Color Craze 5k

Hello bloggers!!

I attended the Color Craze 5k event this weekend at Western Illinois University! Every Kilometer, there was a color station set up with volunteers scooping out colored paint and throwing it at the runners or walkers. At the end, there was a Zumba session where the volunteers were throwing the colored powder out over the crowd from all angles! It was amazing!!

The money raised for the race supported Special Olympics. I entered the race with some previous co-workers and participants from the McDonough County Special Recreation Association. Just a reminder of how great it feels to volunteer and give back the cause that means so much to you!!

Below are some photos from the event, I encourage you all to be a part of something so amazing! It was also appropriate for all ages!

Surface Area Tin Man Project!

WOW!! I successfully completed my very first project assignment. Students were working with finding the area of rectangles, triangles, parallelograms and circles. The next content area was surface area. I did online research to find hands on activities to teach this content since I know it can be very difficult for students. What I found was the Tin Man Project (Miss Calcul8's blog - http://misscalculate.blogspot.com/2012/04/surface-area-tin-man-project.html)  and wanted to try it out!! 

I used resources from the following website for reflection questions and a calculation worksheet to help students follow along from day to day (http://ispeakmath.wordpress.com/2012/06/24/creating-tin-men-to-explore-surface-area-project/)

I gave student the choice to make a tin man, animal, car, whatever they wanted! (As long as it was school appropriate) Below are the steps that we went through from day to day. They also could choose to work with a partner.

DAY 1: I introduced the project and gave students their directions and grading scale to the project. I gave instruction on how to find the surface area of rectangular prisms and had students pick out the prism (body) for their figures and begin to record measurements and find the surface area of the object they chose. 

DAY 2: Students worked on finding the surface area of their prism and gathered all other supplies they planned to use. Students began taping and assembling their figures together. 

DAY 3: I gave instruction on how to find the surface area of cylinders. Then, students worked to measure the cylinder objects they used for arms and legs (or wheels). After this day, students had their figures put together.      

DAY 4: Students watched a video I created on calculating the surface area of spheres. Then, we worked through the steps together as a class to find the surface area of the spheres. I had students find the circumference of the circle using a string, and then working that formula backwards to find the radius that could be applied to the surface area formula!! Once students calculated the surface area of their spheres, they found a TOTAL surface area for their figure. 

DAY 5: Students were instructed to come to class with their total surface area measurements. Today we planned to wrap up our figures! But first, the students had to find how much foil to measure. We did this by looking at the formula Area = Base X Height. We already knew the height of the foil, 30 cm, and each student had a total area they needed. We found that we had to divide our total area by 30 cm to find the length we should measure as our base of the foil. Then, students began to wrap up their figures!! If they were over or under the amount of foil, we looked at their calculation sheet to find where they messed up and then calculate how much more foil would be needed. I told students to limit the amount of tape used and work with the foil to get it to stick without tape as much as possible (a good life skill!!!)

DAY 6: We spent day 6 decorating our figures and adding extra pieces that we wanted to before they would be judged by the staff! When students were done decorating, they answered 12 reflection questions (Geared from Miss Calcul8's blog - https://www.box.com/s/e5192ab0eb35bb17708a)  Students answered questions that asked about their measurements, why they did the math they did and overall what they learned and liked about the project!!! Below are the completed projects that the students created!! 

   Overall, this was a fun project!! Students who participated enjoyed the project and were learning about surface area at the same time!! I just took one 3D shape at a time, and had students measure as we went according to what shape was being taught. You could also teach all surface area formulas and then have students measure and build their figures starting with the shapes that they wanted to and work at their own pace! Enjoy!!