I already posted this in the "Elementary Forum," so I apologize if you can't post the same thing twice. Every month or so I have a challenging math project for my highest math group to do (they usually finish work quickly and have time for a more challenging project.) The projet typically takes them a couple weeks to finish (the projects really aren't THAT long, but they don't always get to the project everyday) I'm having trouble coming up with a project for this month (I've done a lot of web quests in the past). Right now we are covering long division, but the project doesn't necessarily have to relate to long division. Any ideas for a good project?
Have you covered mean, median, and mode? You could have them do a research project (survey people and analyze their data) using long division for mean? Just a thought.
Thanks for the idea. We did cover that unit and did a project. I'll have to keep that one in mind for the future. Thanks for your reply.
Have you done anything with percents? Maybe bring in a few different circulars and have the children pick out a wardrobe with specific requirements - two pair of pants, five shirts, a pair of dress shoes and a pair of casual shoes... Then have them make a comparison such as which is cheaper - the wardrobe bought at KMart at full price, the wardrobe bought at Wal-Mart if the whole store is having a 10% off sale, or the wardrobe bought at Target if the whole store is having a 20% off sale? Something along those lines. Hopefully you understand what I'm getting at! Long division makes me think of something having to do with dividing up pizza pies for a school wide party. Somehow incorporating price per slice, number of kids, number of classrooms. I'm not really sure. Just a very vague idea that might trigger an actual plan on your end! I'd love to hear your descriptions of what you've done so far. I just started teaching 6th grade but some of your ideas might work for some of my kids as well.
Math Interview I have had my students interview someone who uses math daily. One of my students interviewed her mother who is a waitress, another interviewed a family member who works in a supermarket. For the write up, they included the interview questions/answers. In addition, they had to write a summary of what they learned about how math can be used in everyday life.
In years past I have given my students the opportunity to plan the party of their dreams on a given budget. They had to budget for everything: food, games, movies, tickets, you name it. If their parents had to drive them they had to pay for gas. Tax was figured for everything applicable. They had to get estimates in writing or turn in fliers, grocery lists with recorded prices (and parents signatures that they actually went). I can't remember quite what it looked like, but I gave each of them a checklist of all the things they needed to consider and include when the finally turned everything in. One thing that was required was a planned schedule of events. Around Christmas I let my students go "shopping" through the sale circulars for family gifts. Again, they have a set budget. They must purchase something for every person who lives in their household. They must also give a gift to charity in some form or other that is at least (we decide on the amount together). Sales tax counts too. One more idea...have them plan a trip to a certain destination (or certain distance away). I have done this in the past as well. They worked in groups or alone. They had to drive at least Xmiles away, travel not more than Ymiles per day, stop at so many land marks, national parks, or points of interest along the way, calculate gas milage and cost, plan it out on a map, figure cost of gas, lodging, food, admissions, and then tell what they were planning on doing in the final destination. Feel free to take what you want, modify as needed, and do whatever works for you.
How about making divisiblity charts to go along with the long division? Another project we did this year was to make a math concept poster. Basically the students could pick any math concept in math. They defined the concept, gave an example of it and illustrated it. Some of them even made a podcast of it. The students also presented it to the class.
