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Is math important? In this unit we will investigate this question while exploring a shopping mall. In the process, we will discover how video games are created. Next, we will find the chances of winning a contest. Then, we will investigate how surveys are used. After that, we consider percents and sale prices. Finally, as a culminating activity, students will write a final blog entry for the unit answering the essential question, “How is math important in our lives?”
 * At The Mall **
 * Introduction **

6.A. Demonstrate knowledge and use of numbers and their representa­tions in a broad range of theo­retical and practical settings. 6.B. Investigate, represent and solve problems using number facts, operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) and their properties, algorithms and relationships. 6.C. Compute and estimate using mental mathematics, paper-and-pencil methods, calculators and computers. 6.D. Solve problems using compari­son of quantities, ratios, propor­tions and percents. 10.A. Organize, describe and make predictions from existing data. 10.B. Formulate questions, design data collection methods, gather and analyze data and communicate findings. 10.C. Determine, describe and apply the probabilities of events.
 * Learning Objectives **

In this unit, students will answer the essential question, **//“How is math important in our lives?”//**
 * Content **

The students will accomplish this by investigating the following unit questions through a variety of explorations and activities:

As a result of completing this unit, students we will be able to:
 * Where is math used at a shopping mall?
 * How is math used in creating video games?
 * In what ways can we describe the quantitative relationships between things?
 * How can you “beat the odds” in a game of chance?
 * When does knowing about a few people help you understand the rest of the people?
 * How can you compare prices?

Throughout the unit, students will develop 21st Century skills by:
 * Add, subtract, and multiply integers
 * Find the opposite and absolute value of an integer
 * Simplify expressions
 * Add and subtract fractions and mixed numbers
 * Determine theoretical and experimental probability
 * Identify biased questions
 * Estimate percents
 * Work with percents using proportions and equations
 * Interpret graphs using percents

Central to the unit will be a **//classroom blog//** that students will use to respond to teacher-provided and student-provided prompts and give feedback to each other about ideas they are constructing during explorations and activities.
 * Collaborating with peers
 * Self-directing their activities
 * Making complex choices and decisions
 * Assuming shared responsibility for collaborative work
 * Using technology to communicate

The classroom blog will be place that students respond to teacher-provided and student-provided prompts and give feedback to each other about ideas they are constructing during explorations and activities.
 * Process **
 * **Day 1:** Set the stage with KWL and discussion of Essential Question, “How is math important in our lives?” and Unit Questions, “Where is math used at a shopping mall?” and ”How is math used in creating video games?” Students will play Integer Invasion I with a partner.
 * **Day 2:** Students will play a game in which they plot points on a coordinate plane by modeling integer addition. They will develop strategies and formulate rules for adding integers.
 * **Day 3:** Students use subtraction to translate an object on a coordinate plane. They recognize the relationship between subtraction and “adding the opposite” of an integer.
 * **Day 4:** Students discover a way in which multiplication and division are used to create a line on a coordinate plane. They build strategies to understand the relationship between the two operations.
 * **Day 5:** Set the stage with discussion of Unit Question, ” In what ways can we describe the quantitative relationships between things?” Students will play Fraction Mindbender game and use the rules of adding and subtracting positive fractions and mixed numbers.
 * **Day 6:** Students play Fraction Mindbender game again. Concepts are extended to both positive and negative fractions and mixed numbers.
 * **Day 7:** Set the stage with discussion of Unit Question, “How can you “beat the odds” in a game of chance? Students will simulate a contest and estimate the probability of winning.
 * **Day 8:** Students discuss and examine a mall promotion in which spheres are not replaced in a box after they are drawn. Students determine the theoretical probability of winning a gift certificate using this model.
 * **Day 9:** Students use tree diagrams top model possible results of an experiment. They learn how branches of a diagram represent stages of an experiment.
 * **Day 10:** Set the stage with discussion of Unit Question, “When does knowing about a few people help you understand the rest of the people? Students conduct a survey and summarize the results.
 * **Day 11:** Students explore representative samples and use the results of a survey to make predictions about a population. They also use two methods for estimating the percent of a number: “Nice fractions” and “Multiples of 10%.”
 * **Day 12:** Using surveys that they create, they use equations to make predictions and calculate missing data such as the part, the percent and the total.
 * **Day 13:** Set the stage with discussion of Unit Question, “How can you compare prices?” Students play the Bargain Basement game in which they estimate different sale prices of an item.
 * **Day 14:** Students work with percent discount and percent markup to calculate percent increase and percent decrease.
 * **Day 15:** Students will take a formal, summative assessment covering all of the skills explored in the unit.
 * **Day 16:** Conclude the unit with concluding KWL of the Essential Question, “How is math important in our lives?” and overriding Unit Question, “Where is math used at a shopping mall?” Student will then complete their final blog entry answering the Essential Question in their own words.
 * Product **

The following image shows an example of the a teacher-provided prompt asking students to reflect on a unit question:

The following image is an example of a sample student response:

The following image is the general rubric that will be used for student responses to blog prompts: For example, for the student response shown on this page, the student response s would be: 4 + 3 + 3 = 10.
 * ** CATEGORY ** || ** 4 ** || ** 3 ** || ** 2 ** || ** 1 ** ||
 * ** Stays on topic ** || Stays on the assigned topic throughout the entry. || Stays on topic for MOST of the blog entry, but veers off topic on occasion. || Sometimes stays on topic, but mostly veers off topic. || Does not stay on topic at all. ||
 * ** Personalization ** || The writer seems to be writing from knowledge or experience. The author has taken the ideas and made them "his own." || The writer seems to be drawing on knowledge or experience, but there is some lack of ownership of the topic. || The writer relates some of his own knowledge or experience, but it adds nothing to the discussion of the topic. || The writer has not tried to transform the information in a personal way. The ideas and the way they are expressed seem to belong to someone else. ||
 * ** Support ** || The writer successfully uses several reasons/appeals to try to show why the reader should care or want to know more about the topic. || The writer successfully uses one or two reasons/appeals to try to show why the reader should care or want to know more about the topic. || The writer attempts to make the reader care about the topic, but is not really successful. || The writer made no attempt to make the reader care about the topic. ||

This unit could not have been made possible without the generous resources provided by the Intel Corporation.
 * Credits **

8th Grade Math Teacher, Chicago Public Schools. This project portfolio was created as part of an Intel EC10 Course. I would very much appreciate your comments and suggestions. Please provide your feedback directly on my [|discussion page].
 * Authors **

; accessed June 23, 2009
 * Sources **
 * Mall Image on this page: **

[|www.intel.com/education/designprojects] ; accessed June 15-25, 2009
 * Various templates and idea sources: **

Billstein, Rick. Math Thematics Book 3. 2008. Evanston, IL: McDougall Littell, 2008. Print.
 * Text Book: **