5 Math Projects for Project Based Learning

At Schuyler Central High School next year we will have a new course in every subject area under what we call "Project Succeed." This will be a credit recovery class where students will undertake 5 projects throughout the year to earn those 5 credits.  If students do 3 of the 5 projects they earn 3 of the 5 credits.  Since this is the first year of the course, I am going to do 5 projects that someone else has done before.  Next year I will try to incorporate different projects that are more authentic.

1. Conceptual Art Project
This project is putting students in the drivers seat of incorporating art and math together.  Students will have the opportunity to put one concept of mathematics into a work of art.  They can create a watercolor, painting, or sculpture.  Students will then write a one page paper on what math concept was described and how it came out in the artwork.

I was thinking of using the timeline of this other Calculus Artwork Project.

2. Making a Math Treasure Map
This project has students using Google Maps to create a mathematical treasure map where students are given clues that lead them to the buried treasure.  Students will use coordinate geometry, and equations and lines to make the map.

3. Paper Folding 
This project has an "art-y" feel exactly like the first one.  Students will use origami to make a 3 Dimensional shape.  You will explore the relationship between surface area and volume. Is one always bigger than the other? Can you make cubes with the same surface area but different volumes?  Students will work in pairs to create either a cube or tetrahedron and then derive the surface area and volume formulas. 

4. Nutritional Math
In the launch activity students use unit rates and proportional reasoning to calculate how long they'd have to exercise to burn off different McDonald's menu items.  They then discuss which they think is a better representation of nutritional information.  Students would then create their own infographic for number of minutes in each activity to burn off a particular McDonalds item. 

Students would then create a personalized menu tailored to their own bodies, diets, and exercise routines.  

5. Three Shots
This last one I want to be more of a data based project where they are collecting and analyzing datat, we will see what I eventually get to.  In Three Shots, students will compute the probabilities of a Memphis basketball team win, loss, or tie when fouled at the buzzer and explore this even further in two project tasks, To Foul or Not to Foul and That Is The Question.

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