Clarifications
Clarification 1: Instruction focuses on seeing the scale factor as a constant of proportionality between corresponding lengths in the scale drawing and the original object.Clarification 2: Instruction includes the understanding that if the scaling factor is k, then the constant of proportionality between corresponding areas is k² .
Clarification 3: Problem types include finding the scale factor given a set of dimensions as well as finding dimensions when given a scale factor.
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Formative Assessments
Lesson Plans
Original Student Tutorial
Perspectives Video: Teaching Idea
STEM Lessons - Model Eliciting Activity
In this lesson, students create a fish tank for a fish supply company for a future sales campaign. They will use scale drawings and proportions to design the perfect fish tank.
- First, students have to complete a ranking activity of items that will be included in their scale drawing along with three types of fish.
- Next, students will conduct a pH lab activity to gain knowledge about how pH levels will affect population and the ecosystem within the tank.
- Finally, students will adjust their item selection and re-engineer their tank drawing to support their findings and additional information provided by the client. Students must determine what objects would be beneficial to the living things that the students chose in relation to available space and pH balance.
Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.
Raising Your Garden MEA provides students with a real world engineering problem in which they must work as a team to design a procedure to select the best material for building raised garden beds. The main focus of this MEA is to recognize the importance of choosing the correct material for building a raised garden bed, what information is needed before starting a gardening project, and to consider the environmental and economic impact the garden will have on the school. Students will conduct individual and team investigations in order to arrive at a scientifically sound solution to the problem.
Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations.
MFAS Formative Assessments
Students are asked to find the length and area of an object when given a scale drawing of the object.
Students are asked to find the ratio of the area of an object in a scale drawing to its actual area and then relate this ratio to the scale factor in the drawing.
Original Student Tutorials Mathematics - Grades 6-8
Learn to use architectural scale drawings to build a new horse arena and solve problems involving scale drawings in this interactive tutorial. By the end, you should be able to calculate actual lengths using a scale and proportions.
Student Resources
Original Student Tutorial
Learn to use architectural scale drawings to build a new horse arena and solve problems involving scale drawings in this interactive tutorial. By the end, you should be able to calculate actual lengths using a scale and proportions.
Type: Original Student Tutorial