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| CBR |
Welcome to another week of Math Presentations! This week in my Math Teaching course, I got a chance to see three more of my peers present on a lesson that they would use in either a grade 9 or 10 applied Mathematics class. My favourite presentation focused on a Grade 9 applied level class, learning about linear relations. This lesson could be used at the beginning of the linear relations unit, to introduce the slope of the line (rate of change) using a kinesthetic approach that students will love. The activity works by getting students into groups of 2-3. Each group receives a CBR, a calculator based ranger by Texas Instruments, along with a page of different graphs and their lines. A CBR is a calculator based ranger designed by Texas Instruments to track student motion using lines that will display on their TI calculators in a graph.
The goal of the activity is to have students try to replicate each graph by matching their motion to the slope of the lines in each graph. My group had a lot of fun figuring out which direction and speed to walk in order to match each given graph. By the end of the activity, we were able to understand the following:
1. Speed affects the slope of the line
2. Walking fast produces a steep line
3. Walking slow produces a fractional slope
4. Walking at a constant speed will produce a constant slope of 1.
5. Walking away from the CBR will create a positive sloping line
6. Walking toward the CBR will create a negative sloping line
I think that this activity would work really well in a grade 9 level applied classroom because it introduces the concept of linear relationships the students in a way that is fun and engaging. The students can literally graph their movement electronically to make their own linear path! They will be able to learn math, while getting some exercise in at the same time. I love this idea, and I would love to try it out in my own classroom!
