Kew PS
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THE ECO HOUSE
The maths unit “The Eco House”, was an integral part of Level 4, Term 2, Integrated Unit on “Sustainability”. The desire to create on Inquiry maths Unit developed from our 2006 Term 4 Innovations and Excellence cluster science collaboration unit on, ”What Do Scientists Do?” The connection between maths and the environment appeared to be a logical link and our planning started from this point.
Key Ideas of the Unit were:
- To give students a practical working knowledge of designing and planning a structure
- Using maths measurement concepts eg.area and perimeter in a practical application
- Budgeting: using estimation strategies to work within allocated budget. Justifying choices of various products.
- Using real world maths to plan, design and produce a house that is ecologically and economically friendly
Part of the Design Brief was to include an alternative energy source and research the energy savings for a year.
Children were expected to keep a working journal of maths calculations, what they had completed, problems and difficulties encountered ie organisation and what they had learnt through the process.
The unit was conducted mainly in maths sessions with one maths rotation group working independently on their project. Children were given the chance to ask for assistance and had to complete at least one PMI during the unit. The PMI was a tool to keep students on track, both in terms of content and time allocation. Major maths topics included in the unit eg.area, perimeter, money, scale, ratios were taught in maths sessions, so students could work independently.
We did follow the Inquiry Model: Tuning In with guest speakers, architects and designers, Finding Out, Sorting Out and Reflection in a limited way. There was room for negotiation within the design brief, however the project was not as open ended as others in the cluster.
The “Expo” was a positive celebration of children’s work and it also gave the children a chance to view the work of their peers.
As a first “maths” project the children were all engaged and produced some amazing models (see photographs below) so from that viewpoint our ”Eco House” was a success.