Az801952.vo.msecnd.net



Minecraft: Education Edition Lesson PlanTitleExploring factors and multiples while building a libraryIntroductionThe application of math to the real world helps to create an environment in which students have ownership and are generally more engaged. This lesson uses a true story and problem to engage students in mathematical thinking through Social Studies. When a library needs rebuilding, what type of shape should it be? Students are given a pre-populated number of bricks in Minecraft with the challenge of finding all possible rectangular walls using that number of bricks. Students ultimately discover all possible factors for a given number. This lesson helps weave the purposeful elements of math into the humanistic elements of a hero’s journey.World RequiredCreate new creative flat world with sandAge GroupsAges 7-10 Subject AreasMathEngineeringSocial StudiesLanguage ArtsSkills DevelopedExplorationClassificationSpatial ThinkingCritical ThinkingLearning ObjectivesWith a pre-populated number of bricks in their tool chest, students explore all possible ways to build a wall for a library. After building, students will identify the factors for a given number.Lesson DescriptionMini-LessonHook: Read “The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq”, by Jeanette WinterDiscuss how Alia Muhammad Baker saved 30,000 books from being destroyed. Additional hook, if needed: Read excerpt from “Bud, Not Buddy” by Christopher Paul Curtis (See Supporting Files)Independent or cooperative group activityChallenge students to build a new library for these books. The first step is to build one wall. Students are given a non-prime number between 6-100 and the same amount of bricks in their tool chest in Minecraft. Students must figure out all the possible ways to build that first wall of the library wall using all of the bricks provided. Discuss/introduce the word “dimensions”. Students will record the dimensions (factors) of each wall they build. Then they may pick their favorite one to begin construction of the new library.Discuss rules for building, such as: the wall must have straight lines and create a rectangle; must use all blocks, no leftovers; individual or group work; entire class with one number or each student with a different number, etc.Evidence of LearningA list of all the factors of the given number. A screenshot or screencast of the library wall (or entire library, if time allows)Verbal discussion or written reflectionWhich wall did you pick to be the first wall of the library and why?Which numbers had the most factors, or possible walls from which to choose? Which numbers had the fewest number of walls you could make? Supporting FilesIf students need inspiration about what a library could look like, show the ways that people around the world have built various libraries: students need inspiration about what a library could feel like, this excerpt from Chapter 7 of “Bud, Not Buddy” by Christopher Paul Curtis gives a great child-like perspective:I pushed the heavy door open and walked into the library. The air in the library isn’t like the air anywhere else, first it’s always cooler than the air outside, it feels like you’re walking into a cellar on a hot July day, even if you have to walk up a bunch of stairs to get into it. The next thing about the air in the library is that no other place smells anything like it. If you close your eyes and try to pick out what it is that you’re sniffing you’re only going to get confused, because all the smells have blended together and turned themselves into a different one. As soon as I got into the library I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I got a whiff of the leather on all the old books, a smell that got real strong if you picked one of them u and stuck your nose real close to it when you turned the pages. Then there was the smell of the cloth that covered the brand-new books, the books that made a splitting sound when you opened them. Then I could sniff the paper, that soft, powdery, drowsy smell that comes off the pages in little puffs when you’re reading something or looking at some pictures, a kind of hypnotizing smell.Other ideas/resources to help engage young builders: “If I Built a House” by Chris Van Dusen “Weslandia” by Paul Fleischman“A Street Through Time” by Anne MillardExtension ideas: Square numbers: As students discover the shapes created by these multiples, they may begin to notice the something unique about squares. Square numbers are quite visible when the same factor is built up and across. The shape of their wall will be the same on all sides, or a square.Allow students to finish building their library beyond the first wall.Write a letter to Alia Muhammad Baker.Explore the idea of limited resources during a war or famine (Pictures of typical homes in Iraq from “Material World: A Global Family Portrait” by Peter Menzel. ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download