Dear Coaches and Teachers

May 25, 2011

Dear Coaches and Teachers,

In an effort to ensure all students enrolled in Math Journeys DO attend this summer, we are asking you to pull this group of students in an effort to motivate them to want to come to our program. Below is a suggested lesson plan for these students. It should last about an hour.

Part 1 Motivation to attend Math Journeys: Engineering Design Task

Materials Needed:

1 pack of index cards per pair of students OR sets of base 10 blocks to per pair (teacher needs to decide on one or the other)

Timer (for teacher)

Grouping: Pairs

Opening:

“Everyone here today is attending the math camp called Math Journeys at Mann Magnet this summer. Today we want to give you a little preview about the types of activities you will be experiencing at Math Journeys”

“At Math Journeys you will be learning more about fractions and you will also be engaging in engineering design challenges. We thought we would do one today.”

The challenge: Build the tallest structure possible using the materials provided (either base 10 blocks or index cards). No other materials are allowed.

You will be working in pairs. When I give the signal you and your partner will have one minute to discuss strategies for building your structure. AT the end of one minute, you and your partner will begin building BUT you may no longer talk. During the building stage there is absolutely no talking, only non-verbal communication. Be sure to use your 1 minute of strategizing wisely. Are there any questions?

Worktime:

Give students 10 minutes to work on their structure. At the end of the 10 minutes, have students do a gallery work to see the progress of each team. Discuss what is working and what is not working.

Students get a chance to REDESIGN based on what they learned. Give students 1 minute to strategize again and then another 10 minutes to complete the task.

Closure:

Have each group share. Possible questions:

 Who has the tallest structure? How do you know? How could you prove it without a ruler?

 How did your team work together? What would you do differently next time.

 Have a discussion about what engineers design in the real world such as rockets, cars, bridges, buildings. They had to problem-solve to stop the oil spill in the Gulf – had to keep redesigning until they finally figured out what to do. Japan and the nuclear reactors are another example.

Part II – Math Journeys Video

Go to www.mathjourneys.org Go to the link at the top of the page called “About Us”. Click on to the video. This video is a testimonial by kids about the Math Journeys program. It lasts about 20 minutes. Please try to watch the whole video as there is music at the end that pumps students up!

Part III – Pass out flier

Please give each student a reminder flier about the parent meeting on June 2nd.

Please let us know (short email to [email protected] ) how the kids react to this preview lesson. We are very excited for them to come to our program, and we want to make they are excited too. Thanks so much for your help!

Sincerely,

The Math Journeys Leadership Team Jason Crader, Lisa Mack, Charlotte Cook, Beth Clifford