Tacos For (almost) Everyone

Do you remember when I blogged about the Ultimate Task for Vertical Planning: Stacking Cups? If not, feel free to check it out at your convenience. I've got another task for you that can be used at multiple grade levels: Dan Meyer's Taco Cart.

When asking:

Who will reach the taco cart first?

there are so many mathematical opportunities awaiting us. Here are a few:

Math 6 (maybe Math 7)
Pass out this handout during Act 2 and tell students you will only give them one dimension. Choose wisely.

Read more about this great technique on Fawn's blog post about Mr. Meyer's Taco Cart.
It simply is brilliant. Students are measuring the dimensions (distances) on the paper and using proportional reasoning to figure out the real life distances. I recommend students use centimeters when measuring the dimensions of the triangle on the handout. I really enjoy this technique.

Math 8
If you're a math teacher and you see the picture Dan provided for Act 2, your intuition will most likely steer you in the direction of the Pythagorean Theorem. Go for it!

Geometry (HS)
Let's say you have already used Taco Cart during the year to apply the Pythagorean Theorem or Distance Formula (Desmos). How about we extend the mathematics and look for more right triangle relationships in Taco Cart. I noticed that the hypotenuse is about twice the length of the shorter leg. Let me connect that to the context of the story: Ben's distance is about twice the distance Dan travels in sand. That's right, Dan gave us a 30-60-90 right triangle. Pro skills there, Dan.
*I'm not saying the 30-60-90 relationship is the most intuitive, but we'd be helping students make connections with previous learning. 

Algebra and Beyond
As you move into the sequels provided on the website, there's a lot of higher level math. Depending on the question, the problem-solving is fun. I worked with a high school group of math teachers who found it extremely challenging to solve the question:

What path to the taco cart would take the least amount of time?

Overall, this is such a fun and meaningful task. Dan has given us a treat! Today, my students did such a great job arguing, sharing theories, identifying variables, and using their intuition even before I unveiled any information from Act 2. It was awesome! I'm avoiding the use of the Pythagorean Theorem this round. I went Fawn-style by giving students only one dimension on their Act 2 handout. So good!

Tacos por favor,
942

How Much Is Your Name Worth?

Starting next week, I'll be back in the classroom with my own roster of students. I'm super pumped and plan to be really active on this blog...  I plan to do a mixture of blogging about ideas before I use them with students and after I use them.

I need to quickly learn the names of my students on Day 1, especially since I'll only be with them for only 20 days. I'll probably do the Name Tent activity and Class Height activities found here. However, I want to establish some mathematical tones as well. For example, most tasks/activities will require students to:

• make guesses (too low, too high, just right)
• submit data
• collect data
• sort data
• use the data
• measure
• problem-solve
• make predictions
• use technology

How much is your name worth?
If each letter of the alphabet was worth its place in the alphabet, how much is your name worth?
For example:
A-N-D-R-E-W would be 1 + 14 + 4 + 18 + 5 + 23 = 65

Figure out how many points your name is and submit it here:

What name will have the lowest points?
What name will have the highest points?
What will be the class average?

If this is golf, the lowest wins.
If this is basketball, the highest wins.
If I want the class average, what would that be?

• Students will submit their values using Google Forms.
• We learn how to sort the data in Google Sheets.
• We can answer our questions.
• We can use the data to predict the value of the next person that walks into our class, or the principal, or a parent, a stranger, etc.

This should not necessarily last that long, but there will be parts of the process that will be important to being more successful and efficient during our time together.

Name value,
543

Classroom Visit in New Hampshire

Yesterday, I had the great fortune to Skype with a second grade class and their teachers in New Hampshire.

IT WAS AWESOME!

There were about 6 students who came up to the webcam to:

• share their name
• share their favorite Estimation 180 challenges
• ask me a question about Estimation 180

Here are some of their favorite Estimation 180 challenges:

• Large Chocolate bar
• Surface Area of my daughter's hand ("cuz she's so cute.")
• Coins
• Marshmallows
• Lego Transporter set
• My height

Some of the questions they asked:

• How do you say your last name?
• How do I think of the estimation challenges?
• Who takes the pictures of me?
• Will you do more Lego estimation challenges?
• How many estimation challenges are there on the site? (I was asked this twice.)
• Will I continue to make more estimation challenges?

After finishing Q&A with my six new friends, Ms. Spear asked if anyone else wanted to share something. One girl spoke up and thanked me for

"...helping my brain to think more and not give up."

This warmed my math heart and made my day. I think that's a direct reflection of Ms. Spear and her colleagues who are creating a classroom of curiosity, perseverance, and risk-taking. They're raising the bar high for all of us, so anyone who gets Ms. Spear's students in the future, please continue to carry the torch and never let that flame become extinguished.

Something else warmed my heart. Ms. Spear shared that the class used estimation challenges, mohawks, and the strength of a small school community to raise money for Levi and his fight with cancer. Woah! Cool!

I thanked them for being such a polite, mature, and respectful group. As you can only imagine second graders staying seated for longer than 18 seconds is a small miracle. They were a classy group that has inspired me.

Thank you Ms. Spear and your students for allowing me to briefly visit your classroom.

You're the inspiration!

Thanks,

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