Building Challenge!
The other day, the students in my class questioned why building with blocks was math. Some thought it was, and some were adamant that it wasn't. Those that thought building was math referenced things like balance and structure as being parts of math. Those that thought building wasn't math said that it was just playing. So I decided that we needed to do a building challenge during math time to help them realize that there was a lot of thinking happening when they were asked to build something. And then I saw a tweet from Ron Ritchhart about a new thinking routine - PG&E - that he designed and it seemed like a perfect opportunity to try it out.
We started the building challenge by examining the plank blocks and talking about if anyone had used them before. I introduced the challenge and then we discussed what we thought would happen during this challenge.
Students talked about their life experiences:
"I know it has to have a support because I drive over a bridge every day."
"It might fall down because the longer it gets, the more unstable it is."
"It might have balance, or it might not, if something is under it or not."
When the groups were done building, we did a bridge walk and examined everyone's structures. Students noticed that there were holes in some and not in others. They noticed the supports underneath, and the railings and ramps on top.
During our final wrap-up, I asked the final question, "Did things go the way you expected and why?" The students were very thoughtful!
"The material we used was different from the magna-tiles. We had to really think about how to support the bridge."
"We had to balance a lot and revise."
" I thought it was pretty easy because my dad is an architect and we talk about this stuff all the time."
I have done this activity before and I believe that this routine really helped the students focus in on their thinking about how to apply their prior knowledge and how to maybe make things better the next time. I'm really interested if they will apply their new experience to building during choice time this week!
We started the building challenge by examining the plank blocks and talking about if anyone had used them before. I introduced the challenge and then we discussed what we thought would happen during this challenge.
Students talked about their life experiences:
"I know it has to have a support because I drive over a bridge every day."
"It might fall down because the longer it gets, the more unstable it is."
"It might have balance, or it might not, if something is under it or not."
During the building, the students made many discoveries:
"OH! It has to be 10 inches long, not tall."
"This is going to be hard without a floorboard."
"We stabilized it with layers."
"We put sides on so it could stay up and the top blocks wouldn't fall off."
When the groups were done building, we did a bridge walk and examined everyone's structures. Students noticed that there were holes in some and not in others. They noticed the supports underneath, and the railings and ramps on top.
During our final wrap-up, I asked the final question, "Did things go the way you expected and why?" The students were very thoughtful!
"The material we used was different from the magna-tiles. We had to really think about how to support the bridge."
"We had to balance a lot and revise."
" I thought it was pretty easy because my dad is an architect and we talk about this stuff all the time."
I have done this activity before and I believe that this routine really helped the students focus in on their thinking about how to apply their prior knowledge and how to maybe make things better the next time. I'm really interested if they will apply their new experience to building during choice time this week!
Comments
Post a Comment