Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Math Standards for STEM Project

My project consists of having students construct a hydroelectric dam using Minecraft. I am basing the project on a dam engineering lesson from tryengineering.org. The lesson plan relies heavily on NGSS standards and is not math specific. However, I do know that real-world construction of dams involves understanding area, surface area, and volume. I also know that a real-world engineer will consider the force of the water on the dam as well.

This lesson addresses geometry standards such as:

Alaska Standard 7.G.6 Solve real life and mathematical problems involving angle measure, area, surface area, and volume and Alaska Standard 6.RP.1 Understand ratio concepts and use ratio reasoning to solve problems.
 
I also know that the physics behind force requires the use of calculus found in Alaska Standard F-1F.7. Analyze functions using different representations.
 
I found an article entitled: AP Calculus BC Project:The Dam Problem:Constructing a Dam across the River http://www.ms.uky.edu/~droyster/APCalculus/Dam%20Problem.pdf very helpful in identifying the higher level mathematics used in construction a dam.
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1 comment:

  1. UnknownMarch 20, 2014 at 4:28 PM

    I really like your project idea, Karen, and you're definitely correct, there's plenty of math in there as well as engineering and technology. What grade level are your students for this project? Is your project going to follow the outline of the AP Calculus project, but at a lower level? I think this could certainly work, but a little more clarity in your timeline and the standards specific to your grade level would be helpful.

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