Instructional+Units

NOTE: Many of these downloads are starters, intended to give you ideas and show you what can be done. The idea is for you to take these starters and run with them. Feel free to contact me with your ideas or if you would like more clarification or specifics.
 * Instructional Units and Materials for the Classrooms for the Future initiative.**

Google Earth Math Starters
This is a cross curricular Math and Social Studies unit that combines geometry, history and culture. Technology includes Google Earth, Active Studio, Screen Shots and an Internet Connection.

BIG IDEA: The main idea of this starter is to demonstrate how one can use Google Earth and Active Studio to study math, history and culture by analyzing satellite pictures of cities from around the world. Then, by analyzing the cities mathematically, including ones home city, one can make many inferences and speculations about culture and history.

PROCEDURE: First, one can "fly" to several cities in Google Earth (around the world or within a country.) Then one can take screen shots of Google Earth destinations and insert them into Active Studio. Within Active Studio, one can measure the geometry of elements within cities (angles of intersecting roads, perimeters, areas, triangles, circles, all shapes). Analysis of cities allows students to find common and contrasting elements.

This analysis provides an opportunity for students and teachers to discuss why cities look the way they do, and compare and contrast accordingly. What Geometry is common to different cities? Why? How may culture, geography or history affect the geometry of a city? How does our study of world cities compare to our home city? How does the era of a city's construction (or waves of construction) affect its geometry? How does this look from a bird's eye view?

As a project, students can design a city using elements of cities around the world, and base their design choices on the issues discussed. What kind of a history and culture does your imaginary city have based on the geometry of your city? To differentiate within this project, students could choose elements on which to base their decisions about their model cities. One basis could be mathematical - the student has a limit of angle degrees to work with, so the city they create may only use a maximum of 2500 angle degrees. (360 per circular building, 180 per triangular building, 360 for every square or rectangular building, etc.) Another way to differentiate could be on terrain or culture. If a city were to be build in a dangerous place, how would it look. How would city in a more historically peaceful area look. How would it look if it had two eras prosperity that were during eras of different technology (I.E. pre-industrial revolution, post industrial revolution?)

Have fun with this. Collaborate with a teacher of a different discipline. Let me know how it goes.

This Flip Chart starter is a Math Geometry unit exploring lines, angles and slope, using our home city of Philadelphia as the source material.

Atomic Theorists
This unit on the Atomic Theory introduces the work of Rutherford, Bohr, Dalton and Thompson. The files contained in this download are Inspiration 8 files, quicktime movies, and images. The movies are from Discovery Streaming and Nettrekker.

The unit uses an Inspiration Mind Map to introduce the topic. The diagram links to all of the supporting files and resources. The focus of the student work is on prediction, engagement, and project based deliverables that the students independently produce.