responsible for the team's success? (79)**//

Students will be arranged in groups of 4. Each student will be responsible for tracking three mushers each. In total, each group should have 12 mushers. In order to meet the many learning needs of the students, we will need to incorporate differentiated instruction into the project. Visual aids will be present through the use of Excel graphs. For the kinesthetic learner, the shadow activity should suit their needs because it will require them to keep moving. Verbally, constant discussion of the topic will be going on for the auditory learner. To keep each student accountable for their share of the workload, each student will be responsible for their three mushers. The groups will collaborate to share out their data. Again, group members will regularly update the wiki with their work. Accountability will be easy to monitor through the "history" feature found on the wikispace.

//**4. What are the formative and summative assessments you will use to monitor and evaluate learning? (81)**//

//Formative Assessment//s: Daily wiki postings, problem sets found on the wiki, Service Learning Activity, Blogging.

//Summative Assessment:// The Iditarod Musher-Tracking Proportion Project

//**5. What are the unique needs of the teacher and student in this project? (84-85)**//

Both the students and the teacher need to get into the habit of using the wikispace as a means of effective communication between each other. Also, there needs to be an emphasis on higher-order questioning. We need to talk less about procedure and more about analysis and the real significance of a mathematical concept.

//**6. Students should be involved in activities that will allow them to inquire, study, plan, evaluate, compare, collaborate, manage, create, and present. What does this look like in your project? (95)**//

Students will be collaborating with each other in their individual groups to discuss their 12 total mushers. Through data and graphical analysis, the students will be able to explain why a particular graph looks the way it does. Management is ESSENTIAL for this project to function. The students must manage their time and manage each other in a civil way. The teacher needs to constantly monitor progress to make sure that the class is staying on task. The students will be creating excel spreadsheets and will also be producing graphs through the Microsoft Excel program. Presentation of their hard work will take place at the exciting conclusion of this proportions unit.

//**7. What rubric will you be using to assess learning? (101)**// We will be using a rubric based off of this. We will likely include a section in this rubric dedicated to collaboration. //**8. What kinds of questions are being asked of students? (108)**// HIGHER-ORDER QUESTIONS will need to be paramount throughout the unit. Asking the "how" and "why" questions will be stressed. Questions should stimulate complex discussion. Procedural questions will be present because they will need to be present. Much of mathematics requires procedure so we will have to reinforce mathematical concepts. Management questions will be part of the class as well. Teachers need to ask "How is your team coming along so far?" or "Where are you looking to go next with this project?" //**9. In the end, how will you tell your story? (111)**// Both the students and the teacher will be blogging throughout the entire two week unit. In the end, we can look back and see how our project unfolded. We will be able to pinpoint what worked and what didn't. We can let our voices be heard.

//**10. How will you incorporate the web 2.0 tools Richardson speaks of? (Blogs, Wikis, RSS, Social Bookmarks / Networking, Podcasting, Screencasting, Video and Live Stream?**// 1. Wikispaces: to upload collected data, homeworks, problem sets, and to access worksheets 2. Blogs: to record our progress throughout the two week unit 3.Podcasting: to announce the lauching of this Project Based Learning Activity 4. Screencasting: to show the tutorial of the uses of Microsoft Excel 5. Skype: to interview a real musher //**﻿ **// //**﻿ **////**﻿ **// 

  

 **Screen Cast for Microsoft Excel** :
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