Author: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Tuesday, November 22, 2011

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Seventh-graders at Leestown raced their hovercrafts after a two-week unit studying fractions, proportion, scale and other real-world applications.

Seventh-graders at Leestown Middle School put their math skills to the test in designing and racing hovercrafts powered by electric leaf blowers.

“We focused on scale, models and measurements. They had to design it on graph paper and then translate it to real life,” said Ashleigh Hullinger, who teaches pre-algebra. “We did a lot with scale and proportions in class.”

The two-week unit culminated with relay races in the gym before Thanksgiving break.

Teams attached their rollover cages to thin wooden bases and hooked up the blowers as they awaited the checkered-flag signal. They took turns with one student sitting in the driver’s seat, one steering the hovercraft from behind and one trotting alongside with the extension cord.

Some overzealous students veered off course or failed to navigate the turn at the far end of the basketball court. Others outpaced their pit crew, pulling the plug on their power source. Fellow students judged each run, citing whether the craft was under control and held together.

“We could have slowed it down a little and handled the cord a little better,” Aaron Bailey admitted after his team’s outing.

At the start of the project, Aaron and the rest of the students each came up with his own design. After sketching it, they created models out of drinking straws. Then, working in small groups, each team chose one to actually build.

Using scale, grids and ratios, the students figured out how to fit lengths of PVC pipe for their frame as Hullinger pointed out the sturdiness and efficiency of various models. They also had to price their supplies and stay within a budget.

Kensy Burris’ group picked the most creative design and measured the 10-foot pipes carefully – twice – before cutting them with a handsaw. “You need a lot of teamwork to do this,” she noted.

Overall, the hovercraft project touched on computation with whole numbers and fractions, proportional reasoning, measurement and algebraic thinking – all of which are aligned with the state’s new math standards.

“It’s important for (students) not only to be able to do it but also apply it. … Having that physical connection to see something come from their math skills will have the most impact,” Hullinger predicted.

Such kinesthetic projects use a technique known as anchored instruction, which is especially useful for students who have trouble with typical word problems.

Anchored instruction is much like problem-based learning, in which teachers use probing questions to guide student understanding of authentic problems, allow the kids to work together in small groups to test their solutions, and provide explicit instruction on skills and concepts as needed. The goal is to improve their computation and problem-solving performance.

“If we do hands-on stuff, we remember the lesson,” as Kensy put it.

Natalee Feese, the middle and high school math content specialist for Fayette County Public Schools, said this initiative is open to all the middle schools and most do participate. It is funded by a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences.

A team from FCPS and the University of Kentucky creates the lesson plans for Teaching Enhanced Anchored Mathematics and hosts summer workshops to prepare the classroom teachers. In addition, students are tested before and after the hovercraft project to see how their math skills improve with some real-life application of fractions and formulas.

“Evaluators at the University of Georgia and Vanderbilt University are doing the analysis of the item level and results from students,” Feese said. “We have had tremendous success with our data.”

Resources

Brian Bottge, professor, Department of Special Education at UK

Natalee Feese, math content specialist in FCPS

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