Sam's challenge: Creating level tasks and productivity

[Maria Droujkova]

Sam raises an interesting question in his blog: http://semhouston1.wordpress.com/2010/08/20/getting-creative-with-the-pythagorean-theorem/

Please give Sam feedback, as he requested! Here is the post:

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I’m having some diff.s linking this, but before you get started here check out the Pythagorean T-shirt at Zazzle.com with the two legs and the hippo. Classic!

I struggle with how productive asking students to perform the three tasks mentioned below would be and I’d love some feedback. Such tasks seem as productive as asking students to do a word find or watch a movie in lieu of having a objective based lesson. What do you think?

3 “creating” tasks that students could do to explore the Pythagorean Theorem:

1. Students could be asked to perform a sketch in groups of 4 explaining the golden ration and the Pythagorean Theorem.

2. Students could be asked to write poetry or a rap song about the Pythagorean Theorem (On a side note there’s a great song entitled “Particle Man” by They Might Be Giants that mentions triangles).

3. Students could be asked to find uses of the Pythagorean Theorem in the world of art, architecture, patterns used in clothing, etc. and make a presentation based on their findings.

For each of these tasks I would not give the students a rubric. Instead, after the task, I would ask them to do a self-assessment on their work. This would be a fun task, but again I struggle with its productivity. Ou bien?

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Giddyup! - (C) Sam

Cheers,
Maria Droujkova

Make math your own, to make your own math.